University of Portsmouth: First Year Diary

January 2018: Part 5: Assessment Feedback Part Three: Media Essay 2 (75/100)

I have to say, the second media essay that I have done in my time at University, so far. is my favourite piece of work that I have ever done, and I think the mark speaks for itself.
I had to do an essay about the media angle of a contemporary media event, chosen from the list provided for the purposes of the assessment. I chose to write about the release of 'The Handmaid's Tale' television show, it's initial release on the American streaming service Hulu, and subsequent release on the British television channel, Channel 4. For some of you , this won't come as a surprise because you know that I studied the original novel by Margaret Atwood as part of my English Language and Literature A-level. Due to the fact that I studied the novel at A-level suggested to me, when choosing event that I would write about that I already knew the characters in quite a bit of debt, and therefore would be able to more easily related to modern day Trump America.
However, this essay was not based on the book, but rather the media events surrounding the television show's release, specifically, the fact that Channel 4 were not the only service in the running to acquire UK distribution rights for the show, and also the fact that, especially in the updated television version, 'The Handmaid's Tale' draws on stark comparisons with Donald Trump's America.
Without going into too much specific detail, I discussed Trump's attitude to women, and his specific, anti, stance on abortion, And how it is similar to how the handmaid's are forced to have their Commander's babies.I mentioned how he has no real capacity for compassion, like the Aunts, specifically in his comments to an army wife about the fact that her husband "knew what he signed up for".
The major argument that I made near the end of my essay, which I actually found near the end of writing the essay, was about how Amazon Instant video passed up on the chance of distributing the 'The Handmaid's Tale' for a UK audience, although they did want a show with the same or similar appeal as 'Game of Thrones', which they did eventually find in their acquisition of the rights to create a Lord of the rings television show as an Amazon original.
I came to the conclusion that although Channel 4 were lucky in getting distribution rights for 'The Handmaid's Tale' because it brought massive audiences, in excess of 2 million per episode, over to them, the fact that the show is a Hulu Original, meaning that their logo is present within the show. Subsequently,there is no trace of the fact that Channel 4 had any involvement, other than buying the show to air on their channel. This suggests that, when Amazon picked up the show to put on sale as part of their Instant Video service, they took away from the fact that Channel 4 was the original UK distributor, because some people will only watch it on Amazon and may not be aware that Channel 4 were the ones who originally aired the episodes, as well as the fact that not having exclusive rights after the show originally aired. devalues the investment they made.
74 out of 100 is equivalent to a first class degree. I have been told that not many people get first class rated essays in the first year, and that because I have one, I should be very proud of myself, which I am. I very much enjoyed researching and writing this essay, which I will treasure for the rest of my life. Researching into the show itself made me love it even more now than I did when I watched it on Channel 4 last summer, thinking to myself at the time that, although I would've watched it anyway because I wanted to see the adaptation of the book, I felt that I could use it academically someday, and now I have, and I cannot wait for season two, of the show, which, coming later this year will be, moving the narrative beyond the source material of the novel, I am really excited to see where this takes the story and the characters, and who knows, I may have the chance to write about the second season one day, which I would be very glad to do.