Did she crave the energy and tenacity of a movement more than its stated goals? Perhaps so, which posed considerable risks should the world ever go—really go—the far right’s way. There was another reason Lana reminded me of Serena Joy in The Handmaid’s Tale. In Gilead, Serena Joy’s life is different than it was before, because the new order followed through on its pledge to install a brutal patriarchy. Women aren’t allowed to read, much less be involved in public life. “She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless,” the narrator says of Serena Joy. “She stays in her home, but
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