In an oddly hopeful piece Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough of Screenprism once again turn their insightful eyes towards the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale, specifically noting the overt message of puritanical gender and class discrimination. They also point out the underlying crucial message of treating others as equals and showing kindness, strength and compassion wherever it’s needed.
Things happen when we don’t treat all people as whole individuals worthy of respect and compassion. Regardless of how you read ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ as a possible future, a literal fictional nightmare or an exaggeration of class and gender relationships in Western society, the story urges us to be brave and keep hope alive even when we feel powerless to change what we don’t like in the world. We can’t always win but it’s still worth it to be kind. To stand up for ourselves and to do the right thing. That is how we stay human.
