The Feminist Controversy Surrounding Mad Max: Fury Road

Culture

Apr 27

[vc_row][vc_column][title type="subtitle-h6"]Chandler Adams[/title][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="11/12"][vc_column_text]The feminist controversy surrounding Mad Max: Fury Road started long before the movie was even released to theaters. The issue gained attention after a men's rights activist blogger Aaron Clarey published an article about his fears that men would be duped into watching two hours of "feminist propaganda" by the explosions, fight scenes, and general carnage central to the movie. Clarey made these judgments solely on movie trailers and admitted to refusing to see the full movie. His article gained so much attention that even CNN commented on it. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but while reading other reviews and commentary, I realized the debate was more evenly split than I expected. Some reviewers were confused by the hype and didn't believe this fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise was a feminist movie at all, while others were praising its subtle feminist themes to the high heavens, and some thought the movie had tried to be feminist but missed the mark. George Miller himself said that though he has proclaimed the movie feminist, it didn't begin as overtly as it might seem. The plot itself made a lot of the characteristics of the film that have been praised as feminist, into necessities.If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want spoilers then you should stop reading. It's a simple plot so giving the whole thing away is unavoidable. Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures The most obvious place to start is with the main character, Imperator Furiosa. Even though the film is a Mad Max movie, Max is almost a secondary character to her. The story here is ultimately about Furiosa's struggle to get home to her native "green place" of the Many Mothers and to protect the stolen harem of Immortan Joe. Max is pretty much swept along for the ride. Furiosa, portrayed as a high ranked general of Immortan Joe gone rogue, is the one leading a rag-tag bunch of fugitives across the desert. How often in films have we seen women in high ranking military positions? It's rare. Fury Road is not the first female led action movie to be made , but it is one of very few. We're so accustomed to seeing women in action movies as the sidekick or as a damsel in distress that we don't even question it anymore. Furiosa refuses to be either of those things and Max never tries to usurp her. He understands that this is her endeavor and though he willingly helps her reach her goal he leaves the decisions to her without questioning her intelligence or her ability. Though Max is not in direct control of every situation this isn't meant to imply that Max is below Furiosa, but that he regards her as an equal and respects her judgment. By the end of the movie Max and Furiosa become a partnership striving toward a common goal, which is ultimately the main ideology of feminism.[callout]We're so accustomed to seeing women in action movies as the sidekick or as a damsel in distress that we don't even question it anymore.[/callout][spacer height="20"]Furiosa's central role was not the only feminist claim on the movie; the wives of Immortan Joe also had their moment in the spotlight. Not surprisingly this is where a lot of the critics differed in opinion. Some argued that the wives "helplessness" undermined the feminist ideas they were meant to portray. Others argued that their self-liberation and regaining of bodily control, symbolized by shots of the wives cutting the locks off their terrifying looking chastity belts, were a blatant statement about the abuse of female bodies. Several times throughout the movie the five wives are referred to as Immortan Joeís "breeders," reducing them to objects that are solely for the benefit of their captor. The wives defy this image by leaving graffiti in their wake stating "We are not things." Upon escaping, these women discard their status as things to be used and reclaim control of their bodies, even, in the case of Angharad the Splendid, using their previous status as a weapon. Angharad uses her pregnant body as a shield to protect Max and Furiosa, knowing that Immortan Joe would never risk the possibility of destroying the child he pronounces as his "property." She acknowledges her previous status as a possession and uses that status as a weapon against her captor in a way that acknowledges both womenís power as a creator of life and her agency over her own body. The wives also make their opinion of unnecessary violence and killing obvious when they save a war boy, Nux, from Furiosa's anger. One commentary used this moment as a reason to disregard the wives as feminist figures. When did compassion for another life become a disqualifier for feminism? The compassion of the wives makes their claim as feminist figures stronger because even though they have gained control over their own bodies they refuse to let someone else lose theirs regardless of gender.This movie portrays a well-rounded cast of female characters, from the battle hardened Furiosa to the compassionate and protective wives. Mad Max: Fury Road blatantly ignores the predictable feminine action movie role of the one-dimensional, weak damsel in distress, or the sappy love interest, in favor of portraying a woman's story of fighting to gain agency over oneís life and discarding the objectification of female bodies. While it may not be a perfect representation of the feminist ideology that is so often misunderstood and stigmatized in popular media, it's certainly a good starting point.