Just finished watching season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale on HULU. The show is a dark and heavy drama and totally binge-worthy. It’s a terrifying story based on a future totalitarian society in the United States after a second American Civil War. It’s a very popular book made into a TV series and those who have read/watched it have probably thought at some point “could this ever really happen?” Well, guess what…it is sort of happening in our society now! OK, just hear me out here. I’m overly tired from a weekend of painting and can’t fall asleep because I keep thinking about the correlations of the show and how our lives are all jacked up right now. Please let me know if you agree with the comparisons or if you think I just need to stop watching creepy shows late into the night when I’m overly tired! The Covid-19 Tale – How Our Lives are Similar to The Handmaid’s Tale.
GILEAD is COVID-19
Gilead is a cruel, aggressive and oppressive society created after a 2nd Civil War. It has changed the lives of everyone who lives there.
Currently, we are fighting a “civil” war with a cruel and aggressive virus called COVID-19. A sickness that is forcefully taking over our society with no known cure or vaccine. It has drastically changed all of our lives.
JUNE OSBORNE is MOMS EVERYWHERE
Handmaid Offred/Ofjoseph/June Osborne is a woman put into servitude. June is a rebellious multi-tasker whose emotional state bounces between hope and despair.
Covid-19 has forced us to stay home and to be in the servitude of our households. We as moms are now indentured to educate our children, maintain the upkeep and maintenance of our homes and feed and entertain our families. Like June, my emotional state (and assuming other moms out there feel the same) alternates between rebellion (not gonna lie, I have made a rebellious trip to Home Depot for non essential DIY stuff just to feel “normal”), resignation (I may need to start using printer paper as toilet paper if shelves don’t restock soon), bittersweet (it’s been awesome to spend so much time with immediate loved ones but miss my friends and extended family so much), despair (I just can’t even watch the news anymore. So depressing!), while maintaining hope (this will all be over soon, right?)
THE COMMANDER is GOV. BESHEAR
The Commander is the Head of Household. He wears dark suits and is the patriarch of the family. The Commander bears responsibility for the society of Gilead.
Doesn’t this sound like somebody that we let into our homes everyday at 5PM via live news briefing here in Kentucky? Governor Andy Beshear is the dark suit wearing head of our state. Like the Commander, Gov Beshear is aggressive with the well being of our state. In doing so, KY is ranking high in polls of how well our state is being managed in this crisis. He has taken pro-active and controversial steps to stop or limit the spread of the virus to protect people. He was one of the 1st Governors to declare KY a state of emergency and used his power to shut down bars and restaurants early.
Unlike the Commander’s moral blindness to protect the virtue of Gilead, Gov Beshear has taken pride in protecting the state of KY with his insightful decisions for our society in the face of this pandemic.
AUNT LYDIA is DR. FAUCI
Aunt is the highest status of working woman in Gilead. They are the instructors, chaperones and enforcers responsible for training, disciplining and the overall health of Handmaids.
Dr. Fauci is the top doc and the infectious disease expert. He is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and he is the trusted voice in the US about COVID-19. Making him responsible for the instruction, education and communication of known facts about the virus. He is frank and understandable making him a popular resource to educate us about this pandemic.
THE RED CENTER is HOMESCHOOLING
The Red Center is an oppressive place in Gilead that houses and oversees the training, education and duties of Handmaids.
Thankfully, my kids are in college and do not need to be home schooled. We dodged a bullet there! From listening to my friends who are in the throws of home schooling their children, it sounds very oppressive (for both parents and child) and extremely hard! I imagine that for some of my friends out there, another couple weeks of homeschooling their own children will result in also wanting to (SPOILER ALERT) blow the place up like June did in Season 2.
THE EYES is PRESIDENT TRUMP
The Eyes is Gilead’s secret and powerful figures. They act as the overseers and spies for Gilead and police the “acceptable activities”.
Although President Trump is not a secret, he is our nation’s most powerful political figure and the elected leader to be the “overseer” of the nation in this time of crisis. Unlike the “eye in the sky” that can see all, no President can “see around corners” to know what the future holds. Hopefully, with the help from experts, everyone doing their part to social distance and a little luck, we will all get through this sooner than later.
MARTHA is HUSBANDS EVERYWHERE
Martha is a vital part of a Gilead home as domestic servants. They assist with cooking and cleaning along with taking care of the Gilead children while keeping the state of the home in order.
As we learn our “new normal” during this time of stay at home orders, working from home offices, social distancing and quarantining, husbands have become the domestic servants of our households. My husband Rick is doing his best to help me with the cooking and cleaning around the house and keeping things around here flowing as “normal” as possible while continuing to work from home during the day. Although it’s usually the Handmaids job to shop for the Marthas, my Martha is doing the grocery shopping for me too!
So there you have it. A blog that was mostly written in the middle of the night. Written when my overly tired brain wouldn’t shut down. Written immediately after I finished watching 3 seasons of a horrifyingly crazy show. You have to admit some of the correlations make sense, right? Rick and I are going to start watching Ozark next. Lord only knows what crazy blog ideas that show is going to give me!
“Under his eye”…I mean, stay safe and healthy everyone!