Saturday Night Live is back with more jokes about The Handmaid’s Tale, of which there seems to be no shortage. With Amy Schumer as this week’s host, SNL dusted off the crimson robes once again to remind us that there are plenty more ways we can compare the current political climate to that of a post-apocalyptic regime.
“Let’s face it ladies,” begins the narrator backed by the instantly recognizable SATC theme song, “in 2018, The Handmaid’s Tale is basically our Sex and the City.” Forget Carrie and Samantha, are you more of an Offred or an Ofwarren? Well, if you love repressive regimes but also love to gossip with friends over brunch, this new show may be for you. Handmaids in the City promises banter with a heavy-handed dose of oppression.
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“Under his eye,” says a sing-songy Aidy Bryant. “Under his eye? What about under my eye? Look at these bags,” quips Schumer. The jokes are written in a familiar tone of voice that we haven’t heard in years. It’s cheesy, but weirdly comforting.
Joined by two more Handmaids, they sit around and joke about their dire circumstances as if it were any other day. “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll say, ‘Oh this so could be me and my friends — you know, with the way things are going,” adds the voiceover. SNL has gotten a lot of use out of Handmaid’s Tale since Donald Trump took office. A lot of people have. The connections between our current reality and the show’s fictional reality have been made since the moment Handmaid’s Tale came to our screens.
The juxtaposition of this unlikely mash-up makes you notice how much our television watching preferences have changed over the years. While we still enjoy a lighthearted show about the day-to-day lives of women we relate to, we also seek out much darker shows that remind us that things could be a lot worse. Our taste for escapism has definitely changed.
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