#cos currently i see none on here and that must be rectified

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

tragic that when i type in 'love theoretically' into the search bar on tumblr dot wtf, i just get a bunch of posts about theories, and nothing about the tooth-rotting hand-warming cup-of-tea book that is Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood :(

[serenagaywaterford]

Here's the thing:

If I wanted to watch something "real" about how bad people never change and that's just how things are, I'd talk to my family, go on Facebook, walk down the street, turn on the news, pick up a history book, log onto tumblr...

Reality is chock full of depressing, awful stories of bad people who never change, never try to do better, never learn anything, and spend their whole lives fucking other people over. Like, I get it. It's everywhere.

The thing is The Handmaids Tale ain't a fucking documentary! It's a fictional TV show that draws from elements of history and current events. That doesn't mean every single character must be "real".

"Well, in real life, someone like Serena wouldn't change."

Yo.

Newsflash.

This is TV.

In reality, June would be DEAD. How about that reality check? She woulda been executed a long time ago. Janine would be dead. Emily would be dead. Rita would be dead. Nick would be dead. Aunt Lydia would be dead. Hell, Serena and Fred would probably be dead too.

In reality, if Emily even survived to 2x13, Nichole would be DEAD. They both would have died in that river.

In reality, Moira and Luke would be fucking miserable in some tent city refugee hellhole, not a beautiful spacious apartment in downtown Toronto. In reality, Canada would be a fucking mess too.

In reality, nothing past S1 would have happened.

In reality, Serena would never have done anything she did in 2x07/2x08, she wouldn’t have been affected by Eden’s death, she wouldn’t have read from the Bible, she wouldn’t have given Nichole away.

In reality, June would never think she could lead a full scale revolution. Are you fucking kidding me?

In reality, not a single Martha would give a fuck what she has to say. And Lawrence sure wouldn't.

In reality, Hannah would live and die in Gilead. So, like, why are any of you hoping she'll make it out? That's not reality!

In reality a system like Gilead would have fallen apart already (cos the world-building kinda sucks, I'm sorry.)

Do we really want to play the "but in reality" game? With a fictional TV show that is already bordering on soap opera?

Look, I am the queen of giving Serena more credit than she deserves. I know that. I'll admit it. (I actually think her motives in 3x05 are deeper than it seems but that's another story.) I also know people like her "in reality" often (usually) stay horrible forever. These are both things that generally are true.

BUT

I do not want to watch a TV show that is "real". We literally don’t need that right now. We have the real world for that. I want to watch a show like this to give me hope. That hope may be hard earned, it make come with frustration, it may even come with some anger along the way... but that's exactly it: it's a journey. There are paths where characters who are given significant prominence and screentime should follow. They should have some sort of movement. Maybe they stumble along the path, maybe they try to run back, maybe they take the long way, maybe they fuck up along the way, but they are meant to be going SOMEWHERE. Somewhere different than where they began.

That is the entire point of storytelling. Am I wrong?

The problem with Serena is precisely that as arguably the second lead character behind June, she hasn't fucking moved in 3 seasons. Main characters should have movement. But nope. None for Serena. Why? Because they keep setting her up along a path, only to fucking tear up the road in front of her for plot twists and shock and oooooh the contrived drama!!!

And yet, all these other characters are doing completely unrealistic things almost constantly (June, darling, I'm looking at you.) and that is just fine. Why is Serena the only character that were supposed to hold to some strange "but in reality!" standard?

I want a show about women that actually DESTROYS harmful stereotypes about women. I don’t want one that upholds the tools that maintain patriarchy. I don’t want the same tired tropes and cliches.

I want hope that even the worst people can change if given the tools.

I want to see women breaking down the systems of oppression that isolate them, including those of their own design. I want to see women of privilege recognizing their role in the oppression of others, understanding that, taking deliberate action to rectify and support those women they kept down. I want then to feel shame and change.

Isn't that the whole point of callout culture? Of protesting? Of education? To change people, even the shitty ones! That's the sort of thing I want in my depressing, dystopian fiction. That's inspiring.

Otherwise, what's the point in anything at all? If people can't and don't change, why not just kill all the people you don't agree with and that's that?

I want angry women, sad women, troubled women, supportive women, difficult women, but ultimately women that face down a system and destroy the motherfucker. Together.

What I don’t need is a reality check, thanks.

I don’t need to be reminded that bad people exist. There are PLENTY of those to choose from on THT. That is what my TV already does. Why can't we have one female character of privilege, one shitty woman who is a MAIN CHARACTER and thus able to be given the screen time, one awful woman go through change for the better?

"That's not real!"

Fuck "real". I'm not saying she has to become a hero. I'm not saying she should ride off into the sunset absolved of all her guilt and crimes. I'm not even saying give her a full redemption arc. I'm not saying she shouldn't suffer intensely.

I'm saying we don't need another story about a rich white woman who is horrible and never fucking changes. In a story where the system itself (and the ideology behind it) is the true villain of the story, where you have a council of men in power keeping it going, what's the issue with using Serena to explore the women that both are victims of it and benefit from it? All that dissonance!!! All the psychological shit that they dipped their toes into before! That's some juicy shit right there. Mmmm. There are more than enough bad guys to choose from.

Right now that conversation has been effectively killed. There's no complexity, there's nothing important being said. It's a cookie-cutter evil lady vs good lady soap opera fairytale. Who the fuck wants that basic shit except children?!

Ugh.

I am just so sick of this show thinking it's so progressive when it just pulls out the same worn out tropes, and sexist ones at that, over and over.

Sorry, THT, you're not saying anything of relevance anymore. You can give June all the cussword-laden voiceovers with Moss' meme-level closeup Anger Face and fade into 80s pop music all you want, but you're not inspiring anyone by not writing actual hope for change into these stories. Because you're not addressing what casual viewers want to see in their fictional TV shows.

"Tee hee! All the stupid viewers thought Serena was actually changing?! WHAT DELUSIONAL LOSERS! Let's just rehash the same shock value tricks we keep doing every season! Yes, we are doing groundbreaking TV, lads!"

And please do not give me that "but in reality!" argument when June Osborne still exists.

Telling us, "Well, people suck. You'll never be able to be allies with other women in power, because nobody every fucking changes. Don't even bother cos look what happens." is not helpful.

Bish, please.

WHAT A FUCKING WASTE OF MY TIME THIS SHOW IS.