All posts tagged: mad max: fury road

Feminism in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Published by Darby Freeman

Action films are usually depicted as masculine. The main character is generally a man who endures different sorts of violence and faces threats, before eventually being victorious in the end. Meanwhile, the women in these films are often in desperation and ultimately saved by the male characters. In Mad Max: Fury Road (Miller, 2015), however, the pursuit to victory is not exclusively led by the lead male character. George Miller allows the women in this movie to defy the stereotypical female role in this genre by letting them take on heroic characteristics. In fact, there is not just one main female character, but several that play a part in representing female power throughout the film. Each of these individual characters are able to represent one group of women trying to defeat the antagonists of the film. Miller addresses the gender issues and overpowering of masculinity that we face today in Mad Max: Fury Road with his female characters, including Imperator Furiosa, the five wives of Immortan Joe, and The Many Mothers. By giving these women …

Gender and Sexuality in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Published by Karl Cox

Many stereotypes exist that associate certain qualities with one gender or the other. Males are typically associated with advantages of strength and ruggedness, while women are more so associated with being delicate and vulnerable. These assumptions appear most prominently in certain film genres, one in particular being that of action and adventure films. The movie Mad Max: Fury Road is an exception to this classical pattern. By casting a female character in the lead role and also portraying females differently than in most action films, director George Miller breaks down many of the clichéd gender representations that often appear in action films. In this way, issues of gender and sexuality are addressed through aspects such as character placement, plot development and overall mis-en-scene, with costume design playing a large role. In most action films, the female character relies heavily on the lead male protagonist.[1] However, this is not at all the case in Mad Max. Miller reverses these roles between males and females by instead placing a female character into the lead role. For the …