“The Handmaid’s Tale” co- creator Bruce Miller said the show, which is basking in glory and fetching awards, is about hope and survival.
The show, which is based on the dystopian novel from Canadian author Margaret Atwood, will be premiering in India on AXN on February 5.
Miller said the show is not “dark” but showcases what it is like to be living under a totalitarian state.
“It is very much drawn from the tone of the book, which is an unquestionably a dark world, but it’s not a dark show. The show is about hope and perspective.”
“It is about not losing the hope of getting out and getting your life back and never losing the idea that this is not the real world. This is not the way that people really are in their hearts. They’re acting in a certain way,” Miller said.
He said he read Atwood’s novel in college but it was the character of the protagonist, Offred, which stayed with him and pushed him to adapt the novel for TV.
“Honestly, it was Offred who I really connected to because at the end of the day the book is Offred’s story. She’s a woman, she’s a mother, she’s a human being trying to survive in this world. That’s really what attracted me to the project.”
“There are all sorts of political implications and religious implications, and those themes are all interesting, but for me it all goes back to the people who live in this world and how they survive and how they’re trapped by their own choices,” he added.
Talking about the themes that he explored in the show, Miller said it is about hope and survival.
“It has a lot of big, broad themes of control, biological sexism, misogyny, and cruelty, but the biggest theme is hope and survival. That’s what the story is about.
“The goal of our main character is to survive in this situation, reunite with her daughter and get back to what we would consider a normal life,” he said.
Miller added that people do not realise the value of their lives, and only come to senses when it is “snatched away from them”.
“Our lives are messy, annoying, busy and overwhelmed, but we don’t appreciate all of that until it is taken away,” he added.
