University of Portsmouth: First Year Diary

January 2018: Part 6: My 'Handmaids Tale/Trump Essay

This is my essay about the 'Handmaid's Tale' television show and Donald Trump.

Contemporary Media Event: The UK Terrestrial Broadcast of The Handmaids Tale

Atwood, M. & Moss, E. (Producers). (2017). The Handmaid's Tale [Television Series}. Toronto\Hamilton\ Cambridge-Ontario (Canada): Hulu (USA)\Channel Four (UK)

Focal Point:

Tuchman, E. (Teleplay), & Dennis, K. (Director). The Bridge [Television Episode]. In Atwood, M. & Moss, E. (Producers). (2017). The Handmaid's Tale [Television Series}. Toronto\Hamilton\ Cambridge-Ontario (Canada): Hulu (USA)\Channel Four (UK)

Theme-Based Keywords:
Hulu, Channel Four, Amazon, Institutions, Donald Trump, Adaptation, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Margaret Atwood, Bob Miller, Elizabeth Moss, Dystopia, Cultural Relevance, Conceivable, HBO, Metro Goldwyn Mayer

What University Databases did you use?

Library Discovery, Nexis, Credo, BARB, The Guardian, The Wrap, Business Insider, Global News, The Radio Times

Research Report: (Wordage count will be taken from the statement below).
This research report will outline and discuss research relating to the subject of the terrestrial release of The Handmaid's Tale (Atwood & Moss, 2017) on Channel Four, an adaption of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel. It will consider the real-world context alongside which the television series aired, specifically in the US on Hulu and the response to it on Channel Four in the UK. Primary and secondary research will be cited to underpin analysis of a specific episode of the ten episode series, titled "The Bridge" (Atwood & Moss, 2017). This analysis will be a focal point for an investigation into the show's wider themes and the impact on the real world it has had for it to be considered a significant contemporary media event.
  Although the series aired on Hulu, a television subscription service with an absence from the UK market, in the US and Canada, (from April 26th to June 14th 2017), an opportunity was created to close a lucrative deal for broadcasting rights in the UK. According to Oliver Peters, Amazon has a "focus on finding big shows that can make a big difference around the world" (Peters, 2017). They wanted to acquire a television series with a world built to rival Game of Thrones (Benioff & Weiss, 2011). This is why it was believed that Amazon would secure the UK rights, even if exclusively. If episode nine of The Handmaid's Tale, "The Bridge" (Atwood & Moss, 2017) is considered, the main themes of this desired world can be seen. This is mainly in the presumed death and subsequent sterilisation of a handmaid and the effect this has on other characters. This kind of event creates a buzz of discussion and disbelief on social media and heightens the popularity of the show. Amazon seems to have found their answer, enabling them to create a similar buzz of discussion and anticipation, in securing the rights to produce an original Lord Of The Rings television series, which HBO did not want because, as CEO Richard Plepler stated, 'it already has a big-budget fantasy franchise' (Spangler, 2017), in Game of Thrones (Benioff & Weiss, 2011) . Similarities can be drawn with The Handmaid's Tale in the inclusion of meaningful characters and dramatic death scenes. If the viewing figures in the UK for "The Bridge" (Atwood & Moss, 2017) are anything to go by, the reverberation of the events on people's emotions is clear. "The Bridge" (Atwood & Moss, 2017) saw 13 million viewers on Channel Four, and these figures were consistent throughout the whole series, according to the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) website (http://www.barb.co.uk). If the series resonated so much in the UK, when detached from the political climate of America, the reasons why the series was so successful become objectively clearer.
  Bob Miller, showrunner for The Handmaid's Tale, inexplicitly said that Donald Trump's actions shaped the television series when Miller mentioned 'if anything, that made it easier to write the show. It helped me to understand how someone would articulate and justify to themselves feeling this way, so it was helpful putting the script together.' (Velocci, 2017). Trump's actions do contribute to the cultural significance of The Handmaid's Tale today, although the book was originally published back in 1985. This can be seen in Trump's lack of respect for Sergeant LaDavid Johnson's grieving wife, Myeshia Johnson, when he said that her husband, 'knew what he signed up for' (Holpuch, 2017). This objectification of women's emotions continues with his refusal to let an undocumented teen get an abortion (Afiune & Allbright, 2017), similar to the Handmaids' forced obligation to have sex with the Commanders.
  Atwood herself has said that 'we are closer than ever to 1930s vision of totalitarianism' (Busvine, 2017). From this it can be summarised that the reason why Trump supporters saw the initial trailer for the show as 'thinly veiled criticism of Trump's administration' (Scott, 2017) was due to The Handmaid's Tale's (Atwood & Moss, 2017) cultural significance in it's drawing of parallels with American politics.
  This shows clearly that the lines between fiction and reality are blurred and this goes a way to suggest why The Handmaid's Tale (Atwood & Moss, 2017) was popular and why Amazon wanted distribution rights. They have gained the chance to make an impact with the acquisition of The Lord of The Rings television adaptation, and they needed a way to recover after '...the resignation of it's top executive, Roy Price, following sexual harassment allegations' ("Amazon Studios head Roy Price quits after sexual harassment claims", 2017).
   UK audiences were watching 'The Handmaid's Tale' (Atwood & Moss, 2017) objectively and it's almost as if the fact that Amazon did not get distribution rights and that it was instead aired on Channel Four doesn't necessarily matter, owing to the fact that the series is now available to buy on the Amazon Instant Video service (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-Video/b?node=3010085031). This seems to suggest that although Channel Four was able to have the initial impact with the series in the UK, the first season is no longer exclusive to them in UK territories so they will not benefit as much anymore. This all suggests that the fact that the terrestrial release was on Channel Four doesn't necessarily have any cultural significance, in the fact that American politics does not affect us as much, and also from an institutional point of view in that Amazon do technically have distribution rights for the first season now, even though it has to be said that 'Channel 4 has announced it will air... second series' (Bley-Griffiths, 2017), which Amazon will no doubt get distribution rights to on Amazon Instant Video after the series initially airs in the UK in 2018. Essentially, Amazon have achieved their goal of obtaining a television series as impactful as Game of Thrones (Benioff & Weiss, 2011), in their acquisition of The Lord of the Rings television series in place of The Handmaid's Tale, but the fact that they now get to distribute it as purchasable home entertainment means that for some who watch it through Amazon, the fact that it was tied to Channel Four in the UK becomes irrelevant in the fact that this won't be mentioned anywhere, in that the only mention of a previous television broadcaster will be in the idents within the show that identify it as a Hulu Original, just as was the case on Channel Four itself.
Word Count: 1,066

Bibliography
Afiune, G. & Allbright, C. (2017, October 20). The Trump administration is trying to block an undocumented teen from getting an abortion — and just won a key court battle. Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.nexis.com/search/homesubmitForm.do#0|1|BOOLEAN||||||.
Amazon Studios head Roy Price quits after sexual harassment claims (2017, October 17). The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/17/amazon-studios-roy-price-quite-sexual-harassment-claims.
Atwood, M. & Moss, E. (Producers). (2017). The Handmaid's Tale [Television Series}. Toronto\Hamilton\ Cambridge-Ontario (Canada): Hulu (USA)\Channel Four (UK).
Benioff, D & Weiss, D.B. (Producers). (2011). Game of Thrones [Television Series]. USA: HBO.
Bley-Griffiths, E. (2017, July 30). The Handmaid's Tale will return to Channel 4 for a second series. The Radio Times. Retrieved from: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-07-30/the-handmaids-tale-will-return-to-channel-4-for-a-second-series/.
Busvine, D. (2017, October 14). Margaret Atwood: We are closer than ever to 1930s-style totalitarianism. Global News. Retrieved from: https://globalnews.ca/news/3803708/margaret-atwood-1930s-style-totalitarianism/.
Holpuch, A. (2017, October 24). Trump bickers with soldier's widow over condolence call. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/23/myeshia-johnson-niger-soldier-widow-trump-phone-call.
Peters, O. (2017, May 29). 'The Handmaid's Tale': Developing a New Vision of Dystopia for the Hulu Series. Creative Planet Network. Retrieved from: http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/news/edit/handmaids-tale-developing-new-vision-dystopia-hulu-series/618507.
Scott, K. (2017, March 24). Margaret Atwood sets Trump supporters straight on 'Handmaid's Tale' controversy. Global News. Retrieved from: https://globalnews.ca/news/3332200/margaret-atwood-sets-trump-supporters-straight-on-handmaids-tale-controversy/.
Spangler, T. (2017, November 30). Why HBO Passed on 'Lord of the Rings' TV Show, Which Was Scored by Amazon. Variety. Retrieved from http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hbo-lord-of-the-rings-show-game-of-thrones-1202627131/.
Tuchman, E. (Teleplay), & Dennis, K. (Director). (2017). The Bridge [Television Series Episode]. In Atwood, M. & Moss, E. (Producers). The Handmaid's Tale. Toronto\Hamilton\ Cambridge-Ontario (Canada): Hulu (USA)\Channel Four (UK).
Velocci, C. (2017, May, 24). 'Handmaid's Tale' Showrunner Credits Trump Supporters' 'Cruelties' for Shaping Series. The Wrap. Retrieved from: https://www.thewrap.com/handmaids-tale-trump-supporters-cruelties-emmy-wrap/.