Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood
- The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Editions Used
- Abbreviations
- Margaret Atwood Chronology
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Margaret Atwood in Her Canadian Context
- Chapter 2 Margaret Atwood on Questions of Power
- Chapter 3 Home and Nation in Margaret Atwood’s Later Fiction
- Chapter 4 Margaret Atwood’s Female Bodies
- Chapter 5 Margaret Atwood and Environmentalism
- Chapter 6 Margaret Atwood and History
- Chapter 7 Margaret Atwood’s Revisions of Classic Texts
- Chapter 8 Margaret Atwood’s Humor
- Chapter 9 Margaret Atwood’s Poetry and Poetics
- Chapter 10 Margaret Atwood’s Later Short Fiction
- Chapter 11 Margaret Atwood’s Recent Dystopias
- Chapter 12 The Hulu and MGM Television Adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale
- Further Reading
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To …
Chapter 12 - The Hulu and MGM Television Adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 March 2021
- The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood
- The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Editions Used
- Abbreviations
- Margaret Atwood Chronology
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Margaret Atwood in Her Canadian Context
- Chapter 2 Margaret Atwood on Questions of Power
- Chapter 3 Home and Nation in Margaret Atwood’s Later Fiction
- Chapter 4 Margaret Atwood’s Female Bodies
- Chapter 5 Margaret Atwood and Environmentalism
- Chapter 6 Margaret Atwood and History
- Chapter 7 Margaret Atwood’s Revisions of Classic Texts
- Chapter 8 Margaret Atwood’s Humor
- Chapter 9 Margaret Atwood’s Poetry and Poetics
- Chapter 10 Margaret Atwood’s Later Short Fiction
- Chapter 11 Margaret Atwood’s Recent Dystopias
- Chapter 12 The Hulu and MGM Television Adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale
- Further Reading
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To …
Summary
This chapter analyzes the recent popular television adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, showing how serial storytelling has extended the social and political discussions begun by the novel. Specific attention is paid to the political implications of soundtrack and visual aesthetics, including the series’ allusions to painting, photography, and cinema, as well as costume, lighting, and choreography. The technique of alternating mass scenes, as in the Prayvaganza and the Particicution, overhead shots, and shallow focus close-up is considered. The visual impact of the Handmaids’ costumes extends to their widespread use in contemporary human rights demonstrations. Finally, the chapter reviews viewers’ responses both positive and negative, including concerns about the problematic “color-blindness” of the series. The debate around the series exposes the interdependence of aesthetic, intellectual, and moral categories that reflect a range of sociocultural preoccupations.
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- The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood , pp. 189 - 205Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021