People keep spotting handmaids in Toronto
Resist, sister... and also watch Season 2 of The Handmaid's Tale on Bravo or Hulu, if you can stomach it.
This seems to be the message behind a strange series of appearances by women wearing red gowns and white hats à la the handmaids of Gilead from Margaret Atwood's 1985 dystopian feminist tome.
About 16 young women were spotted in Toronto on early Friday morning, walking two-by-two along University Avenue with their heads down, wearing red robes and white "wings."
The group appeared to be supervised by a man dressed in black.
While it's true that some of the hit show was filmed in our city, this wasn't a professional TV shoot. The only cameras getting footage of these handmaids belonged to curious (and in some cases freaked out) commuters.
Besides, Season 2 of the The Handmaid's Tale only premiered on Wednesday night (though it won't officially air on Bravo in Canada until Sunday.)
There's no way a production of this magnitude would be doing re-shoots so late in the game, and the series hasn't even been renewed for a third season yet (though mark my words, it will be.)
As almost everyone who's weighed in on the sightings has suggested, the stunt is likely meant to promote Season 2.
Some who've snapped pictures are also suggesting that the walk is also an act of political resistance — a feminist statement, if you will.
"If seeing this makes you uncomfortable, then you know this is not just about a show/fiction, it reminds us just how close of a reality this could be, and that for many in the world, this is a reality," wrote one passerby who spotted the women on Queen Street.
"They stood silent as a man with a stern look watched them and pasted back amd forth in front of them," read the person's Instagram post. "What a good timing after the van attack where the terrorist was proven to be an incel and after Bill Cosby has finally been found guilty."
The fact that some of the women are holding signs with hashtags on them, however, is a dead giveaway that this is some type of marketing activity. A really good one.
Over the past 24 hours, handmaids have been spotted all over Vancouver, Calgary and in many parts of Australia.
In fitting with the political aesthetic, they even crashed a gender studies class at the University of Sydney this week.
The handmaids still appear to be out and about in downtown Toronto, so snap a photo if you can. Fingers crossed its the closest you ever get to Gilead in real life.
If you haven't found a way to view the first two episodes of Season 2 from our home and native land, they'll both be available on iTunes and CraveTV starting April 30.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum!
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