Mad Max: Fury Road

"Mediocre!"

Um...I don't want to be that person, but someone brought up earlier that the wives were sexualized by default because of their outfits and having the water on them and whatnot, despite the camera's focus being on the water itself (I'm of the party that believe the water was being sexualized). That just rings false to me, because it's basically saying that a woman is being sexualized the moment she puts on anything sexy or is looked at by a man. Yes they're in threadbare bikinis...because it's the freaking desert and it's probably very hot and arid. And Joe likes him some eye-candy, but we never see that gaze from him.

The focus might have been the water, but the movie made sure the water was being used to bath the wives at this precise moment. It was a very conscious decision. The whole reason the water was being "sexualized" was because of this juxtaposition. No one would describe the water that way in any other context, even if there was a huge focus it it.

Now, I do think it was a clever move by the film, and nothing that it should be ashamed of. That was the only time the wives were sexualized, and that sexualization was ultimately used to sexualize the water itself. It was a interesting way to subvert the usual expectations.

You might not describe the depiction of water as sexualized. But you don't live in a post-Peak Oil, post-nuclear devastation Wasteland.

Max does.

I am talking about how the film framed things, not about Max opinions. For all I know Max and Nux could have been lusting over the wives the whole time and it wouldn't matter because that wasn't how it was presented to us.

Again, the image of half-naked women splashing about with water in the middle of a freakin' desert as part of a hallucination is actually a very traditional comedic trope. All this from the eyes of Max, who just went through the probably most ridiculously surreal experience of his entire life (In his own words: "WHAT THE FUUUCK?"), and now trudges through the hot sand, thirsty as hell, carrying an unconscious body on his shoulder. It's obvious that George Miller has a very dry sense of humour. And this is what arguably makes the film subversive; it takes several classic sexist tropes and turns them on their head in one way or another. The "naked woman bait" is another such example.

edited 27th May '15 9:44:28 AM by TAPETRVE

I really liked Max in this one. He was hilarious.

All the little looks he gave people and head movements.

And all the angrish when he was strapped to the front of Nux's bad ass motorcar when he was still connected to him with an IV line was funny as hell too.

The film generally had a great balance between witty and outrageous.

I enjoyed the angrish to, and how he had the time to be miffed that they were driving his car XD

edited 27th May '15 9:59:45 AM by Sisi

For him it was probably Hell On Wheels .

That's mine!

I too enjoyed Max's mumbling and weird eye movements. Those were pretty great.

I believe the wives washing themselves in the water is also an indication of their inexperience with the harsh world outside joes citadel. Not that life with joe was in any way good but they did have all the best and unlimited supplies of things like water. So here in a time and place where they really should be conserving every drop for survivals sake they instead use an excessive amount to wash themselves allowing it to spill all over the dry desert floor because they don't know any better.

At the same time it's a common thing in real life and fiction where someone has endured sexual assault then feels compelled to cleanse themselves and wash away what's happened to them. Then there's the part where they just spent the movie up til then in a tiny confined hiding space with nothing but each other's company and are probably really thirsty.

A big reason why I enjoy this film is because it's got so many seemingly small insignificant stuff that carries so much meaning :)

and Max's twitchy eye movements are great I think he might be suffering from PTSD maybe but I'm not personally familiar with PTSD only what's I've seen depicted in fiction.

edited 27th May '15 10:20:20 AM by Erlani

Speaking of old-timey cartoon references, could the fact that Furiosa's mechanical arm has four digits instead of five be an instance of live-action Four-Fingered Hands?

Went to see it last night.

I liked it a lot.

But at the same time, I didn't feel as exilharated as a lot of other people here probably were, at least not as much as when I saw Pacific Rim or Godzilla2014 in theaters, at least.

edited 27th May '15 12:14:45 PM by Demongodofchaos2

Shiny and Chrome, fuckers and fuckerettes. Believe.

That's actually a real product page:

http://www.amazon.com/Chefmaster-Edible-2-Ounce-Kosher-Certified/dp/B002XN5HPU

It's probably what they used in the film.

Wrong product, mate. This is the real deal .

So it is.

What a world we live in. Edible frickin' silver spray paint. Something I never even knew existed and still wouldn't if it wasn't for this insanely brilliant movie.

I kinda want some.

That was my words exactly when I saw it in the film.

DO NOT BECOME ADDICTED TO THE EDIBLE SPRAY PAINT, MY FRIENDS. FOR YOU WILL RESENT IT'S ABSENCE

On another note, I appreciate the tease George Miller gave us with the Pursuit Special. It's back on the silver screen for the first time since 1981 and then it's promptly destroyed...then it's destroyed again after it's suped up.

I hope Furiosa at least rebuilds it for him in the sequel.

edited 27th May '15 2:25:53 PM by Kentok

I dunno, part of me kinda wishes he'd just find the wreckage out in the desert somewhere.

WHOOHOO! This Movie was fun!