The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 (UK Pace) - thread 5 - SPOILER ALERT

[CruCru]

Hi all

Here is the next thread for those who are watching The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 on Channel 4. Please don't put any spoilers on this - the other thread (for those in other countries who are watching ahead of the UK) is:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/3239228-Handmaids-Tale-Season-2-SPOILERS-VIEWING-AHEAD-OF-UK-SREENING

She tried escaping, and it didn't work. - did she though? Did she try to escape? She just wanted to have a loving life with Isaac - 'Isn't that what Gilead wants? A loving family?' she said. I don't think they were actively escaping - more just 'running away' from Waterfords' house. To somewhere.

I don’t think nick wanted to have sex with Eden full stop, regardless of her age. He wasn’t interested in this stranger he was forced to be with.

I agree he wasn't interested sexually in her.

I'm fed up reading that Nick raped Eden. Nick loves June. He didn't ask to be "assigned" a woman. June reminded him what would happen if he didn't have sex with Eden. He was coerced.

Decent men (assuming he really is and so far he seems to be) are also victims in Gilead; to a far lesser degree than women.

What happened to Eden would be considered rape today in the UK and US, because the age of consent is 16 and she was 15. But it's not specified what it is in Gilead - I'm guessing far lower than 16 so that women can start trying to produce children as soon as they're fertile.

The actress playing Eden is actually 20, not that that's particularly relevant, but at least an underage actress didn't have to do the sex scenes.

Eden WAS raped but Nick was coerced. It's complicated.
Eden couldn't consent to sex with a much older man. Even though she instigated it and threatened Nick if he didn't have sex with her.
But Nick didn't choose to commit rape.

But Eden wanted Nick to have sex with he r- she knew that was her role, and she wanted to fulfil her role.

He didn't want to have sex with her - obviously because he's in love with June, but also because he felt that her age (15) was too young. Even if that's still allowable in Gilead (or the US), because they were married, he didn't want to do it.

So in many ways he was more coerced into it than she was.

She definitely wasn't raped.

Agree with BIWI

In legal terms in the real world, it's statutory rape. But this isn't the real world, It's Gilead where the girls are coerced into having sex as soon as they're fertile and there probably isn't an age of consent, more of a 'if she bleeds, she breeds' mentality.

Exactly eyycarumba

Exactly eyycarumba - and even if it was rape then Nick was not the rapist

Sorry for the double post - interweb playing up

Nick didn't rape Eden.

People are trying to apply normal rules to an abnormal situation.

Even in the UK, a man having sex with a 15 year old willing participant wouldn't be rape, it would be sex with a minor and morally abhorrent, but it wouldn't be rape in the eyes of the law.

Most of us would do the same as Nick if we were in fear for our lives or being tortured.

I may have to retract some of that, I was under the impression that the law was automatically rape if it was a child under 13, and that under 16 was slightly different but I think I might be wrong.

All the same, what makes the handmaids tale such good tv is the moral dilemmas it throws up, how good people can do bad things.

I agree it was not rape. Statutory rape/age of consent in the UK/US or any other country is entirely irrelevant. It's the age of consent in the country that the offence occurred that is relevant and as others have said, Gilead probably doesn't have one or will have a very low one.

what makes the handmaids tale such good tv is the moral dilemmas it throws up, how good people can do bad things.

Agree, and this thread makes it all so much more of an experience to watch. It’s fantastic to read so many different interpretations and various insights into all the events/behaviours. I wouldnt have gotten half as much out of the show if it weren’t for this thread.

I love reading the threads too.

I think I could watch every episode of the handmaids tale again and notice different things.

Back to Commander Lawrence - is this the first time we've heard his name? I'm sure if heard it before and thought he was going to be someone we had seen (the one with no hand but that's Justines old commander isn't it?). Which makes me think he's been referred to...

Some pp have suggested it was Commander Lawrence’s driver on the mayday plane with June?

I don't think Nick raped her . I think Another husband might have though and it would have been sanctioned by gilead

Love this thread. I will miss it as much as I will miss watching this Series.
It’s been great but hard to watch but thrown up so many opportunities for discussion about women and their role in society today, in our and other cultures.
Margaret Atwood should be very proud.
I just hope succeeding episodes are as well made and thought out.

After the finale I'm going to read the US pace threads. It would be really interesting to see if they had different takes / interpretations to us.

He definitely didn't rape her. They had their own version of the 'ceremony', using the sheet with a hole for him to a) cover her up and b) penetrate her with his penis.

She was a willing participant in this whole process.

Nick didn't rape Eden.

They were married and I'm sure if Gilead married them they were expected to reproduce. Nick had to do it or he might have been hung and Eden wanted to do it.

I obviously don't agree with this! It was absolutely horrible.

I wish Nick had just been kinder and sat down and actually talked to her. He could have explained he felt she was too young instead of being so dismissive of her and making her feel rejected.