alexvillage

I haven't read the reviews, only some snippets posted here. I already pre-ordered the audiobook. I agree with the reviewer that said Margaret Atwood knows how to use words in an ingenious way. That on itself would make me read her books. That's the sole reason why I did read some, even if the stories didn't attract me so much. Having said that, I am afraid she wrote a book in part to justify the terrible spin off the show creators invented, and that will be a huge disappointment. I was hoping that she was writing it to set clear the vision she had for her masterpiece. Two things mentioned here make me think that: the fact that she has written Holly/Nichole in, making the story about June alone (I always understood the tale to be one handmaid writing about the lives of all handmaids, not her own life), and the possibility that Gilead ended so soon, which is 100% the opposite of what she first wrote. I hope I am wrong. I would hate to think that she is somewhat colluding with the asshats of the show to keep that crap rolling for another 7 years.

Scientology is a cult. Cults are abusive. Marrying someone solely for money shows a lack of character. Marry someone for money and knowing that the person is a top influencer in an abusive system sows that the person has abusive tendencies. Obviously, this is a back and white answer but I am assuming the question is if someone would marry the Tom Cruise we know, knowing that he is part of the scientology we know. Then there is no nuance in the answer.

Wow! I don't have any of those devices and now even the camera door, the one from Amazon - Ring - is being marketed by the police and will eventually be used to profile people and for surveillance. The police departments are getting gifts from Amazon, which also writes their press releases praising the device. Not to mention the face recognition scanners that are very inaccurate, with algorithms that cannot distinguish one black person from another.

If this article is accurate, I am very disappointed that Margaret Atwood is still willing to have her words turned into crap by the same writers who, imo, destroyed the premise of the book and created something unwatchable. She could just leave it as a book, a story that would erase the shitty show as a valid representation of what she wrote. It would be the original author expanding on her first story, and the show would simply be a cheap attempt to make something good. Maybe the money is too tempting?

So, the BH part of the title is more like "Botox High", right? So much pressure on women to keep looking young, when all it does, imo, is to make them look like they are a collection of plastic pieces put together and smoothed with make up. I think they look awful, except for Gabrielle, who looks more natural. And by awful I don't mean the relative concept of beauty. I mean that they look more like avatars of themselves.

To be fair, there are far too many Christian institutions who have nothing to do with what they claim are their values. It is all "Jesus loves all, love the strangers, open your doors, share your food, be humble" then they turn around and are all full of shit, arrogant, demonizing immigrants - especially in these times - discriminating against whoever is not "like them". I have a theory that the cross is a marketing strategy. A recognizable image that, for many, tends to soften anything else that might come from them. It is like a subliminal message.

I know people do that. The Travoltas went a step further though, with all the *Jett come back in this new body*. The kid is already born without a acknowledged individuality. He will probably struggle to find his own identity.

I agree with you and I agree with Leah. EM says that people should inform themselves, then people do, then she claims that the information is incorrect? No darling, you cannot have it both ways. And she is either clueless, or really awful because the analogies between what happens in Gilead and the scientology world are enormous. As far as I know, she doesn't have family attachments she can use as an excuse to not say anything for fear of retaliation. Even that excuse does not work for everyone, imo. So-called celebrities have special treatment and a lot of non-celebrity people sound the alarm and lost loved ones, as we all know. Good for Leah to use all the words that need to be used instead of elevating EM - which is an ok actor treated as if she is an unmatched talent - to a voice of moderations. There is no moderation in cults. Extremism is part of the whole thing.

Too late for that. I signed up to a medical thing the other day and in seconds they had my photo and all the information they (didn't) need. We are living in a dystopian reality.

Thanks for setting me straight. I wasn't paying attention, I guess. To be fair to me, I'm not really a fan I just watched all the seasons and the movie because I thought it was good entertainment and I like Rico Colantoni a lot. I still like Veronica with Piz more than I like her with Logan. Still prefer her romantically solo.

What I was confused about is why didn't he have an attorney from the navy, why was he back on duty so fast. But frankly, I didn't really care about the character and while I agree that his death was abrupt and somewhat out of the blue, it didn't bother me. I like Veronica and Keith, maibly, and contrary to apparently all VM fans, I prefer Veronica with Piz.

I agree with you. I also don't agree that Piz never understood Veronica. We could speculate about that but in the 9 -10 years in between, with the two of them together for all this time, it is hard to believe that Piz still didn't understand Veronica, or that their relationship would have lasted for such a long time if they had not grown together as a couple. I wasn't part of the push to have a movie made, but it does feel like the fans wanted Veronica and Logan together and the story was just to justify that.

Being new to VM, I binged the past season to understand season 4, then was able to watch the movie. I don't like him. Agree that he did a good job as a teenager but as an adult in the movie I didn't like him, and I liked him even less as season 4 Logan. Can't put my finger on what it is. His looks changed a lot, he lost some of the "baby fat" on his face that hardened his expressions and I guess got some severe workout done? Also don't think his acting in season 4 is anything more than average to low. But since I have no idea of what he's been on, I can't really say if he can actually act

Another point that shows how unprepared to go beyond the book those showruiners were/are. Resistance movements are slow, frustrating. Taking a bunch of kids away from the, in some cases, the only parents they know is cruel when you don't have a plan for them. There are so may cults in real life, even some mainstream religious people, who treat their children and don't teach them anything but their many times twisted and absurd beliefs (like dismissing science completely, which is not in itself abuse but think about the consequences) and yet, we don't go around snatching the kids away from those parents. Gilead is a dystopia and someone's gut might say - let's save the kids! but the truth is, something like that can cause more problems than help in the long run. And thinking about Resistance as one YAY,VICORY! without a real plan, only vengeance that uses kids as objects, is not very thoughtful. The writers want the emotional appeal to be bigger than the actual story development. Historically, slaves escaping the south and telling their stories in the north was a big push for the beginning of the end of slavery. Handmaids escaping and telling their stories about having kids left in Gilead that they are not allowed to even see, would - slowly, for sure - increase the movement. Not to mention all the other stuff. Diplomacy is still hard with authoritarians but nuclear powers today still engage - not to jinx anything with the type of buffoon we have occupying a certain famous address - they don't want to end the world, so the idea that Canada is so afraid of Gilead'd nukes doesn't hold water. But of course, we are dealing with YAY, VICTORY! writers and they want the high fives more than they want story development. They haven't done anything with the refugees in Gilead, they missed another opportunity, they turned June into the Super Renegade June Wick who will probably literally fly out of Gilead at the end, instead of using historic examples and making her - since they insist on having this one handmaid telling the tale - an actual hero, like Harriet Tubman, to keep with the analogy. History does repeat itself with the bad but also with the good, because people do get engaged. The writers are showing how ignorant they are, on top of being simply bad at their craft, which is storytelling.

I think it is an interesting theory. And since the show ruiners and most writers are men, we need the male savior hero that will redeem Serena, so totally possible they are writing him this way.

If the show is being renewed than it is unlikely they are having trouble with sponsors - which is a whole other WTF to me. But even if they do need more money, it looks like Alexis and Samira are still under contract so USE THEM! Use the other actors and create (what a concept, creativity) stories that are interesting.

For me to go back to watching the show one of these two things would have to happen: 1. June is out, dead or in the background 2. Common sense from the writers If I absolutely had to pick one to bet on, I would bet on 1 because the writers are hopeless.

I never really wanted kids but I am totally ok having my nieces and my friends' kids for even a few days. All I need to know is that they will leave at some point, hopefully not too far in the future.

Me.

I am new to VM and watched the previous seasons, am watching the new one. Is there a way to watch the movie?

I never watched Veronica Mars but when I saw the *season 4 after all these years*, I wanted to watch - because of Rico, mostly - and I am right there with you. Don't like the character before and after, and I agree with Possibilities that he looks strange. As for the actor I think he is weak. Then I checked him out and found out he is a scientologist, which makes me go Ugh every time I see him on screen.

I don't have a problem with a show having a star but when the writing keeps getting ridiculous to please stardom, then they cannot claim that they are not a soap opera. It also doesn't mean that another actor wouldn't be successful in drawing viewers and being better at the craft. I would probably still watch if they had given Emily a storyline, not a maze to navigate and then throw everything into the void. I would probably go back to (try) watching if they dared to be creative and bold, hire another "star" - better yet, use Alexis and Samira more - and develop better stories - at least keep developing the stories they start but never finish because June has to do her heroic act of the week.

This is one of the things we have discussed here. They could have June leave and have another handmaid continue the tale because the idea of the book was not to tell the story of one handmaid, but the system that created them and how the women were abused by that system. Yes, I know that they said the story was about June but after two messed up seasons, they could have realized the ridiculous situation they got themselves in. I commented somewhere else that they should have have a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode that the show is LOOSELY based on the book. Because they created a handmaid that gets punished sometimes but whose worst violations - according to Gilead - are met with a shrug. She breaks all the rules, the wall doesn't even get a mention (I think, I don't watch it anymore), and life goes on. They could give new life to the show if the story of oppression and the fight to liberation continued from the point of view of a different handmaid, with a different personality. Or even if they moved on to the Marthas' point of view for a few episodes, really tell a story, where the ones who stayed start spreading the news of how June organized a escape and took the children, and how they will continue the Underground to save more people. Gosh, I am not a writer or in any way creative and I have IDEAS! But the writers don't have the interest, talent or ability to write something better than a super hero soap opera and the Executive Director is the star, so no chance this show is going to get better.

Those promos are just a bunch of scenes form the previous seasons, just to tease. It has nothing to do with what it will actually be written.

Maybe because of all the lawsuits. They probably cannot discuss them in public, they might even be witnesses since they were insiders. I liked the show but if this is the reason, or it is something related to this, it is the best thing because the lawyers could claim that the process is tainted by the publicity, things can be dismissed on technicalities. I am 100% speculating on the reasons for the series to end, and I hope they are happy with the repercussions that may finally lead to an end to this cult, or at least to the weakening to the powers of the lead cultists.