Furiosa and Gender Roles

October 2015

Mad Max: Fury Road is about a dystopian world controlled by the dire need for water. This leads to fights between the societies that live in and inhabit this world. In Mad Max, the main character, Furiosa, takes on the job of watching after three women as she tries to get back to the “green place” with a semi truck full of water. During this journey, she is faced with the task of letting two men join her. At the end of the film, Furiosa is cheered on by her society, as Max- her right hand man, disappears into the crowd. As Max looks up at Furiosa, the hero of the story is shown- Furiosa, in all her pain and altruistic glory. This scene shows that the female is the hero this time, rather than the male.

Furiosa is viewed atop the semi in this scene, the camera zooming out into an extreme long shot of the people around her cheering for her and for the journey she made it through to bring water to them. This extreme long shot keeps Furiosa (and Max) in view, her body exhausted and her face showing pain as the people cheer. Despite the fact that she clearly needs medical help, she decides to watch the people around her experience happiness after much pain. Her selflessness is clearly shown in this scene. As she stands, the semi being lifted up atop the mountain, she shows no emotion. She is a hero yet she does not bask in the glory of this. She does not gloat, but rather takes it with a grain of salt, as it was her job and she did it the right way. This shows that even as a female, she has pride in the journey that she just accomplished, despite the exquisite danger it presented. 

As she watches water fall onto her people and the cheers erupt from them, Max disappears into the crowd. A transactional reaction occurs as she realizes he is leaving. Their eyes connect; both of their faces empty of emotion, but with a silver lining. Max’s work with her is done. She has been and is the hero of the story. However, she couldn’t have done this without him. 

This scene where Furiosa is the hero brings about a feminist view of women in this dystopia. In a world where women are not equal to men, this scene shows that women can be the heroes of the story. Women can save the world and Furiosa did just that. In this world, Furiosa is the hero. She has lost an arm, is cut and bruised from fighting, but has brought water to her people. She has saved her people. Furiosa chose to fight this fight and bring back the water at the end of the film. In this world, one might say that a man would have rather done this task- they’re stronger and harsher. However, in this world, Furiosa was faced with this task- and she was strong and harsh.  Her injuries and her disability are both obvious, yet ignored because of the tasks that she completed on this journey. From caring for a pregnant woman while running from Immortan Joe to escaping the motorcycle gang, Furiosa used her intelligence and skill to get back the water to her people. 

    This scene proves that in a dystopia, though there is an ongoing war through the desert and that relationships are strenuous, those at home will always be prepared for your return. Furiosa’s gender is ignored throughout the film. The separation of sexes can come to ends when there is a necessity for the more important things in life; in this case, water and health were the things that ended the separation of genders. 

 

Works Cited

Mad Max: Fury Road. Dir. George Miller. Perf. Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy. Warner Home Video, 2015. Film.