Is the society portrayed in The Handmaids Tale something to apsire to?

[WinterBorn]

I do not wish to discuss the show or get into a Lib v. Con flamefest.

I am just curious who here thinks that sort of religious based society is a good thing.

 

[night_son]

I do not wish to discuss the show or get into a Lib v. Con flamefest.

I am just curious who here thinks that sort of religious based society is a good thing.

We're keeping it non-partisan, right? Right, so if that's the case, I'd like to chime in. I find both the novel and show absolutely fascinating on many levels, because their plot is an amazing study in lesser and greater evils. On one hand, I find the piece's brutal theocratic regime to be terrifying, I mean who wouldn't. But on the other, I as both a rational human being and devourer of good fiction can see the need for such a regime in the strict context of the show's/novel's plot.

So humanity is in real danger of going extinct due to a pandemic which causes the mass inability to have children. To combat this, a new totalitarian government is formed, one dedicated to ensuring the survival of our species . . . by any means necessary. In order to achieve that, women capable of breeding are pressed into what amounts to slavery of their reproductive capabilities. The central theme/question asked by the novel/series? Which evil is worse? The oppression and forced servitude of fertile women . . . and legalized rape or the possibility that without such measures mankind could go extinct. See, what this particular piece of fiction forces the reader/viewer to do is to think very deeply about good and evil from several points of view and weigh them carefully on a moral scale. Should women be liberated from their bondage of being reproductive slaves . . . even if doing so might end the human race? Is individual freedom more important than survival of the species? All themes of the work, all immensely thought provoking.

Where do I stand on the story's moral dilemma? I'd probably be trying to liberate my other half and sister and nieces from the State if I were a character in the story. But then again, family has always taken priority in my own life philosophy. Yeah, I'd likely be one of the rebel scum shot dead within a few moments of an episode's opening.