O Conto da Aia

I jumped onto The Handmaids bandwagon pretty late; I started the series a couple of weeks ago & just finished with seasin 4. I chose to disregard the plethora of negative reviews about the last 2 seasons because I wanted to make my own conclusions about the show, as a whole. While many of the negative reviews do make valid points, such as some of the scenes being too slow & the (way) too many unnecessary close-ups of June, I thought the overall show was excellent!!

As an individual who: 1- raised in an extremely strict, religious setting 2- a victim of sexual abuse for many years 3- trapped in very tightly controlled & highly abusive relationships & 4-had a child ripped from my arm because I was deemed "unworthy" of being a mother simply because the grandparents were more financially stable at the time, this show truly resonated with SO MUCH of what I've gone & been through & what I've overcome & recovered from...hence the title of my review.

I understand that my review doesn't give much in reference to the show, itself, but it is a testament not only to those of us who've endured similar circumstances, but a testament to what strongly held beliefs, such as religion can do & the impact it can have on those who do not have those same beliefs.

It is OKAY to have differences of opinions. It is OKAY to have different beliefs. It is OKAY to be who we are, as individuals, but it is NOT okay to be persecuted for those differences. We do not all have to or need to agree with one another, but we all MUST learn to respect one another & accept people for who they are.

The Handmaid's Tale is a chilling & gripping series set in a dystopian world where the USA is transformed into a class-based society, with emphasis on fertile women who are treated as property for reproduction. The shows does a great job at depicting brutality, repression, authoritarianism, but also how these acts are justified in various forms. The acting really captures the cultish behaviors that can be found on both left & right extremes of today's ideological spectrum. Season 1-3 are definitely top-tier for those who enjoy dystopian/post-apocalyptic genres with high production.

Season 4 however is a snoozefest. The show has lost steam, there's not much storyline development left and it just drags with no objective or goal. Even the good acting & cinematography can't salvage what was once a solid 8-9.

If I may start 'off-topic' for a moment. I am male, mid sixties, and have watched, like many others, all the great (and not-so-great) horror films. After watching the ten episodes of 'The Handmaid's Tale' I can safely say that THIS is a real horror story. It makes the entire horror genre seem like cotton candy. After each episode I find myself shaking, often with tears in my eyes. I'm not going to talk about the story. I am going to tell you that the acting is beyond reproach. In almost every movie, every TV series, there are at least one or two characters that don't fit or are poorly portrayed. Not so here. I simply cannot find fault with the performances of the entire cast. Stellar! The sets, the direction, the camera work, the intensity all fit together seamlessly. This is a story of a good world...gone very wrong. This is a story about faith, twisted by evil intent, then thrust upon the common people. For me it is truly horrifying. I'm sorry I can't find better words to describe how this show affects me. I will say this: My daughter is currently attending university in the U.S. and I can tell you I fear for her safety every hour of every day. Not because this story is happening now...but because it is so close.

They have an interesting story but it happens in super-slow motion. They have about 2 seasons worth of storyline but they are trying to stretch it into 6-7 seasons by spending half of each episode zooming into people's eyes, showing people's empty faces and characters moving at slow motion. Each episode has about 4-5 minutes of story development and 40 minutes of zooming into people's faces and eyes.

This show was meant to be watched at 2x or 3x speed. If you are watching it at regular speed, you are actually watching it in slow motion.

Each episode: zoom into someone's face, zoom into someone's eyes, zoom on the ceiling, zoom on the walls, zoom back into someone's eyes, zoom into another character's face....20 minutes gone, another 20 left to go. Zoom some more until we fill 40 minutes. Then 5 minutes of actual story development.

I've never written a review in my life. After seeing this and then looking for more information about it, I came across IMDb and instead of finding intelligent reviews from intelligent people, I find a few that scream of ignorance.

It is pretty easy to understand why.

As the 20th century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more enlightened, civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down of society began to occur. How did this happen? Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, reproduced in greater numbers than the rest and in which the weakest or not-so-intelligent were culled, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Evolution began not to reward intelligence, but to coddle and save the weakest. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left "Intelligent Man and Woman" to become an endangered species. One need not look far within these comments to see that in effect. It's not that hate which is shown in some of these reviews that is killing the world. I think that up to a certain point all of us possess some level of hate. It is not having the mental acuity or aptitude to recognize it within ourselves, and to not let ourselves be led by it. Some of these so-called reviews are downright scary when you stop to think that is the actual mentality of the person who wrote them. One guy decrying interracial couples and gays to the point of not watching a television program that has them. A woman who says this could not happen and in the next paragraph goes on to detail how it could happen, only not as Christianity. Who cares what it is called, if you admit it could happen?

As for this series itself, it is relevant. For now. In this time. More than ever.

Beyond that, it is beautifully filmed and acted.

Do not fall for the negative reviews of those fanatics and zealots who are purposefully trying to bring down the ratings and who are so lost they cannot even practice the very laws of a god they are trying to defend.

This series is a masterpiece.