Handmaid’s Tale Movie vs. Hulu Series

     Before we started reading the Handmaid’s Tale in class, I watched the Hulu Series, which I thought was very good and portrayed the book very well. I found that th older movie didn’t match up with the book as well, and I thought it was cheesier and the acting not as good.

     In the movie, the Handmaid’s uniforms were portrayed differently than described in the book. The book described their hats as white with large wings on either side so that they couldn’t see out. In the movie, they worse red veils which completely ruins their purpose. I think the Hulu series portrays their outfits very accurately.

In the Hulu Series, Serena Joy and the Commander look like they are both in their thirties. In the book, I think they are portrayed as being much older, which helps the reader to understand that Serena Joy is infertile and portrays their status in society much higher. In the movie, Serena Joy and the Commander are both older, probably in their fifties or so. This matches up much better with the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the Hulu Series much more than the movie. I found it to be much more accurate. I also thought the acting was so much better as well. I also think that since the Hulu version is a series, it’s much more detailed which makes it more fun to watch.

-Maddie

Comments

  1. Irina April 1, 2019 at 6:40 AM

    I agree with you. Overall, what I've seen of the Hulu series seems to stick closer to the book than the movie. However, I do like the fact that the movie has an older Serena Joy and Commander, as it makes Offred and the Commander's relationship even stranger. In addition, Offred and Nick's relationship in the movie was overly romanticized; Atwood probably deliberately left their relationship in such an ambiguous state, and I dislike that the movie decided to change that.

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    1. MaddieMay 21, 2019 at 10:14 AM

      Yes, I did like that Serena Joy and The Commander we’re older in the the movie. It added to the creepiness of his relationship with Offred. I think the movie was more romanticized simply to make a more interesting storyline for its watchers. I wish movies didn’t do this so that we could have a more accurate portrayal of books.

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  2. Ahmad BobatApril 1, 2019 at 8:19 AM

    I agree. The hulu series seems to bring out much more intense feelings and thoughts in the viewers than the movie did. It portrays things as much more blunt, and intense, than did the movie. The tv series also takes thing much slower (which makes sense), which allows you to focus on one issue at a time, helping you grow more attached to the series.

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  3. Kevin LiApril 1, 2019 at 10:53 AM

    I might have tried to watch the Hulu series if it weren't for the fact that one, I don't own Hulu, and two, I have a bad stomach for blood. For some reason I am fine watching action scenes with gore, but watching slow scenes/ torture just makes me want to hurl. As a result I cant really judge the Hulu series, but from the clips that we got to watch, I think the Hulu series is much more sensual in that everything is thoroughly expressed. It also felt slower pace-wise than the movie, which often seemed rushed at points.

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    1. MaddieMay 21, 2019 at 10:12 AM

      Yes! I love that the series is a slower pace. I think it allows for more time to enjoy the events and speculate on what is going to happen next. The movie was rushed and had some iffy acting. If you ever get hulu, I suggest watching The Handmaids Tale.

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  4. Kristine WangApril 1, 2019 at 5:46 PM

    I also preferred the clips from the Hulu series. One thing that struck me about the movie was how they killed off Luke in the first few minutes. The Hulu series leaves the possibility of Luke still being alive open, which is what I had imagined while reading the book. This possibility allows viewers and readers to speculate about a reunion between the two in the sequel.

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    1. MaddieMay 21, 2019 at 10:10 AM

      I agree. I think that the possibility of Luke still being alive made things more interesting as well. Even though they might never get to see each other again, it’s fun to imagine that they might. The series was definitely closer to the book and more accurate than the movie.

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  5. Samaia JonesApril 2, 2019 at 8:02 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Samaia JonesApril 2, 2019 at 8:05 PM

    I agree I think the movie could have had better acting, and I wish the wardrobe was better done. I feel like movies have to take risk and change things from the book, but I didn’t like the adjustments this movie made. Although, I wasn’t there for the Hulu clips I feel like I would have like them more.

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  7. Ayat JaberApril 3, 2019 at 6:49 AM

    The Hulu series took the book to the next level, adding in some new plots and making the original plot a lot more complex and complicated. It isn't exactly like the book, but I think it aligns a little more with the book than the movie does because even though it adds some other stuff and makes its characters more complex, that is what makes the book more realistic.

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  8. Sarah H.April 4, 2019 at 7:08 AM

    I completely agree that the television series was much better than the movies. I really didn't like how they portrayed the handmaidens because I felt they were given too many freedoms and I felt that Offred was much to comfortable talking back to the Commander and the Wife. However, I liked the movie's particicution scene which was quite accurate in representing Gilead. I absolutely loved the tv series because of how they used darkness and violence appropriately to convey more clearly to the viewer about the danger of Gilead. I felt much more scared for Offred in the tv series than in the movie.

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  9. Neha AluruApril 4, 2019 at 3:17 PM

    I agree that the Hulu series was in general a better portrayal of the book than the movie. Something that stuck out to me right away was the clothing. I think part of the reason we find the Hulu series to have more accurate wardrobe might be due to the fact that the show is more modern while the movie was made a while ago. Even though the Hulu series was at times drastically different than the book, with Luke dying in the beginning for instance, I still prefer the series to the movie.

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  10. Amina GApril 4, 2019 at 7:48 PM

    I have not watched the entire Hulu series but I did see some clips, and I agree with you. The acting and quality of filming overall was just better than the movie. Also, they added a lot of accurate details, such as the clothing as you've mentioned. It was cool to see them add more story, too. They brought in new characters which I thought was interesting

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  11. Minji ChoiApril 5, 2019 at 12:37 PM

    I agree that the Hulu series was definitely more accurate, and the acting itself was much more realistic and sophisticated. It's important to note that the movie is much shorter than the series so they had to cut out some portions of the book, but I still think they changed things that they didn't have to change, and it resulted in a film adaptation that was very different from the book.

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  12. BetsyApril 9, 2019 at 7:36 AM

    I think my least favorite part of the movie version were all the "hollywood" changes that Atwood was trying to protest in the first place. We discussed this during class, but the oversexualization of Offred is a good example, as is the drastic changes in relationships: In the movie, Luke dies, Moira isn't an old friend, we don't meet Offred's mom at all, and the Nick relationship is far too romantic. What bothers me is the lack of a narrative purpose. Atwood designed the relationships to make a point about the society, and destroying those connections changes the point of the story.
    With that being said, I think parts of the movie are more accurate than the hulu series. For example, I really liked Serena Joy and the Commander and think they were cast well (or at least better). Their age is spot on, and I think the "cartoonishness" they border on is effective in emphasizing the story.

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  13. AlbertApril 13, 2019 at 8:43 AM

    I personally thought that the younger age of the Hulu series Serena Joy made it much less compelling. Maybe it struck me much harder because we watched the Hulu series right after the older movie, but I just felt like it didn't make sense for someone that was a huge celebrity and then settled down and was infertile would be that young in age. I haven't really seen anything more than what we watched in class so I didn't really have a chance to get attached to the characters, but my first impression of the Hulu series is that it was produced at a higher quality, but isn't any more compelling than the older movie.

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  14. KevinApril 23, 2019 at 5:56 PM

    I agree with Albert. We watched the series together actually because we are best friends. The Hulu series seemed to have a greater production quality. For me, that made it a bit more compelling. The vibe of the movie, in some some respects, would favor a lower budget and less well known actors.

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  15. NishantApril 23, 2019 at 5:56 PM

    This is a very interesting analysis. I personally do not have Hulu, so I appreciate that you broke down the similarities and differences for me. I felt that since the book was kind of extreme in terms of the fact that there was a lot of violence and stuff that Atwood used to drive her points home, so I guess that it may have felt more real in movie form. I think it would be a bit too much for me though.

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