Mad Max: Fury Road

Heaven forbid women and minorities and the disabled get excited about a movie that represents them not only well but thoughtfully, particularly an action flick like this where being treated like a full human being with full agency is otherwise basically non-existent. OMG. Calm down. Don’t get so worked up about something that clearly doesn’t effect your own enjoyment of the film.

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Last post 22 hours ago Joined Apr 19

Oh, goody. @Kombo_Chapfika Let’s have a dude explain feminism in movies to us. Pray tell, sir, what have women gotten wrong about feminism? I am so curious what you have to say.

Spoiler tags please!
The movie came out less than a week ago.

@L_Mariachi I’d suggest not reading a thread about a movie you’ve not seen yet if you do not want to be spoiled. Probably the smartest thing to do is to assume everything in this thread is a spoiler.

See the movie. THEN you can partake in internet threads about said movie. I mean, you actively clicked on the comments … this is your fault.

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Hey, you haven’t posted in more than a week – off learning about feminism, or watching marathon session of MMFR!!!

What a lovely day!

I’m going to take a guess and say I’ve probably done more research on feminism than you have. :wink: Also I was enjoying spring.

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By watching a marathon session of MMFR, right!!!

#whatalovelyspring

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It’s a review, not a recap. A review is geared towards people who haven’t seen it, and a recap is geared towards those who have.

Anyway it’s just common courtesy, which was being observed by everyone until that comment.

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I am not talking about the review, I am talking about the comments section with people discussing the movie. I came here fully expecting spoilers. Because people are discussing the movie. And spoiler happen when people discuss movies they have seen. It’s just a thing that naturally happens.

Here is Maggie Gyllenhaal explaining why she personally found the movie really astonishing and empowering.

Speaking to the Cut before the gala, Gyllenhaal reflected that it’s still rare for her to see depictions of women in film and television that she finds credible. “I can’t tell you some of the weird parts I’ve been offered to play, that I can’t recognize as any human being I’ve ever come into contact with,” she said, adding: “People really like to see fucked-up crazy women, and really perfect powerful women.” However, she said that she’s optimistic that things are changing. “I felt so, so thrilled watching Charlize Theron in Mad Max,” she said. “It was astonishing.”

There is a reason, an important reason, why so many women are identifying with this movie, and it’s directly tied into why it’s so good and why it did so well. It is SUPER important to champion the positive aspects of our entertainment culture. It’s so rare to have something done this well in terms of representing real, complex, awesome women, that it’s important that we celebrate when it does happen. Please don’t silence the women who are finally getting some really fantastic screen representation in a really bad ass and generally great movie.

The fact that you consider the celebration of women being treated like complex human beings in a movie as “ruining it” is pretty telling.

I know it’s tough when the attention turns to a subject not about maleness, and therefore is not explicitly about you and your own experiences as a man in this world, but you will survive, I promise. You will be okay.

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I believe there is a skull on Nox’s car which provides a nod to the gyro captain. Regarding the Coma-Doof Warrior, the guitar fellow, hearing about the character’s backstory is pretty cool.

"He was a child music prodigy who watched as his mother, also a musician, was beheaded. The boy was then found by Fury Road’s chief villain, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), mom’s severed head still in hand. Joe adopted the boy, who continued playing and grew up to be Joe’s troop-rallying rocker.

And it’s a good thing we never get too much of a close-up on the character in Fury Road: iOTA says the mask he’s wearing in the film, according to his and Miller’s backstory, is the face of his late mother, which he sliced from her skull. Told you it was dark."

This from the interview posted here: https://www.yahoo.com/movies/mad-max-fury-road-guitar-player-actor-doof-warrior-118997835292.html

I hope a lot of this -as well as a good view of the citadel - will be on the Blu-Ray release. I am hoping for a lot of fun extras. Just one about the cars would be fantastic.

Sorry if this was already mentioned - late to the comment thread. I also noticed this film passes the Bechdel Test. I cannot remember the last time an action film did - maybe this is a first? The two ladies talking about seeds, if nothing else in the film, gives this movie a pass for the test.

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Yep, it’s the skull suspended directly above Max, encased in the Gyro Captain’s flight helmet and goggles. Nothing points it out or highlights it, but it’s there to see if you look for it.

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I have repeated this story, as well - but I do note that the goggle-hats are not identical:

A pity we didn’t get a Bruce Spence cameo; he was even in The Cars that Ate Paris!

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You know what, you’re right. I take back what I said.

I think I was frustrated from defending the movie from some Neanderthals who couldn’t articulate why something was bad, but heard that someone they don’t like liked it so it must be something to disparage.

Though I do chuckle when you tell me to calm down. I am like the most laid back person you will ever meet. Even when I have a strong opinion the actual rise out of me rarely goes above “meh”. If I was a stoner I would probably be in a coma like state.

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Thank you.

Though I do chuckle when you tell me to calm down. I am like the most laid back person you will ever meet.

I’m actually being sarcastic when I do this and throwing the whole “you have strong (or even any) opinions, therefore you must be riled up! Calm down! Why are you so angry?” hysterical-woman trope that I (and other women) get all. the. fucking. time (from you, as well, you know…) right back in your face.

I don’t actually think you’re riled up. In fact, I’m pretty certain you’re probably doing what I’m doing and responding to people on the internet between other things you’re doing online and in real life. And sometimes it’s in a hyperbolic or sarcastic fashion. But you know, you’re stating an opinion online, therefore you must be riled up. Calm down, man! Just take it easy.

Everyone seems to assume I am a certain sort of person, but I’m actually really laid back and I just sort of go with the flow unless something really pisses em off (in which case I will just tell you to fuck off). I’m also really prone to forgiving and letting things go way, way too easily. But I’m also very opinionated and confident in my opinions and knowledge and I type 130+ WPM so this is what you get.

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More than that, it only barely passes the reverse Bechdel test (“Does the movie feature two named men having a conversation about something other than a woman?”). There’s one conversation early on between Nux and Slit about who gets to drive the car, but I think literally every other conversation between two named dudes eventually gets around to the wives or Furiosa.

I’ve only seen it twice, though, so I may have missed something.

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There was one convo about how much gas the whole enterprise was using, I believe.

The excelent Mary Johansson has been blogging specifically on women in the movies, you might want to peruse her take on how this scores, she puts it into context nicely I think.

The scene in which the women being rescued are introduced verges on the
standard slo-mo near-porno (they are washing while wearing only the
flimsiest of see-thru-when-wet fabric)… except it lasts for only the
briefest moment, and they are never treated visually like that again. So
although they remain in their harem wear for most of the rest of the
movie, they are not objectified, and that first scene becomes a sort of
teasing smackdown of the (straight male) audience’s expectations.

Maybe some people won’t can’t recognize feminism because they’re expecting misandry instead?

Thank you!

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I think that conversation ends with the Bullet Farmer saying “All over a family squabble,” or something, which arguably makes it about the wives. But you’re right—there’s the “Are you a black thumb” exchange later on, which I’d forgotten about. Still remarkable how close it comes to failing, and how thoroughly the entire plot is driven by women’s choices.

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You’re in the wrong discussion thread then, friend. You should leave.

I have nothing to say except yay! Now I can read this thread. It’s been bugging me.

Edit: okay, now I’ve read the thread.

No mentions of the last vehicle-based Tom Hardy film? Has nobody else seen Locke? I like it when Hardy has speaking roles.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it, and I liked the lack of backstory etc. I’m surprised nobody else has mentioned feminist frequency’s tweets on the film.

And several follow up tweets.

Saw Mad Max recently, it’s been an extremely long time since I saw The Road Warrior, mind, I’d like to get hold of that again for comparison.

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