Films and TV shows in the genre of political drama are not only fascinating to watch but also to improve or change our views on many concepts. It can be gender, realism, violence, social expectations, gender norms, social issues, and political ideas such as political power (Globan & Ezgeta, 2017). However, after reading a lesson from Westeros: Gender and Power in Game of Thrones, when discussing the gender foundations of political power, another TV series comes to mind – “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Clapton & Shepherd, 2017). In this series, the action takes place in futuristic America.
The television series portray a totalitarian society that subjects fertile women to childbearing servitude. Newspapers are censored, people are arrested without explanation, and new laws are introduced without the participation of people. As a result of these actions, most women and many men lose their human rights. With the radical decline in birth rates, the fertile women are forced to be ‘handmaids’ to the male heads of households, often serving in the Gileadian government.
Moreover, many wonder how something could happen in the future. How could their society allow this to happen? Upon recent disasters and an outright catastrophe with the President’s assassination and Congress being attacked, the public became politically apathetic. As a result, “the public numbness at the scale of the tragedy and a sense of insecurity made it easy for the new leaders of Gilead to introduce a totalitarian regime” (Swale, 2020). Then leaders saw an opportunity to assert complete control over society, so they took it. Often manipulating the citizens into believing the new laws would be temporary. Furthermore, the series portrays using political power to exercise a strict central rule and total control over the lives of its citizens. This series shows how implementing politics through authoritarianism, power, and dominant forces will lead to dystopian consequences for society.
References
Clapton, W., & Shepherd, L. J. (2017). Lessons from Westeros: Gender and power in Game of Thrones, 37(1), 5-18. Web.
Globan, I., & Ezgeta, M. (2017). How (Fictional) Politicians persuade and manipulate their viewers? The Case of House of Cards. Communication Management Review, 2(02), 74-98. Web.
Swale, J. (2020). Feminism, and politics in The Handmaid’s Tale: Jill Swale examines the social and historical context of Atwood’s novel.(Literature in Context). The English Review, 13(1), 37-42.