Okay, I will admit that my ingrained fear of society's judgments about this post did put me off of posting it for a few weeks. Since then, I've put on my big girl pants and am here to give my thoughts on the newest Mad Max installment "Fury Road". Having seen bits and parts of the original, I can't say that I was too thrilled with the prospect of this re-imagination but with rave reviews and the trailer, I must say that I was intrigued. Don't let the title fool you, the movie doesn't actually center on Max Rockatanksy (Tom Hardy), the haunted loner and namesake of the film. In my opinion, the real stars are the furious females attempting to escape from the post-apocalyptic world wherein they have been held as sex slaves in hopes of breeding healthy male offspring. In this desert wasteland, water is sparse and the acquired liquid is used by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) as means to control the sickly, remaining people by limiting their access to it. The cast is composed of a majority of males or Warboys who view Immortan as a kind of diety who will grant them access to Valhalla. Despite the stark disparity between female and male characters, the strength of these women propels them into the spotlight. This has been touched upon by many male critics who wonder what all of these women are doing in a "man's movie", well that's exactly what I'm here to explain.
The title character, Max Rockatansky is a feral loner who is haunted by the people (mostly the ghost of a young girl) of his past. When he is captured by the Warboys, he becomes used as a human blood bag to Nux (Nicholas Hoult), a Warboy on the verge of death. When Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), the only female in a position of power, commits treason by liberating the wives of Immortan Joe, the Warboys set out to get back their only viable means of reproduction. This puts Max into contact with Furiosa and the Wives and inevitably they lead to his own character development. The film was highly criticized for its female casting being composed of several scantily clad super models. However, these sister wives prove to be tough as nails women whose pacifist beliefs don't hinder their fearlessly looking death in the face. Despite Max's ferocity and animalistic loner persona, the women still throw themselves in front of him and any other ally as means of protection, furthering their roles as Maternal figures. This inevitably gets The Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), Immortan's clear favourite, killed alongside her unborn child. The strong feminist message showcases women as the true heroes and as being both strong and caring simultaneously. Furiosa is the tough as nails leader of the pack, an amputee with some serious knowledge of how to use a gun and drive a truck. Not only is she revered and respected amongst Immortan's people but also becomes a strong and valuable amenity to the escape of these enslaved wives.
Overall, George Miller manages to turn what was originally a "man's movie" into a feminist's dream by subverting the male gaze common to the action movie genre and instead creating a "female gaze" in the women's efforts to thwart a predominantly male society's power structure by rescuing the only means of a healthy offspring. So, while I can already hear the meninists sighing far and wide, the film still retains the overdrawn car chases, gun fights and the like. So if you like a good action movie, a stellar cast and a post-apocalyptic setting, give Mad Max: Fury Road a go!
-Hayley-Quinn
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