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precision posted:e: you know just once we could have a thread without devolving into the argument of tactical realism I'm not a "tactical realism" type, but eventually it does get a little stale that tv and movies always skip that crucial revolutionary period and go straight to post-apocalyptic new order. Obviously this isn't Atwood's fault, but it would be interesting if they picked up the show for another season and did a loose Fargo-style prequel. Or even a Black Mirror-style anthology of episodes from the time "before", showing the discreet steps to full on 19th century prairie bonnets and human slavery. Plus, there are so many interesting mechanisms of ideological takeover they could explore, I have a hard time understanding why more shows don't write about them. I could imagine they'd be able to get some mileage out of setting the birth of Gilead in flyover country, where the coasts don't realize until too late how pervasive and how serious the new fundamentalism has become. What if a national school voucher program instituted shortly after modern Black Tuesday or 9/11 meant that poor families were suddenly "homeschooling" children for the meager injection of cash? As fertility dropped, perhaps red became a fashionable color for pregnant women to advertise their fertility. Or during a civil war, red windbreakers were issued by the Red Cross to pregnant or fertile women to advertise their noncombatant status, and the punishments for improper use of those garments was increasingly harsh, culminating in public hangings. Maybe the handmaidens' origin was a national grant program for surrogates? Or maybe the gov't starts levying fines ("healthcare surcharges"?) against companies that employee fertile women. If the country is in a deep enough depression, maybe it becomes necessary for women to consolidate rations/households and raise a child together. Or maybe households with a child get double rations, and couples bring in any single or potentially childbearing female relatives in hopes of hitting the jackpot. A flood destroys an entire year's crops and washes away homes in a dozen midwestern states, and the US has to open WWII-style feeding kitchens, run and staffed entirely by widowed Since one of the biggest themes in the book is how women work so hard to keep one another down in an effort to scrape together a little comfort for themselves, it would be so drat interesting (to me at least) to work on these incremental stories. Whether it's about bottom of the barrel cafeteria employees fighting over a job where they'd still be slaves, but slaves with a door on the toilet, or about how, for a time, fertile women enjoyed a lot of status and lorded it over other women in society, particularly the rich women who couldn't buy a coveted red windbreaker with all the money in the world. whalesteak fucked around with this message at 00:44 on May 1, 2017 |
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Apr 30, 2017 22:42
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Groovelord Neato posted:i honestly can't think of any dystopia in fiction that's actually realistic in a "tactical realism" sense. I don't really know what tactical realism actually is, but to me, Children of Men is what I'm imagining. Every scene felt so connected to our world and plausible, I had no trouble suspending disbelief.
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Apr 30, 2017 23:20
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precision posted:I'm just saying I don't need to see it to believe (enough) in the premise. I get that. For me it's just an issue of personal taste- I feel like the show keeps referencing the "before" (presumably real life, at some time in the past 5 years) in flashbacks and soundtrack but is failing to really anchor the main story in the present day. It sort of feels like the showrunner is trying to have it both ways. Gilead is so alien, but also it's us, man. I'm not sure if I wish the show were more dense (a la Children of Men) or slowed down more. It felt like they switched out Ofglen too fast, after only giving lipservice to the resistance. And the particicution felt like it happened too early in the story- I wasn't quite sure if they were trying to demonstrate that in this version, Ofred was attacking the dude because she feared retribution, or was venting frustration, or had internalized her role and presumed feelings as a handmaid. I get that this may have been left purposefully ambiguous, but it didn't feel that way to me as I watched. I felt more as though the storytelling was just a bit muddy. I will say, these are small quibbles, I still enjoyed the first episodes, and I've enjoyed some of the other choices the showrunner has made. Casting Serena as a much younger woman adds to both the tension and perverse camaraderie between them. And making the commander plausibly attractive and Nick less so will change the coming dynamic in those relationships as well. I'm sure it's not helping that I haven't read the book in over 15 years, so vague memories might color the impressions I get of some scenes.
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May 1, 2017 04:55
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timp posted:Enjoy the show for what it is, and if you can't do that then, I dunno, watch something else I guess? "If you find any part of the show less enjoyable than any other part, don't discuss how it might be better, just stop watching" is a really stupid thing to say on a message board devoted to discussing tv.
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May 1, 2017 04:58
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Hollismason posted:What the gently caress, did you both not understand why June would want to have sex ,enjoyable, rock your world sex. What the gently caress is wrong with both of you. I understand the writers include the scenes for contrast and other thematic reasons, but usually someone who is subjected to regular and systematic rapes won't have "get a great sex life" at the top of their list of priorities. It's understandable why people may find that characterization unrealistic, insensitive, or perceive it as just there for titillation.
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May 20, 2017 12:29
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emanresu tnuocca posted:Her life is torture but it's a daily torture she's been enduring for years, I think it changes things a bit, I mean even people in the Nazi deathcamps had sex after a while. The only distinction I would make is that being generally tortured isn't the same as being raped repeatedly; but your point is definitely valid. I would say it's a testimony to the show's quality that it can be viewed in different ways depending on each person's personal experiences and sensibility. Mostly I was just pointing out that the weirdly hostile reaction to people criticizing the sex scenes seemed unwarranted.
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May 20, 2017 12:48
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tweet my meat posted:I don't take personal offense at someone not liking something I like or "watching TV wrong" and neither should you. Not everyone is going to like everything you like, and that's ok. I wonder how much I'd have to pay Lowtax to have he post-migration TVIV split into a "praise" subforum and a "discussion" subforum. Finally we could avoid the page long derails debating the right way to watch TV, or whether saying something critical about a show means you're an idiot. E: in fairness I'm just as guilty as getting off topic, so back to the actual discussion precision posted:The way they've changed Mrs. Waterford's backstory makes me even more suspicious she's going to end up helping June. I didn't walk away feeling like Mrs. Waterford was more likely to help June, even with the reveal of her backstory. I guess because of the way the dinner scene started? I'd be interested to hear what in particular stood out to you that felt like they'd go in that direction with the character. It would certainly be an interesting change from the book version, and I think I might like that even more, since book Nick's allegiance to Offred was more cut and dry, having Mrs. Waterford aiding her leaves that element of uncertainty in the story. whalesteak fucked around with this message at 19:18 on May 22, 2017 |
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May 22, 2017 19:00
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