The darkest form of environmentalism

This post contains spoilers for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale

In Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, inspired by Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, a group of fundamentalist Christian radicals overthrow the US government and replace it with the oppressive theocracy of Gilead. In its early days, the show won praise for its chilling portrayal of how religious extremism can erode women’s rights—a theme that remains all too relevant in today’s post-Roe world.

But a political revolution as dramatic as this one doesn't just happen in a vacuum: It needs a crisis to occur. In the world of The Handmaid's Tale, the crisis is both simple and terrifying: Most people on Earth have become infertile thanks to a mix of infectious diseases, pesticides, and pollution. Gilead is, in other words, a horrific response to environmental calamity—and a stark warning about how far-right extremists known as ecofascists might really try to "fix" our ailing planet.