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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Gilead-weird or just me?

32 replies

siblingrevelryagain · 29/04/2020 22:22

Obviously just a coincidence (imdefniy into conspiracy) but isn’t it a bit odd that the company studying a new treatment for Coronavirus is the same as the rulers in handmaid’s tale? Don’t you think they’d have changed their name after the negative connotations?

OP posts:
garbagegirl · 29/04/2020 22:25

I had no idea. That's quite amusing

SecondaryBurnzzz · 29/04/2020 22:26

I thought that too - hideous!

BuffaloCauliflower · 29/04/2020 22:27

Gilead is from the bible. The name far outdates the company or the Handmaids Tale

codewaist · 29/04/2020 22:27

The company was founded in 87, two years after the book was published so it probably wasn't a common connection until Hulu produced the series.

cremuel · 29/04/2020 22:27

How old is it as a company? Does it predate the book? It is definitely very weird.

ButterbuttSquash · 29/04/2020 22:29

I’m so pleased to see someone had bought this up on here. I feel like I’m being trolled.

cremuel · 29/04/2020 22:29

Oh, cross posts. That’s even weirder! The TV show made it really mainstream, but the book was pretty big. You would have thought you’d do some research before you come up with the name and it’s hard to see how they didn’t notice ...

Fluffybutter · 29/04/2020 22:29

Also noticed this too and thought made me grimace .
Still can’t find season 3 to watch ...

rooarsome · 29/04/2020 22:29

... not really. It's a place in the Bible, now situated in Jordan.

Potatobug · 29/04/2020 22:30

How do you pronounce Gilead?

bridgetreilly · 29/04/2020 22:31

Gilead has a LOT of connotations, not just Handmaid's Tale. There's the wonderful novels by Marilynne Robinson too. Because it's a biblical place it's used in a lot of different cultural references. I don't think it's weird at all to find it as the name of a company.

bridgetreilly · 29/04/2020 22:31

@Potatobug Hard G, three syllables. GILL-ee-ad.

chomalungma · 29/04/2020 22:32

I am glad someone else has said this. I was going to start a thread - but then did some Googling and found the same facts here.

I had no idea it was a place in the Bible. But it makes sense. For the Handmaid's tale. Not for big Pharma

DixieFlatline · 29/04/2020 22:32

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balm_of_Gilead

Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Bible, and named for the region of Gilead, where it was produced. The expression stems from William Tyndale's language in the King James Bible of 1611, and has come to signify a universal cure in figurative speech.

bridgetreilly · 29/04/2020 22:33

Gilead

Original poster
siblingrevelryagain · 29/04/2020 22:33

Gill-ee-ad (the G like in golf and not like in Gillette)

OP posts:
user1471453601 · 29/04/2020 22:34

Isn't it also the name of the country the Man lived in in Steven Kings Black Tower Series?

Original poster
siblingrevelryagain · 29/04/2020 22:34

It just struck me as amusing, listening to Truro talking about “Gilead doing some fine work’ whilst the world is almost apocalyptic; seem quite jarring!

OP posts:
FakeFraudSquad · 29/04/2020 22:35

“There is a balm in Gilead, to cleanse the sin sick soul”

Creepy AF innit?

Blessed be the fruit and all that...

LuckyMarmiteLover · 29/04/2020 22:35

I spotted this too!

GreyHare · 29/04/2020 22:46

Woah, I had this conversation with my husband earlier, very bizarre.

PatriciaHolm · 29/04/2020 22:55

It is named after Balm of Gilead :
www.sfgate.com/business/article/PROFILE-Gilead-Sciences-Gilead-grows-up-2655081.php

Marmite27 · 29/04/2020 22:57

I said that on another thread and got shouted down!

I understand where both MA and the pharma company got the name from, but given there’s rumours of fertility issues after covid-19 I think it’s a bit Hmm

MoonBaby1 · 29/04/2020 23:00

Creepy Sad

succulento · 29/04/2020 23:03

Just popping in to point out a bit of sideways weirdness... Rapunzel had to self-isolate in her tower. Look at where Rapunzel lives in the Disney version.

Disclaimer: I did not spot this.