Why Chicks Really Dig Mad Max: Fury Road
The latest installment in the Mad Max franchise didn’t really grab my attention at first. All I knew about the movie was that it had a bizarre-looking trailer that gave me almost zero context as to what the story was about. But then the film was released, and the internet BLEW. UP.
Apparently all the awesome geeky ladies I followed online were in love with it (along with everyone else on Twitter). I poked around the blog headlines and tried to find out why, without spoiling too much about the plot since now I was curious enough to see the movie myself. From what I could tell, women loved that the movie had a badass female character and that the plot revolved around the liberation of enslaved women. Well, okay, I could get behind that, but what made this Furiosa character so different from all the other typical “strong female characters?” Some men were reportedly upset, which was odd, but what else was there that made Fury Road so unique?
A lazy Sunday afternoon came along weeks after the release, so I finally went to see it.
This was the progression of my thoughts during the film:
- What is this?
- LOL this movie is so weird I love the flaming guitar guy
- HOLY CRAP THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME
- Furiosa is the best thing I never knew I needed and I could cry right now
- CAN WE WATCH IT AGAIN
As a general movie buff, there are so many things I could write about to convince any skeptical stragglers to go see this. But for anyone else who experienced my initial confusion about why this film strikes such a chord with women specifically, I want to share why I believe Fury Road is so different— and why it’s my new favorite action movie of all time.
This first point may seem superficial, but it speaks volumes for an action movie in particular: I didn’t notice a single pandering shot of a woman. (Others may disagree with me, of course, but this is a point I’d love to hear other opinions on.) When Max first comes across the wives, we see them washing off with a water hose in minimal, wrap-like clothing. It would have been so easy to do lingering shots on their bodies (you know, the typical glistening cleavage or visible boobs beneath wet clothes), so I braced for it, ready to cringe and be disappointed. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time. And yet… the shots were tasteful considering the setting, and beautiful without lingering awkwardly. I wondered if it was a fluke — surely the sexy poses would come later. They didn’t.
When I did some research afterward, I found out one probable, contributing reason why: the editor of Fury Road was the director’s wife. Maybe she took out some of the more typical, male-oriented shots of the wives? I don’t know, but either way, I gained a huge amount of respect for the husband and wife team of George Miller and Margaret Sixel.
My favorite thing about Furiosa is that she isn’t portrayed as the typical “look at me, I’m a female who can kick butt” caricature. She’s not awesome because she’s like her male counterparts (or because she’s supposedly “better” than them), she’s just raw and real and doing what she can to survive. She can fight and she can be feminine, and her femininity isn’t portrayed through her relationship with the leading man or her sexuality. She’s allowed to be emotional and have her moments of weakness, without them demoting her to a damsel in distress.
Since giant, crazy vehicles are a huge part of this movie, I loved how the one Furiosa drives is such a reflection of her character. She’s always prepared with backup plans; her War Rig is packed with secret weapons. Furiosa is carrying the lives of five women; her vehicle carries a heavy tank filled with tons of water. Furiosa has been battered, but always keeps going; the Rig gets a beating throughout the movie, but still survives.
Beyond that, Furiosa actually has a “disability” — she’s missing most of her left arm, yet to call her disabled doesn’t seem fitting since it never actually seems to hold her back. You’re never made to feel sorry for her, and her missing limb is never made into a plot point. It just is. (One of my artist friends was doodling some Mad Max characters and actually forgot to include Furiosa’s prosthetic — that’s how subtle it is.)
Furiosa is just an honest, real person.
Somehow that’s hard to translate onto the big screen, especially in the action genre. I like Black Widow, but I don’t feel like I can relate to her. I love Katniss, but even she has her phases of being “damseled” — which can be fine, (and she’s still one of my favorite female characters ever), but I didn’t realize how refreshing it was to not have to see that in a character at all until Furiosa. She’s not overcompensating, and she’s not, in any way, a disappointment.
The wives don’t necessarily get damseled, either. While they’re not as equipped for battle as Furiosa, it’s totally understandable given their history, and they prove they’re not just cargo being saved. They’re attentive to each other, the other characters, and mindful of what’s needed to keep the War Rig going during their escape.
The Vuvalini, a band of older women introduced in the second half of the film, are also totally capable. How often do you ever even see older women: A) in movies, B) together, C) completely capable and not just used for humor, and D) central to the plot?
I loved Charlize Theron’s take on all the film’s female characters:
“People keep saying ‘strong women,’ but we are actually just women. We had a filmmaker that understood the truth of women is powerful enough and we don’t want to be put on pedestals or made to be unnaturally strong.”
It goes without saying that Fury Road passes the Bechdel test like crazy. Max barely even says anything, which is so bizarre to witness from a character whose name is in the title, but he says a lot without words and doesn’t have his presence trampled on by any means. The story is still very much told through Max’s eyes.
Besides being a fantastic story of liberation, Fury Road is a story of what one small group of people can do together to change the course of history. The ride is thrilling, the cinematography is stunning, and you don’t need any prior knowledge of the franchise to fully enjoy the experience.
At one point during one of the many action sequences, I found myself randomly getting teary. Everything was just about to culminate, and I think it just dawned on me how unique this movie was. Like I said: Fury Road and Furiosa are the best things I never knew I needed from a movie.
That’s why Fury Road is such a big deal.
Mad Max: Fury Road will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray September 1st.
Enjoy this article? Click the ❤ and follow us at The Process!
