What people were saying about Margaret Atwood’s Emmy moment
The Hulu adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale emerged as the biggest winner at last night’s Emmys, where the show bagged trophies for acting, directing and writing. But the TV series would be nothing without its source material: Margaret Atwood’s suddenly topical 1985 dystopian novel. The Toronto-based author was at the ceremony, but she kept a low profile—until, that is, Handmaid’s Tale won Outstanding Drama Series, the biggest award of the night. Atwood mounted the stage along with the rest of the cast and crew to bask in the crowd’s adulation, and Twitter wasn’t far behind. Here’s what people were saying:
Atwood made her presence known on the red carpet, before the event:
At the Emmys… pic.twitter.com/508Fg0EZnu
— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) September 18, 2017
Despite shout-outs during acceptance speeches by Ann Dowd, Elisabeth Moss, director Reed Morano and screenwriter Bruce Miller, Atwood was never shown on camera until The Handmaid’s Tale won Outstanding Drama Series at the end of the night. As soon as she stepped on stage, the Twitter admiration began to flow. Here’s New Yorker television critic Emily Nussbaum:
It's great to see Margaret Atwood onstage at The Emmies. Love it.
— emily nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) September 18, 2017
Atwood wasn’t taking any chances with her purse:
Margaret Atwood wearing her bag onstage is my everything
— Rhea Butcher?️?⚾️ (@RheaButcher) September 18, 2017
There were jokes, and half-jokes:
When Margaret Atwood showed up on stage with her purse I couldn't even come up with one Handbag's Tale joke.
— ❄️Michael Gaston❄️ (@_MichaelGaston) September 18, 2017
Atwood got a standing ovation:
Getcha a man who looks at you the way John Lithgow looks at Margaret Atwood. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/CHJHFTnaYE
— Sara Netzley (@SaraNetzley) September 18, 2017
Both inside and outside the room:
why did I just stand up and clap when they brought out Margaret Atwood when I'm alone in my living room
— Saladin Ahmed (@saladinahmed) September 18, 2017
Some people were moved to tears:
watching emmy recaps, and i normally don't care about award shows, but i uh, wept when atwood got on stage for handmaid's tale's final win ☔
— vincent van don't (@sc0wll) September 18, 2017
It was the perfect antidote to a surprise Sean Spicer appearance during the ceremony’s opener:
So, Emmy's bad bc Sean Spicer but no actually good again bc Margaret Atwood. Anything else? Do I still need to watch?
— Ben Schwartz (@benschwartzy) September 18, 2017
This didn’t actually happen, but let’s pretend it did:
wow Margaret Atwood just grabbed the mic and started screaming "no condos in the Annex!"
— Chainsmokers ft. Amy (@amy_wood) September 18, 2017
