Music: The other strong character of 'The Handmaid’s Tale'

The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, currently airing on Hulu, couldn’t have come at a better time — political changes have changed the dynamics of the society; feminism has taken a front seat and the conversation, struggle and resistance seem to have just started.

The story takes place in the dystopian republic of Gilead and centres around handmaidens, who are reduced to child-bearing vessels. They are useful until the uteri work to serve the leaders whose wives are barren is accomplished. The government pushes to govern through a fundamentalist version of Christianity. These handmaidens literally have to listen to the story of Rachel and Bilhah from the book of Genesis in which Rachel gives her handmaid Bilhah to her husband because she cannot carry children.

Oppression silences people. So how would one understand The Handmaid’s Tale? Elizabeth Moss plays Offred, the handmaid, whose point-of-view we see the story from. Moss’ voiceover and the music of the series are the two genius strokes that drive the point home.

The first four episodes of the series are available for streaming. The episodes have very few scenes which have music in the background. The dialogues and tight close-ups catch every shift of gaze, lip tremble and tears. The narration by Offred holds your attention for the 50-minute long episodes. But that’s when the selection of ’80s music hits you hard. The familiarity of the songs helps the viewers associate the show with the reality.

Let’s take a look at the powerful songs used in the series so far...

Episode 1 standout: Lesley Gore’s You Don’t Own Me

In the first episode, we see what Offred is in the post-war world, what her new reality is (which, by the way which is miles away from who she used to be. An editor, a wife, a mother. In the new world, her name is not her own. But come to the ending of the show, we know that she is June as Gore’s song You Don’t Own Me plays in the background and end credits roll. This is when Offred/June sends a warning that this body may be used for their services, but she will always have her name, her identity. It will not be easy for the Commander and his wife Serena Joy to break her spirit.

Episode 2 standout:  Simple Minds’ Don’t You Forget About Me

Sounds familiar? Well, it’s because the one song we associate with the air-punch. THIS is the song that plays at the end of The Breakfast Club as we see Emilio Estevez walking out on the school grounds. The song is important because even after Offred leads the charge in publicly killing a man accused of raping a handmaid, watches her fellow handmaid deliver and then give up her baby and lose all around, at the end of the episode she scores a one-on-one meeting with the Commander in his office (even his wife is not allowed in), plays Scrabble and defeats him. This may not be much, but when you are losing everything in the life, one win means the whole world.

Episode 3 standouts:  Blondie’s Heart of Glass (Crabtree Remix) and Jay Reatard’s Waiting for Something

This episode titled Late takes us to Offred’s past. It shows us how she was late to notice the changes and was always secure in her previous universe that she didn’t realise the massive shift in her surroundings. It’s here that Blondie’s Heart of Glass takes a new meaning. Offred/June is in the middle of the world collapse, protesting, only to run from it to save her life. Blondie’s words, “Once I had a love and it was divine/ Soon found out I was losing my mind/ It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind” reflect Offred’s struggle to come to terms with her reality. Following previous episodes, the end credits roll to Jay Reatard’s Waiting for Something. But the song begins when Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) is in the recovery room after her genitals are mutilated. Close up of her horrified, tearful face combined with the bumping bass line of the song leaves a huge impact and my dear viewers, you will not be able to control your tears.

Episode 4 standout - Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s Perpetuum Mobile

The song comes at the moment when Offred has found new hope after being tortured by Serena Joy, offered unwanted sex by her doctor, and understanding that the Latin words carved by the previous Offred, Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, means ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down.’ The end scene, in which Offred is walking the streets of Gilead with other handmaidens, is intercut with the scene when Offred is at the Red Centre where she is offered food by other handmaids as a gesture of solidarity after her attempt to escape. This is a warning to everyone else, that they cannot take these handmaidens lightly.