The dystopian vision of the future in The Handmaid’s Tale is brimming with gripping real-world parallels to contemporary America. On Friday, Hulu released a Super Bowl spot for the series that focuses on the harsher aspects of the world of Gilead — and it spits political fire.
If anyone was wondering just how sharply the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale would comment on today’s politics, the newest trailer clarifies that it will be as cutting as a knife.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead — or the not-too-distant future version of America — is a country ruled by a totalitarian government that uses the threat of Islamic terrorists to justify its rule. If that sounds all too familiar to Trump’s recent unconstitutional executive order singling out Muslims, that’s not all. The government of Gilead then proceeds to strip women of their rights, just as Trump recently signed an executive action that is crippling to women’s health.
That might be enough alone, but then there’s this line in the trailer, in what seems like a direct commentary on Trump’s current “Make America Great Again” slogan — which has prompted questions of exactly which era America was great in — Joseph Fienne’s mysterious Commander says, “Better never means better for everyone.”
The Handmaid’s Tale airs on Hulu April 26.
