There are scattered diaries here on “what are you reading?” And I really enjoy them. Thought it might be a relief to get away from the relentless beat of outrage and heart breaking issues we must all deal with these days.
I know, some don’t like TV, and do well without it. But for me, there has not been a better TV time than now. Sure, there’s a lot of crap, but you can easily side step all of that. But the good stuff is better than I can ever remember.
So I’ll start what I’m watching with the second season of “The Hand Maiden’s Tale” I am a great fan of Margaret Atwood’s and have read almost everything she has written, and have found her to be way ahead of the times, as she was when she wrote “The Hand Maiden’s Tale.” I read it years ago, and I saw the earlier film version of it, which doesn’t hold a candle to the Hulu production. And, just a note for readers, if you haven’t explored Margaret Atwood, you’re missing a treat.
SPOILER ALERT. Quit reading here if you haven’t yet watched the beginning of season 2, but intend to. And please pick up when I get on to other things I’m watching, if you care to. I’m not going to reveal any big things about the plot but I am going to talk about a few scenes that were so absolutely visceral, and ones that you absolutely never saw on TV when I was growing up. Again, I don’t think it’s any longer fair to call TV the “boob tube.” Remember that?!
Season 2 of the “Hand Maiden’s Tale” promises to be even darker than season 1. But this is what happens when you are portraying the take over of evil vs. decency, let alone democracy.
It’s funny, my husband can watch all manner of gruel and violence, while my head is under the throw blanket on our sofa telling him to tell me when it is over. Game of Thrones had no end of cruel and violent scenes, but that show never scared me, although I did throw my sofa throw over my eyes several times, and I did quit watching it at a point for reasons no one cares about.
But, my husband is really struggling w/”The Hand Maiden’s Tale.” He did in season 1 and he is again in season 2. But he is soldiering on and watching it w/me. So weird to see him squeamish. I think this is because this is a dystopic tale that rings all too true these days. Sure, we are not there. YET. But there is something about watching it that just preys on your worst fears of where we are headed.
There is this scene where the extraordinarily evil aunt Lydia---and here the word extraordinary really earns its stripes---climbs into a “chapel” of Gilead, and rings the bell for a pregnant hand maiden. Her ecstasy, her belief, is so damn scary---the idea that she is on the right side of God. That’s what really rings bells an fears for me today. Not so much that we are there, but that we could be if we don’t fight as if our lives depend on it. Because they do.
And on that note, kudos to the actor who plays Aunt Lydia. I can’t imagine the toll that might have taken on her, but she does it with aplomb. It would haunt me, and I am reminded of Claire Danes who is in her last season of Homeland, because she says playing Carrie is just so exhausting. And she’s playing, ostensibly, a white hat.
There is another scene where a handmaiden---all the more noteworthy for being portrayed by the younger Gilmore girl, Alexis Bledel in a role that really lets her flexibility as an actor come of age and shine---who was once a very decent person, pre Gilead, but who has been driven to commit murder without looking back, and with well earned cold blood. These are the things that happen when we are treated like animals. We begin to act like animals, and not even the best of the them.
All I can say is this is a difficult but excellent series. Something that the movies can not take on in 2 hours. Again, praise to what TV CAN do.
OK, moving on. Really found “Babylon Berlin” compelling watching. The story of the movie “Cabaret” without the hollywood gloss. A much more nitty gritty version of the Weimar Republic. It is the biggest production budget Neflix has given to a European production company and it shows.
And finally, “Rectify.” Husband and I finished it about a week ago. We are, like so many others, late to the party on this, but both of us agreed, this is a series that didn’t get watched near enough, and the actors and writers and everyone else in the production, somehow escaped their fair due.
This is imo, an amazing series for so many reasons. It’s not loud, or violent or ever over stated. It demands you follow along with its relative quietness and subtlety, but if you do, most will find themselves compelled by the amazing acting by no one you’ve ever heard of, or at least no one I’d ever heard of, and a story that in some ways for me, echoed the “Shawshank Redemption,” one of my favorite movies ever, but in its own different way. But make no mistake about it, this series is about redemption, for all of its characters.
So that’s my take and my recs. I hope some of you will follow up on them if what I said appeals to you about any of them. Y’know, book clubs are everywhere, but where can we talk about what we’ve watched? I wanted to do so here, and am really hoping y’all add in.