Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Ep. 45 The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel by Renée Nault vs. The Handmaid's Tale (2017-2025)
Margaret Atwood's chilling vision of a dystopian America transformed into the theocratic Republic of Gilead has captivated readers since 1985, but how does this haunting story translate from page to screen? Diving deep into both the original novel and its acclaimed Hulu adaptation, this episode explores the fascinating creative choices that shape our understanding of Offred's nightmare.
From the stunning watercolor imagery of Renee Nault's graphic novel adaptation to the controversial casting of younger actors as the Commander and Serena Joy, each artistic decision fundamentally alters our perception of Gilead's power dynamics. The television series makes explicit what Atwood merely implies - showing us Janine's eye removal and Ofglen's genital mutilation while expanding character journeys beyond the novel's boundaries.
The most profound differences emerge in how each medium handles hope and resistance. While both end with the same ambiguous cliffhanger of Offred entering a van to an unknown fate, the novel frames her story as historical testimony studied in a post-Gilead future. The series, needing to continue beyond season one, transforms her journey into an ongoing resistance narrative with expanded roles for characters like Moira, who escapes to Canada rather than remaining broken at Jezebel's.
Whether you're a longtime fan of Atwood's prose or discovered this world through Elisabeth Moss's powerful performance, this episode illuminates how different storytelling approaches can reveal different truths about the same cautionary tale. What changes strengthened the adaptation? What was lost in translation? And most importantly - is the book really always better than the adaptation? Listen now and join the conversation about one of our most urgent and relevant dystopian visions.
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Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Yuvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City, and today I will be talking about the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and its 2017 adaptation, the Handmaid's Tale streaming on Hulu. Alright, everyone, as you know, I'm super excited to be bringing this episode to you and I gotta say I actually I did read the Handmaid's Tale, but I actually read, for this round, the Handmaid's Tale, the graphic novel. So it is obviously still Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, but it was adapted into a graphic novel by Renee Nolt, and it's one of those things where I couldn't find the novel at my local library. It just was not available. This is the only way that it was available, which is fine.
Speaker 1:I've read this book before. I've read it twice before, so I'm familiar with the novel. It was just a matter of like refreshing my memory of what happens, because it's been a while since I've read it and, wow, I'm just realizing the last time I read it was nine years ago. It's been a while, but I really do love the book, and so I was like all right, I'm excited to revisit it in the form of a graphic novel. So that was fun to experience it that way and just visually, renee Nault did a great job adapting it. It's absolutely beautiful. She used like watercolors to bring it to life. So it's like these beautiful watercolor paintings just bringing the story to life. And yeah, so just want to give that disclaimer that it is obviously still Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, but I read the graphic novel for this iteration because it wasn't available. I don't know, maybe people are panic reading because of the new administration, I don't know. I don't know. It was just not available in its regular novel format. So I did read the graphic novel, but I'm glad I did. It was beautiful. And I do want to say that the graphic novel adaptation of the Handmaid's Tale was actually a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Reader's Favorite Graphic Novels and Comics in 2019. So obviously it didn't win, but it was a nominee.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, and yes, this is a special TV series versus book episode to discuss the Handmaid's Tale. I believe there is a film version of the Handmaid's Tale, but no one talks about it. I don't think it's reviewed very well from what I've seen. So this is kind of the Handmaid's Tale that everyone is familiar with, and this was actually the first TV series I saw when I moved to New York City.
Speaker 1:As you know, I've mentioned, I'm not much of a TV watcher. My favorite medium to tell stories is through film. I'm starting to get more into television series now, but growing up, film was like my jam. I could start watching TV shows but I couldn't necessarily stick with watching them from beginning to end. And yeah, this was the first TV series I saw after moving to New York. I actually watched it with my mom.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, my mom like had been dying to take the train and so she kind of used me as like when you move, we're, I'll help you move. But we got to take the train and I was like okay, so we took the train and it was a three day long train journey. I mean, we chose like the cheapest seats available. So obviously there was like, yeah, we just had no way of enjoying some. It was a nice journey. I don't know that I would recommend a three hour long journey in coach, which is what we did. I would definitely want to. If it's going to be that long of a journey, I would definitely want to get a cabin, a private cabin with an actual bed and a shower and a private bathroom, because that would have all been nice, but anyway. So, yes, three-day journey Got to New York City.
Speaker 1:My roommates obviously went about their lives after I moved in because they'd been living here for a while, and my mom stayed with me. I don't remember if it was like four or five days or if she stayed like the full week, but she did stay with me for a little bit to help me move in and she bought a lot of my furniture. So thank you, mom, definitely appreciate it. And, yes, she helped me make the move out here, and so we actually watched the series together. That was the thing we would watch when we were waiting for, like, the furniture that we had bought to be delivered. We just sit down and watch it and then, after we did some exploring, we would like come home and watch it. So that's the first series I saw when I moved to New York, and I did it with my mom. So that was nice. That's a good memory. So this was my second time re-watching the first season. I've only ever seen the first season.
Speaker 1:I've heard mixed things about seasons two to four, and season five will premiere later this year, if it hasn't premiered already, but I think it just premiered actually, but anyway. So yeah, I've heard mixed things about seasons two to four so I was never really interested in watching it. But beyond that, I have a thing If you're going to do a series based on a book, a standalone book, eventually Margaret Atwood did expand the story via the Testaments, which is I think it's technically a prequel to the Handmaid's Tale, but it's one of those prequel sequels, if I'm not mistaken. It's a prequel, but yeah, but the series is it's still its own thing, like it does not incorporate the Testaments into the storyline at all, because that's a completely different storyline. So I have this thing about TV shows having more than one season of a standalone book, unless it's like a thousand page book and you're like splitting like the first 500 pages into one series and then the last 500 pages, like Pachinko. Pachinko did that. Pachinko's two seasons Pachinko. So season one is focuses on certain events of the book and then the second season is focusing on other sections of the book. So in that case I'm definitely interested in watching season two of Pachinko, because we didn't cover everything. Go back to my pachinko episode to see what was covered in that first season and what is still missing.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so like, unless it's something like pachinko, I'm not really interested in seeing the seasons beyond what takes place in the actual novel. That's just thing I have. That's why, 13 reasons why same thing only watched the first season. Yeah, to me it's like, not that you can't expand upon this world, obviously you can. But I like I don't know, I like sticking to what I already know and I'm not necessarily interested in seeing how the story expands beyond that even. But this one where it ends on a cliffhanger in both the book and the tv series, yeah, just not interested. So yes, orlando, because he did ask me and he's like is that how this book ends or is cliffhanger in both the book and the TV series? Yeah, just not interested. So, yes, orlando, because he did ask me and he's like is that how this book ends or is that just how the series ends? And I'm just like you'll have to wait for the episode. So, yes, the book does end in the exact same cliffhanger that the TV series ends in. But anyway, I've rambled long enough, a really long time actually. I apologize, but anyway. So let's go ahead and get started.
Speaker 1:So the Handmaid's Tale again, since I'm reading the, in this case referring to the graphic novel. Specifically, the Handmaid's Tale, the graphic novel adapted by Renee Nolt, originally by Margaret Atwood, was first published in 2019 and it follows Offred. Offred is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, forming friendships. She serves in the household of the commander and his wife, and under this new social order, she has only one purpose, and that is that once a month, she must lie on her back and pray that the commander makes her pregnant. In this universe, the birth rates are declining, and so Offred and the other handmaids are valued only if they're fertile. But we get glimpses of Offred's life before Gilead, and this was when she was an independent woman who had a job, family, her own name, and now all she can do is try to survive and hopefully find a way to rebel.
Speaker 1:The 2017 adaptation of the Handmaid's Tale first premiered in 2017. It stars Elizabeth Moss, yvonne Strahovski and Anne Dowd, and the series is set in a dystopian future in which a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. So the first season. I remember when I first watched the first season, I felt like it was completely different from the book. And revisiting the book, I was like no, they actually I mean, obviously they did change a lot of things. And they changed those things, I imagine, because, as always, they have to change things for the medium, but because they're also expanding on this world beyond the novel. But I was like, other than the changes which we will talk about, they actually did a pretty spot on adaptation. I would say. So let's go ahead and get started and first things first.
Speaker 1:My biggest gripe with the TV series and this is even before I watched it this is when we were just getting like promo videos and things like that. And this was Orlando and I went to the movies. You know we love going to the movies and you know how, if you get there really early, like before the previews start, sometimes you'll get like first glimpses of TV series or other movies. And so we got a first glimpse at the Handmaid's Tale. And this was my first gripe, this was my first complaint, and this is before I had even seen it. So Orlando very much knows what I ranted about, because he was the first person to hear this rant, and that is the casting of Joseph Fiennes and Yvonne Strahovski as the commander and his wife.
Speaker 1:No shade to them as actors. My issue with them being cast has nothing to do with their ability as actors and it has everything to do with the fact that the commander and his wife are supposed to be old. Like they're supposed to be old, like this is. There's a reason why the wives are not expected to give birth. There's a reason why the wives are not the ones that are going through the ritual to up the declining birth rate. It's because they're past the age when they were they can get pregnant and give birth, and the commanders are old. So, yes, I am aware that a man can impregnate a woman pretty much at any age once he hits puberty, and that's why we have men like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro that are 80-year-old fathers.
Speaker 1:So I am aware that men do have the ability to get younger women, or do have the ability to get someone pregnant, even at the age of, however, or any age, basically. But there is still. It's a lot more difficult. Let me look up statistics really fast, all right. So here it is. As men age, their sperm count can decrease due to various factors, including changes in hormone levels, health conditions and a decrease in testicular fertility. So in young adulthood, which is in the 20s to 30s age range, males tend to have the highest sperm count and fertility Sperm count. In older men, as in 60s and above, the sperm count and fertility may decrease even more. An older man may have between 1 million and 10 million sperm per milliliter of semen. So the younger men tend to have may have between 15 million and 200 million sperm, while again the older men have between 1 million and 10 million sperm. So yes, they do have the ability to get people pregnant as they age, but the likelihood does go down, the ability to do so does go down.
Speaker 1:Like it is such a sticking point in the novel that it's like all the blame is being placed on these younger women for not getting pregnant, when it's like we don't even know if these really old men even like it's just like such an important detail that like all the blame falls on these young women, when it's like the fault could very much be with the very old men that are trying to impregnate them. So that is my issue with the casting of Joseph Fine and Ivan Strahovski as the commander and his wife. Again, nothing to do with their ability as actors. I actually think they're both really great actors. I enjoy their performances, but that really, like we saw that first glimpse and I went on this rant immediately and it just still irks me that they were cast in these roles, like it is such an important detail that they're older, because it is just like such an important point that is made over and over again in the books that, like, these men might be sterile at this point because of their age, but the blame is falling on the women who do not have the ability to get pregnant or who are not getting pregnant because of these old, sterile men. So all right, so let's bring him back and we'll just say go with.
Speaker 1:Like a not very important detail, but it's one that caught my attention and that is that there is more than one Martha in the book. So there's different tiers of what women can do. So there's. So we have the commander's wives and they're the ones that are married to the commanders and run the household, or, you know, traditional, and they no longer have the ability to get pregnant. So they're the ones that are going to like after the handmaid gets pregnant and gives birth, they're the ones that are going to raise the child as their own. Then there's the aunts, and they're the ones that essentially prepare and train the women into being handmaidens. There's the econo-wives that do everything except what the aunts do, but they're wives, they're handmaids, they're Marthas, they're everything and they're for the poor men. We don't meet any Akana wives, but they are mentioned. And then there's the Marthas, and they're like the maids. So again for the commanders and their wives, they're richer, they have the ability to afford a Martha, so the Martha is in charge of cleaning, cooking, all of that. So those are the different rankings of women. They each wear their own individual color. In the TV series there's only one Martha. In the book there's actually two Marthas that live in the household.
Speaker 1:Both the book and the TV series are told via flashbacks. So we flash back and forth between the current time and the time before, whether that be the time way before Gilead was established or once Gilead was established, and we get a glimpse of the Red Center. The Red Center is where all the women that have been selected to be handmaids are trained to be handmaids. So there is one character named Janine and she is beaten in the Red Center.
Speaker 1:But I will say this is another thing that a lot of people took issue with in the adaptation, and that is that the Republic of Gilead takes a lot of the Bible very literally. So, for example, in the TV series. This doesn't happen in the book but in the TV series Janine is beaten and she's punished, and she's punished by having her eye removed. And it's one of those things that, like one of the scripture says if your eye causes you to sin, have it removed. So they remove. There are handmaids like Janine her eyeball is taken out. There's other handmaids that are that are missing a hand, or and again, that was through punishment, because their hand is what caused them to sin. So this doesn't happen in the novel. They are beaten, they are punished, but they are not punished with the removal of eyes or limbs.
Speaker 1:And the reason for that is and again, this was a gripe that some people had with the adaptation is that a lot of people felt that these women would not be like you, wouldn't remove an eye, like this whole thing is about how should I phrase it? It's about perfection in a way. Not perfection, it's kind of how do I phrase it? It's very racist, ableist. There you go. It's a very racist and ableist society, so there's no way that they're going to. They're not actually going to give a handmaid a disability. That's not like. The women that are chosen to be handmaids are perfect for lack of a better word like physically perfect and meet the society's standards, which is that they're white and again, they have all their limbs. Because in this society, ableism is a very big thing and this isn't like explicitly stated in the, it's hinted at in the book. It's not like explicitly stated like there's no disabled people or black people whatever, but it's like in this society, like, yeah, it makes sense for their, for like people, that with disabilities and any Black people or minorities not exist in the society.
Speaker 1:This was changed for the TV series. As I said, they do physically punish the handmaids and disable them in some ways sometimes, and then there are a lot of handmaidens of color. So, yes, so Janine is beaten in the Red Center the way she is in the TV series, but she is not physically scarred, or at least physically scarred in the sense that they remove her eye. Horrible society, and I really like that.
Speaker 1:Margaret Atwood included this detail because it just really like oh gosh, is the fact that there's Japanese tourists. They're visiting Gilead and taking pictures of the handmaids as if they're animals at the zoo and asking them like, yeah, they're there as tourists to see Gilead, but it's like, is this really a country you should be visiting? I don't know, yeah, it's just really. It's really striking and that's one of the images I remember that really stuck with me after I read the book and it continues to stick with me now. And yeah, and it just feels really nasty to just see these like tourists from another country, like literally touring this place and just seeing how these poor women live, and it's like, well, it sucks to be them. I'm gonna go back to my country and again there's commentary there, but in the TV series they don't include these tourists. They changed it instead in which there's a group of Mexican ambassadors that come and get to see Gilead and how it's run and there's like this big presentation for them and this big dinner, and then Offred ends up finding out that they're actually there because they're interested in trading some of the handmaids for whatever Mexican goods Mexico has to offer in this society. And that's when Offred stands up for herself and says like she lied. Obviously when she's asked in the TV series. Are you happy? And she's like oh yeah, I'm very happy. And then, like, when she finds out what the Mexican ambassadors are actually there for, she tells them the truth and she's like I'm not happy here. This is the way we're treated, like we're not doing any of this consensually. And I'm not. You should do something about it. And so the Mexican ambassadors go back to Mexico and I don't know if they did anything about it. Maybe they do in the future seasons, but that's where it ends in the first season. So we get a glimpse of just regular Japanese tourists versus Mexican ambassadors, getting a glimpse of Gilead and how it's run.
Speaker 1:Moira is Offred's best friend from before, and so Offred's name is June. So if you hear me say June, I'm referring to Offred. Offred and June are the same person. So if I use the name interchangeably which I might, depending on which time period in the story I'm talking about, if it's the time before Gilead, I'll probably say June. If it's the times of Gilead, I'll probably say Offred. But in case I don't and I just interchange them willy-nilly, just know that if I'm talking about June, I'm referring to Offred. So Moira is Offred's best friend from before and they reunite briefly at the Red Center, and in the TV series Moira escapes once.
Speaker 1:In the book she actually tries to escape twice. So in the TV series she escapes once and is successful. In the book she escapes twice. Once is not successful and the second time it is. So the first time she tries to escape by pretending she's sick, because she's seen that they call the ambulance if someone at the red center is seriously ill and so she's like I'll pretend that I'm sick, they'll call the ambulance and then I'll escape once, like once I'm out of the red center it'll be easier for me to escape. So she does that. She pretends to be sick and the ambulance is called and everything. But then she's brought in a few hours later and she's been beaten because I guess they've figured out that she wasn't actually ill. So that was a failure. The second attempt matches the attempt made in the tv series.
Speaker 1:There is one difference which I will touch upon, but essentially what happens in the tv series and the book on Moira's successful attempt at escaping is she takes the little like on the toilet flusher, the thing that's like inside the tank on the toilet. There's like something in there that's sharp, and so she takes that and she tells the aunt that's outside supervising the bathrooms. She's like there's a like one of the toilets is overflowing. And when the aunt goes in there to investigate she like holds the sharp thing and like is like, give me your clothes or I'm going to kill you. And then she trades clothes with the aunt and she escapes by pretending to be an aunt, because the aunts can come and go from the red center freely. So she escapes by pretending to be an aunt. The guards just let her out and she leaves. She does this in the TV series as well. However, in the TV series June or Offred goes with her.
Speaker 1:Offred does not make any attempt to escape the Red Center in the book, but in the TV series she and Moira escape. So, moira, they take one of the handmade garments and Offred puts it on. Moira does the same thing. She takes the little sharp thing from the toilet and steals the Martha's clothes and they exit the red center and they make it as far as the subway. When they get to the subway, moira walks a little bit ahead of June and as June falls behind, two guards see a handmaid all by herself. And as June falls behind, two guards see like a handmaid all by herself. And so they're like where'd you come from? Who are you with? Handmaids aren't supposed to walk around by themselves. And she's just like, um, well, uh, and then she's just looking at Moira, moira's looking at her, and so Offred is taken back to the Red Center and Moira gets on the subway and is able to escape so and so in this instance it is June who is punished the way that Moira is punished in the book, after her first attempt. So she's severely beaten and whipped, like her feet are whipped, so she can't stand for a few days.
Speaker 1:But yeah, in the TV series. So the commander's wife does say, like it's possible that the commander is sterile, which is a forbidden word in this universe and she's like it's possible, he's sterile, so I think we should find you a different way to get pregnant so you can give me my baby and you can get out of here and move on to somewhere else, because I don't want you here anymore, essentially. And she's like I think Nick should be the sperm donor, essentially. So in the book that's all that happens. They steal one kiss in secret in which Nick tells her the commander wants to see you alone in his room, which is also forbidden, but they steal that one kiss and then they sleep together in order to try to get Offred pregnant. But that is it. In the TV series they actually start a whole affair and they sleep together a lot. There's a lot of sex between the two of them, but yeah, that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1:In the book, janine, as of Warren, actually she's the only handmaid to get pregnant and during the time period of this book and the TV series she's the only handmaid to get pregnant and give birth successfully. And in the TV series the baby's fine, the baby's born fine and she's fine, she lives. But in the book she gives birth and the baby's fine, and then the baby ends up dying a few days later, which in this universe is pretty frequent. You can give birth to a baby that looks healthy and then they just die suddenly. The declining birth rates and the child mortality rates in this universe are attributed to a lot of pollution and a lot of radiation, which makes sense for a baby to not be able to survive all of that. But yeah, the baby doesn't die in the tv series, but it is mentioned at some point in the book that she she died a few days after being born, and it's just one of those things where it was like they named her, where offred says like they named her too soon, but it's, yeah, it's just a very common thing. So it's not. And any child that makes it past the baby stage is like there doesn't? There's like a certain threshold I'm not exactly sure what it is where it's like okay, this baby's not going to die Like she's good, she survived, she's going to make it into adulthood.
Speaker 1:Essentially, and in the TV series, since Angela is Angela's, the baby is fine and she doesn't die. What ends up happening instead is that Janine is ends up so, after she is severely beaten and tortured in the red center and her eyes removed, she goes a little crazy and so she's not all there, like she gets tortured to madness, essentially. So her handmaid gives birth, she sticks around for a little bit to like nurse the baby and then after a few weeks or months, she's then removed from that home and taken to a different home to start the process over again and hopefully give another commander and his wife a baby. So after in the book, like I said, angela the baby dies before she's. I mean she is eventually like sent to baby. Angela dies before she's relocated to a new location. So yeah, so baby Angela was not like, she wasn't even like a few months old when she died. I don't even think she reached like the month mark.
Speaker 1:But in the TV series she fulfills her duties and she's there for the required amount of maternity time that she needs to be there before being sent, and then she's relocated, she meets the new family and she doesn't. That madness is obviously exacerbated by the fact that she gave birth and she is not with her daughter anymore. She's been separated from her daughter. So when she is there to do the ritual, she like fights against it and like refuses to do it. And the commander that she was with essentially promised her like we'll run away together, blah, blah, blah. And of course she believes it. And so after she's relocated, she ends up in the middle of the night, like escaping her new home, goes to the old commander's home and takes Angela. And then she is. She is threatening to jump off a bridge and kill herself and Angela. They bring Offred to her because they know that Offred and Janine are friends and Offred talks her down from hurting Angela. So Janine gives Angela to Offred and then she still jumps off the bridge but she survives.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so none of that happens in the book, because baby Angela dies in the book and, as far as we know, offred never becomes pregnant in the book. In the TV series she does. She does end up finding out that she's pregnant, more than likely with the next baby because of how often they're sleeping together. But she does find out she's pregnant and there's like this whole thing where everyone is celebrating her pregnancy. In the book she does not get pregnant. As far as we know, the book ends on a cliffhanger. So we don't know if she ever got pregnant or not.
Speaker 1:But yeah, in the once it is revealed that Offred is pregnant, serena Joy, who's the commander's wife, takes her to like is like you're coming with me, and she puts her in the car. And then because I think like Offred does something I don't remember exactly what she does, but she like does something and like she's starting to rebel a little bit against Serena Joy and the commander and the way she's like speaking to them and everything, or the way she's speaking to Serena Joy she, she doesn't speak that way to the commander she's starting to rebel a little bit in that sense. So, after her pregnancy is revealed. Serena Joy puts her in the van and then she gets. They show up at a destination and then she tells the driver like don't let her come out for any reason, and then they close the doors so she can't get out of the car. She goes inside the building and then when she comes out, she comes out with Hannah, who's Offred's daughter, and so obviously Offred is like begging the driver to let her. She's been looking for her daughter. She had no idea where her daughter was this whole time and she's like begging the driver to please let her out. It's a really heartbreaking scene because obviously he doesn't and she's just crying and cursing serena joy. And serena joy just says as long as my baby's safe, your baby's safe, and so that's when offred starts behaving a little bit more respectfully towards Serena Joy. Again In the book this does not happen, serena Joy, to keep her motivated and like you're going to sleep with Nick and if you sleep with Nick I will see if I can get a picture of your daughter and she finds a picture of Offred's daughter and shows her the picture and it's one of those really sad things. It's been three years since she saw her daughter the last time she saw her daughter her daughter was five. So after three years, like she can just tell. Like this child doesn't know me anymore. So it's really it's a really sad moment in the book as well, but in the TV series just seeing her cry and curse and beg to see her to be let out of the car so she can see her daughter is just really heartbreaking.
Speaker 1:In the TV series so there's a place called Jezebel's, which is like this underground place where the commanders can break all the laws that they've set forth because, like, of course, they're so righteous and they're doing this for the declining birth rates and they care about following the Bible. But Jezebel's exists, which is essentially a place where the women that work at Jezebel's are prostitutes and the commanders are allowed to drink and smoke there, something that is against the law in the real world. So it's like it's kind of like a speakeasy, but there's sex involved as well. Because why wouldn't there be? Like, of course they're going to be hypocrites and be like and just do that because it's course there are going to be hypocrites and be like and just do that because it's they're not going to follow their own rules. Let's be real.
Speaker 1:So in the book, offred visits jezebel's once and it's one of those things where the commander gets off on taking his handmaids to this place. So he'll, like he has them dress up in like this really skimpy outfit and put makeup on and he takes them out and he parades them. But people there can't know that they're a handmaid. They have to think that she's a prostitute or one of the worker, one of the sex workers there. And so he goes and he like gets off on, like yeah, this is like the sex worker I got for the night and offred has to be like I'm with him for the night, he just like. And then he like gets off on, like yeah, this is like the sex worker I got for the night and off red has to be like I'm with him for the night and he just like. And then he like takes her to one of the hotel rooms and sleeps with her and and the way that he wants to and which is not the boring ritual way. So, yeah, he like gets, he gets off on this and on this power trip, essentially.
Speaker 1:But in she only visits that place once in the book, in the tv series she visits it twice and the reason she visits the first time. It's the same reason as the book. The commander just wants the power trip and takes and takes her there the second time in the tv series is because the handmaids that are working on a rebellion to bring the end of Gilead One of the handmaids that's in on it tells her there's a very important package there. We know that you've been to Jezebel's because someone don't you worry about it, we just know. So there's a very important package at Jezebel's and we need you to convince your commander to take you there again and pick up the package from this bartender and bring it back to us. And so she does. She convinces the commander, like oh, can you take me again? Like I really enjoyed having sex with you there and I just I really enjoyed it. And he's like yeah, of course. And then he takes her back and she's not able to retrieve the package, but she does go there twice. The reason she's unable to get the package is because we need to give Moira something to do. Yes, she Offred, and Moira are reunited for the first time in years at Jezebel's.
Speaker 1:It turns out that after Moira escaped the Red Center, she was eventually caught and they gave her the choice of either going to the colonies or to going to Jezebel's. You do not want to go to the colonies. The people that work in the colonies are exposed to radiation constantly, like they're literally. Their job is to clean up the remnants of war and radiation that was left behind, so you're going to die a very painful radiation death. So when she was given the option, she chose to work at Jezebel's instead. So she works at Jezebel's and that's where she's been ever since she was caught. And it's one of those moments in the book that makes June really, really sad, because it's clear that Moira has lost her fight and she's resigned to living the rest of her life or not the rest of her youthful life working at Jezebel's until she is sent off to somewhere else, more than likely the colonies and she's kind of just resigned herself to this life. And so it makes June really, really sad to see Moira like this.
Speaker 1:So in the TV series, when June and the commander returned to Jezebel's the second time, the commander's like I know the real reason you wanted to come. It's to see your friend. And then he's like I'll give you two some privacy for a little bit, why I expect some action later. And so June tells Moira all about why she came back and the package, and she's like Moira, I need you to help me. And Moira's like I'm not gonna help you, like I don't mind working at Jezebel's it's, and if I get caught, like I'm for sure going to the colonies and I'm not gonna go to the colonies. And so, like June yells at her and is like what happened to the old Moira? The old Moira, and you would not just give up like this, she would fight, she would do something about it. And it's like this epic blowout that ends with her in tears and the commander comes back. It's kind of like I'm sorry that you had a fight with your friend, blah, blah, blah. And then she's unable to complete her mission because the commander comes back and it's like the only way, like, yeah, so then she receives a package later on while she's on a shopping trip, and it's from moira, and we find out that moira was like you know what? June is right. So she gets the package, manages to stink it out of jezebels and into to offred's care, and then she dresses up as one of the eyes. So the eyes are the ones that are in charge of enforcing the law and if you see an eye coming for you it's very bad news, but anyway. So she attacks one of the eyes and dresses up as the eye and steals his van and then she eventually makes it over the border into Canada and she is safe and it is there that she reunites with Luke.
Speaker 1:Luke is Offred's husband from before, but in the TV series he also manages to escape to Canada. In the book we don't know what happens to him. He and June do try to escape Gilead when it's Gilead's already established, but things have not gotten to the extremes that they are now, and so they're trying to leave Gilead and they're caught at the border and we don't know what happened. Luke and Offred get separated, so Offred's running with her daughter and then they're both captured and brought back to Gilead and we know Offred is made a handmaiden and we don't. We have no idea what happened to Luke. We don't know if he did make it or if he died. We don't know.
Speaker 1:In the book there's only one salvaging, so a salvaging is kind of like a public execution. So in the book there's only one salvaging and it is a man who's been accused of raping a pregnant handmaid and this rape is what causes her to lose the baby. We don't know if this is true or not. This is what the aunts are saying, but for all we know he could just a traitor and this is the reason the handmaids are given. So they stone him to death. And this does happen, as I said, in the book, but in the TV series this happens in like the first or second episode.
Speaker 1:And then there's another salvaging that doesn't happen in the book, in which it's. The salvaging is Janine. So again, at this point Janine has jumped off the bridge. She survives the suicide attempt and for the harm she could have brought to Angela, for the harm she brought to the commander and his wife and for her attempted suicide, essentially this all means she's sentenced to death. So she goes to the salvaging and all the handmaids refuse to kill Janine and Janine is spared because the handmaids decide not to participate. So, as I said, the second salvaging involving Janine does not happen in the book.
Speaker 1:The salvaging against the man who supposedly sexually assaulted a handmaid happens towards the end of the book and in it of Glenn, who is Offred's partner. So again, in this society the handmaids are not allowed to walk by themselves. They're not allowed to go anywhere without supervision. So they're paired up with other handmaids and they do everything in twos. And they of Glenn eventually finds out that like Offred is interested in joining the rebellion of glenn's already was already a part of it, and so she starts telling offred a little bit about the rebellion and what she can do to help, and all that when the salvaging happens of this man, of glenn, goes and kicks him right in the head, knocking him out, so he doesn't feel anything. Um, he doesn't feel the pain of being stoned to death, essentially because of glenn knocks him out, so he doesn't feel anything. He doesn't feel the pain of being stoned to death, essentially because of Glenn knocks him out and Offred's like why did you do that? And she's like because he's one of us, like he's part of the rebellion. And Offred's like ooh, and so. That's why I'm saying that in the TV series that's the reason that we're given for this man being executed. But we actually don't know if that's the real reason or not.
Speaker 1:In the TV series, at the very end of the first episode, ofglen is replaced with the new handmaid, who's also Ofglen, but the handmaid that Offred knew to be Ofglen, is replaced at the end of the first episode. This does happen in the book as well. However, ofglen is replaced at the end. Towards the end, Again after the salvaging of this guy. She saw that the the new of glenn reveals that she saw the van the van of the eyes coming for her, and so it was one of those things that she's like oh, I've been discovered as a rebel and I'd rather kill myself than go to where wherever the eyes are taking. Like I said, you don't want to, to wherever the eyes are taking you. Like I said, you don't want to go where the eyes are taking you. So Ofglen decides to kill herself. And yeah, like this happens at the end of the book, like it was one of those things that's like, huh Ofglen's around for a while In the TV series, like she's gone after the first episode.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, in the TV series, the reason Ofglen is replaced with the new new of Glenn is actually because she was caught as committing sexual crimes with another woman, which just means she was caught either making out or having sexual relations with a woman. There are no LGBTQ people in this universe or in this allowed in the Republic of Gilead. So this is against the law. This allowed in the Republic of Gilead. So this is against the law. So in the second episode we see of Glenn being captured and I think it's actually with the Martha of her house that she's been having this secret affair. So the Martha is ordered to be hanged and she is of. Glenn sees her being hanged and then of Glenn is spared because and the only reason she's spared is because she's a handmaid and they need all the fertile women to be handmaids. Essentially, reason she's spared is because she's a handmaid and they need all the fertile women to be handmaids. Essentially so she spared the death penalty. But when she wakes up at the end of the second episode, she has gone through the removal of her clitoris, and aunt lydia that's like the main aunt of the tv series, end of the book too is like now you don't need to worry about those sinful thoughts entering your mind ever again. And so she just cries at her female castration essentially having happened. So that's what happens with Ofglen in the TV series, but in the book she kills herself because she sees the eyes coming for her.
Speaker 1:And yeah, as I said, the TV series and the book both end in a cliffhanger, the exact same cliffhanger that you see in the TV series is the exact same cliffhanger found in the book. So there you go, orlando, and the TV series continues beyond there. As I said, this is where the book ends. The TV series continues on and expands on this story, which I still am on about whether or not I want to watch the rest of the seasons. Like I said, I just I have a thing about watching shows that continue past the first season, like if they covered everything that the book did in the first season. I don't really want to continue beyond that, but that's just me and my personal preference.
Speaker 1:The book ends with the cliffhanger, but on top of that it ends with historical notes, which is just like I guess you could consider it an epilogue in which there's like a conference. Someone is giving a presentation on Gilead at this point, gilead is no more, but it's like a conference at some point in the future and they're looking back on Gilead and the ways and customs that they believed in and they're this is a symposium from Gilead experts talking about everything they know, and that includes everything they know about Offred, because the whole story of the Handmaid's Tale is told through recordings that Offred did at some point. However, where her tale ends is how it ends. These experts don't know if Offred ended up getting killed or if she made it to Canada and lived out the rest of her life in Canada. Like there's no answers, they don't know.
Speaker 1:We don't know what happened to Offred, so it's still a cliffhanger and I kind of wish the book had ended there, as frustrating as it is, because the historical notes don't really give us any new information other than the commander was eventually killed or not? Well, yeah, killed, and well, maybe not killed, but he was punished. He was found guilty of having forbidden materials in his house and for committing crimes, as in like visiting Jezebelbels. So all of that happens, but yeah, it's kind of. Offred's story remains a cliffhanger, so I kind of wish that Margaret Atwood had left it as that, because in my opinion, like, the historical notes don't really add too much beyond that. But anyway, I just want to say that, as I mentioned, renee Nault's adaptation and art for the graphic novel is absolutely stunning. If you are someone that struggles reading regular novels but you can read graphic novels, I highly recommend you check out the Handmaid's Tale and read it for yourself and enjoy the artwork. Like I said, it's beautiful and the way red is used. Red is the color of the handmaids and she just finds ways to really make that red stand out in ways beyond the handmaid's robe. So it's absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker 1:The TV series is very well acted. I know a lot of people had issues when it first premiered with, like I said, the use of the. They're being disabled handmaids and they're being handmaids of color and it's not in this instance. Their reasoning for not wanting handmaids of color is not for the stereotypical, racist reasons. People don't usually want people of color playing their white characters. In this instance, this is supposed to be. This is obviously a dystopian future, but in this society, for the people in charge that are living it, they have created the perfect utopia and in this perfect utopia there's no room for, you know, they believe in eugenics. That's all I'll say.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so that was something that I really, really liked about the. I mean I can't fault the actors. All the actors are great, even Joseph Fiennes and Ivan Strahovski. Again, no issues with them as actors, just age-wise they don't fit. We needed to go with someone old. Okay, I'm done ranting about that. But yeah, elizabeth Moss, as Offred, is fantastic. She's great. I can't fault her performance in any way. Like those moments, like that scene with Hannah, she just it's so good, like she's just she's great and yeah, she's, I think she makes a really great off-red.
Speaker 1:I know, apart from the issues I mentioned, a lot of people were like the soundtrack for this TV show is what is with this soundtrack, ugh? And I just want to say I like there was maybe like one song choice that I was like this was a little odd, but for the most part, like the scene that drove me to tears the first time I saw it and drove me to tears rewatching. It has Heart of Glass playing as its background and it's in episode three, I believe, and it's when we're seeing the start of Gilead. We get in the flashbacks. We see Moira and June's credit cards get declined even though they have money, and June loses her job and we find out that all her money is being transferred to Luke, since he's her husband. Moira is a lesbian and so the fate of her money is kind of up in the air because she doesn't have any relatives, like it's just her, so there's no male relatives that the money would go to. And the final scene ends in a protest and the police start firing back against the protesters. It's a peaceful protest and they're being shot at and attacked and Heart of Glass is playing and the juxtaposition of this song that I really really love with this scene. That's just really hard to watch. It gets me every time. So I personally did not have any issues with the soundtrack.
Speaker 1:But anyway, that being said, I rated the book four stars. I rated the graphic novel four stars, but the book is four stars as well, and I gave the TV series a four star rating as well. But to me there is a clear winner and it is the book. I do really really love the book and the TV series is great. The first season I can only talk about the first season. The first season is great, it's fantastic and it's not a bad adaptation all things considered. But there's just something about the book that, as difficult as it is to read at times I just I don't know there's some. I think the book just does more for me in terms of spreading the message and the warning that it's trying to send, and Margaret Atwood is just a wonderful writer. So I have to go with the book. But that is it for this episode of Books vs Movies. If you're enjoying this podcast, please leave me a rating and a review. Tell all your friends about it and I will see you next time. Bye.