The Handmaids tale

[DumbledoresArmy]

Anyone else planning on watching this at 9pm on channel 4?

Sorry MrsBotox!
I think it's really fascinating comparing the differences. It doesn't mean one is better than the other necessarily - they are different art forms from different times and I absolutely agree the changes were necessary to make it work.
I hope it doesn't spoil it for too many people.

The wives must realise how expendable they are. The existing rules of the society keep them safe but they must be aware those rules could change at any time.

Thanks for the book recommendation (Only Ever Yours) - I downloaded it on the kindle last night and started reading it today.

exactly...and better articulated Countess..that feeling that 'any minute it might be me' and Serena Joy gives of this tightly wound up brittleanxiety of someone who knows she is only were she is for now due to luck of the draw and it could change for her, especially if her husband gets to like his handmaid a bit too much !
She is portrayed brilliantly by the actress.

Cru Cru...you are welcome but be warned it makes the Handmaid tale look like a disney fairytale !

I thought the cookie bit was excellent. I took it to be a way she is able to hold on to a bit of control. So when she is offered it she has no choice but to take it, even though it was presented as a question, she could not have said no. However, accepting it meant she was being 'put in her place', like she was their pet dog. spitting it out was a way of maintaining a part of herself which is independent.

Elisabeth Moss is excellent in this, I think.

Can't remember much about the book (except it being a brilliant story), which probably helps watching this.

Haven't watched last night's episode yet, so I'm not reading the full thread, but I think the reason June's mother doesn't feature is because it wouldn't fit with the modern timeline. She was a sixties feminist so they couldn't put that in with June being the age she is today.

there is the subtle undertone that he is also not happy or in agreement with the regime and what he is doing, which i also got from the book ...he feels uncomfortable using Offred in the way he does but he like the women have no choice...

I really don't get that vibe at all. I think the Commander is one of the main architects of the new regime. Yes, he wants Offred to be content with her lot, but only to make his life easier and more pleasant. He doesn't want HER life to be easier or more pleasant, or if he does, it's only to ensure she's more accepting of her role.

oooh RRR how interesting that we get a different feeling about the commander and his role, i recall from when i read the book that i felt there was an attraction between them and hoped he would be the one to save her /change things ...it is nice to have a thread wereby we can share views opinions etc without being shouted down /told we are wrong etc

I am really enjoying this, excellent adaptation, but wished I had thought to put subtitles on last night! I kept rewinding and rewinding to hear what the new handmaiden companion said, but couldn't catch it, so thank you for that!
I read the book some twenty years ago, forgot everything, so coming to this fresh!
Elizabeth moss's face is brilliant! So expressive, so human! The scrabble playing was v sensual wasn't it?!
I would have got the idea that the commander is not fully buying into the regime from this (but that's not right, right?!!)
I can't wait to see more.

histinyhands....i do not think there is a wrong or right interpretation of the commander and his role/character. the joy of this thread is we are all feeling comfortable to express our view/opinions/interpretation of the book.

theredjellybean, I was like you when I first read the book - had to keep putting it down and walking away because it made me so angry and upset. I'm finding with the tv version, it's haunting me afterwards - I can't get Janine's post-birth scene out of my head and keep having to suppress a sob. Also the care and love the other handmaids showed to Janice - they knew what was about to happen. I haven't been this affected by anything on telly for as long as I can remember.
I agree that they're showing much more interaction between Offred and Nick, but in the book there was an element of her wanting to be 'seen,' although she felt guilty about Luke (I don't think she was sure about his death in the book). I'm sure there was at least one scene of her possibly taking her shoes off in front of him and wondering how he'd react.

I think he's just using her in every way possible. Yes, he fancies her - but he doesn't care whether she fancies him. He's playing scrabble with her because he misses some of the old ways, but in a completely selfish way - like she's a doll he can pick up and play with, then pop back into her box when he's had enough.

It is nice to have somewhere to chat about this in a friendly way! Is anyone else reading recaps of the show - there are a lot of them about. I'm also listening to a podcast called "Redheads" (I think) - it's quite funny but they go off on annoying tangents a bit too much. I've downloaded a couple of other podcast but haven't listened yet - does anyone have any recommendations? I'm basically obsessed with the show at the moment!

why does he not play scrabble with his wife then ?

maybe he does....?

one thing that is not covered in the book ( i think) is whether sex is 'allowed' anymore for recreational purposes between husbands and wives ? and also how they know that all the wives are barren ..one would think they would be encouraged to keep trying as you never know ?
I guess we are left to decide for ourselves if all wives are proven barren in someway ..i know recreational sex comes into the story at some point in some way but do not want to spoil it for anyone who has not read the book...

He's holding it out as a forbidden treasure, that's why. He's making her complicit in rule breaking. It's not like she has any choice.

I mean, I'm not saying he doesn't like June. I'm saying he doesn't give a sod whether she likes him, as long as she pretends she does.

Women are forbidden to read so I would imagine that includes playing scrabble.

Sorry that was to answer the poster who asked why he didn't play scrabble with Serena

In the book there is a fabulous description of the illicit excitement and pleasure offred feels when she plays scrabble. The sensuous pleasure of holding the tiles and making words....
She says she wants to put the letter c in her mouth and imagines that it would taste sharp like limes.
The commander is offering a very dangerous thing here. The contrast between the safe, cosy image of scrabble; that it used to be played by grandmothers on porches and now it is forbidden is very powerful I think.

aha..yes of course not being allowed to read...makes the scrabble even more dangerous !

OfGlen says that she had 2 healthy ovaries hence why she wasn't sent to the colonies so I took from that they did fertility testing.

but ofglen wasn't a wife...she is a handmaid.
I do recall ( and do not want to spoil story) from the book how they decided why certain women would be handmaids or deported or marthas for instance..but the wives were never (that i can recall) properly explained...serena joy was not a quiet subservient wife prior to the rise of Gilead, so it wasnt a case that wives were picked for that role or stayed in that role because of their previous behaviours, it must have been via some other selection or criteria

Was it not just that they were already married to the Commanders? So they couldn't divorce as it was a theocracy.

Handmaids are fertile women who weren't already married so could be 'used' for having babies.

Yes I meant if they test the handmaids they probably tested the wives too.