Popular Culture Review 32.1 • Winter 2021
“ A Prison of Our Own Sins ”: The Unacknowledged Legacy of 19 th Century Slave Narratives in HBO ’ s Westworld and Hulu ’ s The Handmaid ’ s Tale
By Emily O ’ Malley and Paul Reich
ABSTRACT
Both HBO ’ s Westworld ( 2016 ) and Hulu ’ s The Handmaid ’ s Tale ( 2017 ) feature white female protagonists who find themselves in societies that enslave and subject them to horrific harm . Although these near-future , alternative Americas imagine worlds free of systematic racism , the show ’ s creators employ the features and stylistic elements of 19 th century slave narratives and recast the central roles with white women . These misappropriations neglect to recognize the complicated legacy of slavery in America and its impact on intersectional Black women .
Keywords : Westworld , Handmaid ’ s Tale , slavery , slave narratives
“ Una prisión de nuestros propios pecados ”: El legado no reconocido de las narrativas de esclavos del siglo XIX en Westworld de HBO y The Handmaid ’ s Tale de Hulu
RESUMEN
Tanto Westworld de HBO ( 2016 ) como The Handmaid ’ s Tale ( 2017 ) de Hulu cuentan con protagonistas blancas que se encuentran en sociedades que las esclavizan y las someten a
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