Last summer, some of you may have seen a wonderful action film upon its release in theaters. "Mad Max: Fury Road" became an instant hit, drawing in audiences and catching itself a few Oscars. It obviously has some amazing action sequences — no doubt a badass film. But what about this film makes it so special?
Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is technically the main character, but the real force behind the film is Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa. Through her actions, she constantly drives the film’s plot, making many major decisions as she tries to save five other complex female characters along with an insanely badass female biker gang which contains not only strong women but also older women! These female characters all contribute to the plot in a way that it nearly unheard of for women in an action film. They are able to confront and destroy the establishment of men who have been oppressing them, effectively taking down the fictional patriarchy which seems eerily familiar even in our non-post apocalyptic world. The quantity, complexity and agency of women in this film is incredibly empowering for female viewers. Unfortunately, this is the ideal situation; the majority of movies, especially action films, do not give women this much agency. Being kidnapped, assaulted and eventually saved if they are lucky is the common formula for female characters.
Shortly after my second or third time seeing "Mad Max: Fury Road" in theaters (I ended up seeing it five times), I decided I needed to see the other "Mad Max" films. These movies, made in late 1970’s and early 1980’s with the now hard-to-stomach Mel Gibson were directed by the same man, George Miller, so they were bound to have the same themes right?
Not at all. The scarce amount of women in these films does little more than be killed, raped and sometimes rescued. Indeed, this trend in often seen in most types of male-dominated genre films — women don’t do things, things happen to them. But I wasn’t entirely discouraged (and certainly was not surprised) by this finding, after all, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is the newest film and therefore the one that audiences are most likely to view today. Perhaps this film will cause a shift in the action film genre. Seeing as it was ultimately a huge success, it’s quite possible that others will follow in its footsteps. The enormous backlash from fanboys thinking they were going to see just another macho film exemplifies the kind of impact that one female-centric story can have. So bring on the wrath of fanboys; I’m ready for more fictional women who can kick their asses.
