The Handmaid’s Tale has always had a thing for showing closeups of June staring at the camera, but it became very prevalent during Season 3 on Hulu. In fact, those closeup stares were so common that they turned into a running joke and memes among the fans. Here are some of the best memes and jokes about it. This post has spoilers for all of Season 3.
Here’s how Episode 12 ended. I honestly thought it would have been better if they had ended on Lawrence’s stare at June, but here we are.
[Spoilers S03E12] Don’t tell me you didn’t laugh when you saw this: from TheHandmaidsTale
And this one is really funny. It’s from u/ForgetfulLucy28 on Reddit and it was a prediction for the finale.
One fan wrote in response: “By the end of the last season it’s just going to be one of June’s electrons zipping about.”
And this is what June might look like by the time she finally gets Hannah back. 🙁
[No Spoilers] When June finally gets Hannah back. from TheHandmaidsTale
And what about this one?
A couple of weeks ago, Hulu took a different tactic.
[No Spoiler] Hulu: "We heard you were tired of close-up shots of June staring directly into the camera." from TheHandmaidsTale
Of course, the jokes and memes aren’t just on Reddit. There are a lot of them on Twitter too from this past season. Here are what some fans had to say about those special June staring moments.
I love #TheHandmaidsTale, but everything moves so incredibly slow and they keep opening new doors without closing others…
A good start would be to not start and end every significant moment with a closeup of Elisabeth Moss' terrified/confused/angry/helpless/heartbroken face pic.twitter.com/RrGlTVXRTF
— Andy Kleinman (@andykleinman) June 27, 2019
They ended in a fucking close up lol #TheHandmaidsTale
— Jasmine, hit that ho (@giz2le) August 14, 2019
I swear if another episode of #TheHandmaidsTale ends with a close up of June's face I'm gonna lose my shit. pic.twitter.com/OX7oakioWN
— Cinnamon (@_Crazy_Mo_) July 11, 2019
Did you get tired of the close-ups like so many other viewers did? Or did you think they were done well?
Me this season whenever the camera close up on June's face. #TheHandmaidsTale pic.twitter.com/F6b8On9gTA
— Manal⚡ (@MOMO_js) June 26, 2019
I love #TheHandmaidsTale but I swear 68% of season 3 has just been intense close up shots of June's face.
— Uz (@uzmamamaa) August 8, 2019
This one may have taken things a little too far for some fans.
#TheHandmaidsTale needs to take it down a notch with these close up shots. pic.twitter.com/HZGp71UqNX
— Daniela (@DanielaEspo) August 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/Huda_MRashid/status/1144015893925703681
Wonder what it would be like to end an episode with a closeup on a different character?
The Handmaid’s Tale needs to absolutely calm the fuck down with these closeups. #TheHandmaidsTale pic.twitter.com/4PXV3T4w3e
— Kath 2.0 (@Kath2point0) August 8, 2019
Writers of Handmaid’s Tale: The next scene will just be a two minute close-up on June’s face staring pointedly into the camera
Audience: That was also the last scene
Writers: Man that was a great scene
Audience: We want story and character develoment and subplots
Writers: Face pic.twitter.com/aRRMkzRpbR— Tom Bennett (@tombennett71) August 16, 2019
Some fans got so tired of the whole thing.
Why do we end every. single. fawking. episode of this season’s Handmaid’s Tale with a close up on June like this? 😒 #HandmaidsTale pic.twitter.com/ZHBj47FU8c
— SATS (@JustSats) August 16, 2019
the directors of the handmaid's tale when they end another episode with a closeup of june looking menacingly into the camera pic.twitter.com/UBFtVmoQxj
— desu (@B612x) August 8, 2019
Okay I’m extremely invested in The Handmaid’s Tale but really, how many close-up shots of Elisabeth Moss can one series have? pic.twitter.com/JO8e2ME9xQ
— a24 stan account (@JuliExplores) June 20, 2019
But let’s be honest: not all of those closeup scenes were annoying. Some were done very well.
#TheHandmaidsTale S3 Eps 5 got me all 🤬😭🥺😤😱😞!
BTW, this slow closeup shot of June looking pissed AF while U2’s ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ is playing in the background is EVERYTHING. pic.twitter.com/L1iUBgWEPW
— Edd Zahir (@eddscape) June 20, 2019
There’s an interesting YouTube video made about the whole thing. It seems like even though they did closeups for Season 1 and Season 2 also, they got less creative in Season 3 about the way they did them. So that might be why those moments seemed to stand out more to fans in Season 3.
Watching the video above reminds me of how much I love their soundtrack. I may have to look into that for a future article.
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