The only way to have watched The Handmaid’s Tale in 1990 (indeed even to read the source material) was to regard the story as “speculative” science fiction; not a clarion call or warning to movie audiences of things to come, but a virtually identical angle and attack of exploitation.
I hadn’t seen The Handmaid’s Tale movie since the mid ’90s, so when it showed up on PBS, I recorded it as a possible review for my Vintage Cable Box series, or for this collection of essays. It’s been on the DVR list going on about a year, and I still had no interest in re-watching the movie. This week, I have the harmonic convergence of three movies; from all outward appearances distinct pieces of entertainment, yet they all share the common theme of sexism and oppression of women. I’m a straight white male, so I couldn’t possibly understand the plight of women and since I am directly responsible for the mistreatment of all women (because subtext is non-existent these days), I figured these three movies would straighten my ass out. First, we watched Room (not the fun, terrible 2003 Tommy Wiseau movie). Next up was The Invisible Man starring…
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Misadventures in Blissville 
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