How Mad Max: Fury Road Nearly Caused a Feminist Revolution: Exploring the feminist fantasy in action cinema from the late 2000s to the present day
In the past ten years, action films have seemingly had a renaissance of gender representations, with films like Wonder Woman (2017) and The 355 (2022) initiating new female protagonists onto our screens. The term 'feminist fantasy' is used when describing strong female characters in action, sci-fi, and fantasy media. She is the manifestation of an audience's desires and projections, previously found in characters like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider (2001) and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. In the past decade, this representation has been increasingly diversified. Following Kaja Silverman's feminist philosophies as well as work from Yvonne Tasker, Gladys Knight, and Sarah Projansky, this essay deconstructs mainstream action cinema in the form of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, among other contemporary action films to recognise the feminist fantasy of the 21st century. Rikke Schubart quotes that 'men construct the female heroes in popular film. But it is up to us how we read and use them,' (Schubart 2007:2), and in regards to feminism and the feminist fantasy, action films have been decisively lacking positive representation. However, with a genre so entrenched in gender politics, it is hard to disengage the thirst for equality.
As a genre, action is relatively new to the game. Dubbed as part of 'New Hollywood' and presenting a high concept, presold blockbuster to the public. As a staple in cinema, it really found its feet in the 80s, fully evolving from the westerns and film noir that influenced its inception. No explicit or consistent iconography was used within actions emergence, only a quest for freedom from some kind of oppressor and the human body being used to overcome this. With America president Ronald Reagan promoting a 'healthy body, healthy mind' America, the obsession with the 'previously unseen cinematic articulation of masculinity' (Tasker, 1993:1) was vital in the developing genre. New Hollywood became obsessed with the idea of the human body as a weapon, and action films hailed a celebration of human agency and physical strength. The 'tortured figure of the white male body' (Tasker, 1993:3) became a fixation for the general public, the creators aware of their audience for the film's success bartered on what sold.
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in Fast & Furious (2009)
Films where masculine power and privilege are renounced, and flaws put on display, are really effective in the public's consideration of their own masculinity (Chaudhuri 2009:111). Feminist theorist Kaja Silverman claimed the 80s and 90s a time of 'masculinity in crises' (1992), following the devastation of the Vietnam war in the 60s and 70s, the representation of men on screen reflected the rise of film noir in the 50s after the war. The white man in the 80s was being challenged. Yvonne Tasker suggested that 'the success of these films and stars could be read in terms of backlash against feminism of the 1970s as indicative of the new conservatism in both national and sexual politics' (1993:1). Silverman offers feminist theory as a way of moving beyond the critique of dominant representations by suggesting how things can be changed. She claims that it is not a matter of providing positive images for women, rather using images to re-substantialise identity. To do this, we have to stop 'revolutionising' and 'promoting' new fresh takes on femininity, and use what we already know (Silverman in Chaudhuri 2009:105). Action films are often the basis of this gender representation. Frequently categorised in the cinema of attractions theory (Tom Gunning, 1922), promoting more style than substance, these films are vital in understanding gender roles and politics of the time of their release. Whereas films like Fast and Furious (2001) and Transformers (2007) may fall into this style side of the debate, the choices they make narratively provide insight into post feminism and the girl boss feminism of the 2000s. Similarly, Max Max: Fury Road and Wonder Woman (2017) introduce the manifestation of 4th wave feminism, and the new feminist fantasy.
Part of the 'feminist fantasy' is understanding that representations of men are just as crucial to the final reading of the film. Female characters may be written as individually strong, but her interactions with other characters ultimately build the fantasy. It is also vital to understand that the feminist fantasy 20 years ago would not be the same as the audience's desire today. Just as the girl boss characterisation of Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997- 2003) and Charlie’s Angels (2000) was revolutionary then, Diana and the women in Fury Road are integral to audiences now. Moving beyond the 'proving the men wrong' narrative, women no longer want to prove themselves or be questioned in terms of their abilities every other step, the fantasy manifesting in respect.
Mad Max: Fury Road was George Miller's long-awaited revisit to his Mad Max franchise, known for its testosterone-fuelled explosions and feral Mel Gibson, yet the reviews headlined, 'Oops! I Made a Feminist Manifesto: George Miller and "Mad Max"' (Steward, 2015) and 'Mad Max' As Hell: The Masterful, Maniacal, Surprisingly Feminist' Fury Road" (Pappademas, 2015). Feminist icon Eve Ensler consulted the film, which follows Charlize Theron as Furiosa assisting the escape of the bloated, tyrannical, dictator Immortan Joe's 'prized breeders'. Still set in the original post-apocalyptic wasteland desert, Tom Hardy's Max joins forces with the women after escaping his own captors; Joe's army of War Boys. Furiosa leads them to The Green Place, only to find the only survivors of the Vulvalini in a motorbike gang of older women. Deciding to return to the citadel from which they escaped, 'the movie basically sets up the start of a matriarchal society as an antidote to the barbarian, warlike tribes that came before.' (Steward, 2015)
Hugh Keays-Byrne in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
While we do not rely on Furiosa for the singular feminist plot point, she is still the true protagonist of this film, and the most complex character. We follow her plan, her Rig, her people, and she is the one who ascends in the final scenes. She becomes the leader. Theron was 38 when she played the Imperator; tall and formidable, she is an original character in a reboot who is not explicitly introduced to break her to the male audience. Often when new female characters are 'initiated' into franchises, they are fully recognisable Archetypes, or they are purposely created as dislikeable to have a redemption arch to 'prove' themselves. This can be seen in the new James Bond (2021) film with Lashana Lynch's character Nomi, and even in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) when they introduce Ahsoka. Following the theory that 'the female hero represents a cultural field where today's male and female generations negotiate gender, feminism, patriarchy, and women's roles in society.' (Schubart 2007:38), Furiosa could be an example of changing feminism in modern society. As a pre #metoo film, Fury Road is ahead of its time tackling sexual abuse narratives and patriarchal oppression as an abuse of power. Somehow a film with a man playing a flaming guitar has one of the most nuanced and developed representations of femininity in the past 10 years. Miller even rejects the tried formula that female characters in action are 'invented and marketed as products by the films production companies' (Schubart 2007:7) to entice the audience pre-release. Theron's name and her likeness were associated with films like Monster (2003), Hancock (2008), and Snow White and The Huntsman (2012), not exactly a certified action star, unlike Hardy, who had been in a handful of Nolan films by 2015. Furiosa does not typically fill the mould of the femme fatale action heroine as an amputee and deadly commander, nothing about her is for aesthetics, it is practicality. Even casting Rosie Huntington- Whitely after her turn in Transformers: Dark of The Moon (2011) can be debunked as a purposefully meta choice. From shrieking sexily and being awarded 'our new girlfriend' in the Guys Choice Awards in one car film, to heavily pregnant escaping a patriarchal tyrant screaming ‘WHO KILLED THE WORLD?’ in another; the recipient of her questioning metaphorically representing the average audience of the Transformers film.
Fury Road further details this meta understanding in Furiosa and Max's first meeting and fight as he tries to commandeer the War Rig to escape by himself. The scene itself is an example of how important this film is to furthering feminist philosophy. George Miller divides the men and women's positions in this film through Max and Furiosa in this scene; Furiosa is desperate, unhesitating, and a threat. She knows she has to win; she cannot bargain for time. In contrast, Max is simply fighting for a moment to think before he continues his journey. He fires warning shots where Furiosa would have gone for the kill. Their morality and ruthlessness are not the focus in this scene; it is the precise characterisation of Furiosa and her understanding that she does not have the chance to lose. Gladys Knight claimed Buffy as the role model of her generation as 'her story mirrored recent transformations and how young women defined and appropriated power for themselves.' (2010:16) Taking this into account for Furiosa creates a tragic image of patriarchal oppression and feminist desperation. It is a decisively feminine feeling, knowing as soon as the man gets the upper hand its game over, and Miller incorporates it flawlessly, introducing the gender divide in the film whilst commenting on societal dangers women face. In this universe, the men are stronger, but the women are craftier. The distance Furiosa is desperate for in the fight with Max can manifest in the Vulvalini, who are all sharpshooters; distance fighters. Furiosa is one too. Knight suggests that the 'female action hero has roots in both traditional concepts of femininity and in their portrayal of traditional action male heroism' (2010:13)
The choice to have a tall, imposing, amputee with a buzz cut and grease smeared across her eyes, at first, seems like a typical introduction to the Archetypes that Rikke Schubart outlines in her book Super Bitches and Action Babes. However, we introduce a range of representations when we also have old grannies weaving across the screen on motorbikes, a pregnant woman shooting out the War Rig, and a slender blonde biting at a War Boy. Even the overtly attractive women are supermodel-like for a reason; it is a narrative point. These women are all celebrated, and their relationships motivate the plot. Schubart's observation that 'women in male film genres never learn from other women.' (2007:30) is disproven and Miller makes the older women invaluable. Fury Road focuses on the nurturing side of femininity, by having women be more hopeful, he also gives them more power. The Vulvalini protect the younger generation, looking after their future whereas Immortan Joe radicalises the young men into believe in they have to die in battle, riding to the gates of Valhalla, to be worth anything.
Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Silverman argues that understanding the ideology of masculinity is essential as it has implications on the female subject, which is critical to consider as men often envisage action films as ways to 'reclaim' their masculinity. It is not just changing representations of women that can be found in action films, rather both genders. The adjustment from Mel Gibson's lone wolf in the 1979 Mad Max film and Tom Hardy's reluctant but reliable ally in Fury Road supports her proposal that masculinity changes concerning femininity and feminism. George Miller creates visual metaphors when considering Hardy's Max and Nicolas Hoult's character Nux, a War Boy. The final car chase scene is the ultimate reflection of this. The one car that catches up to the War Rig close enough to get between the women and their final goal used to belong to Max and is being fuelled by Nux's lancer. The toxic pasts of the women's allies obstruct the path to victory, specifically the toxic masculinity the symbolism represents. Max's car is his previous singularity and aversion to the bigger picture, whereas Slit, the lancer, is Nux's final connection to Immortan Joe and the War Boys. The metaphor is vital in furthering the feminist fantasy as the growth and development are not solely focused on the women; feminism is equality, and Nux represents the reformed feminist, whereas Max is the non-toxic ally. Silverman revisits this by proposing that men and male subjectivity are as interchangeable as waves of feminism (Silverman in Chaudhuri 2009:109). It is not just changing representations of women that define the feminist fantasy.
Unfortunately, not all action films have been as progressive as Mad Max, and a lot of mainstream cinema is eclipsed by franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe; action films dominated by the likes of Fast and Furious, the Tom Cruise cinematic universe, and James Bond. In an essay from a pop culture journal, I found the suggestion that 'across and within mainstream movies patriarchy is being contested, contradicted, and challenged, not all at once not in a revolutionary manner but in ways that reflect the debates of the public sphere,' (Payne, 2017). The MCU is revolutionary in terms of interlinking cinema and adaptation, yet the furtherment of feminist philosophy in terms of contesting patriarchal heteronormativity was never a key focus of theirs. Action film understands that its audience is its success, and with that audience averaging at men aged 16 to 30, the idea of a 'feminist fantasy' is often dismissed.
Fury Road was released the same year as the Avengers sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Written and directed by the self-proclaimed 'feminist' Joss Whedon, the film arose questions from fans about the characterisation of Scarlett Johansson's character Black Widow. A scene in Age of Ultron where the characters are shown their deepest desires and fears sees Natasha (Black Widow) before her involuntary hysterectomy. It wasn't necessarily this scene that was contested, rather a conversation she had afterwards; 'They sterilize you. It's efficient. One less thing to worry about... It makes everything easier, even killing. You still think you're the only monster on the team?'. Referencing back to this observation made about Whedon's previous work in her book Misfit Sisters, Sue Short analyses the messages in Buffy, explaining that 'female power and maturity are thus aligned with moral responsibility, with a future maternal role often implied as the ultimate goal' (2006:40). In this scene Whedon managed to reduce Natasha to her reproductive status, like many female characters before her, her infertility monstrous. This dismissal delves further than just the films narrative; the marketing and merchandise for Age of Ultron, and even later projects like Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) excluded both the characters of Black Widow and Gamora. Annie Mouse published an anonymous article on the feminist geek blog The Mary Sue from an old Marvel employee who stated that 'unlike the actual demos, the desired demographics had no females in it whatsoever,' and after questioning her supervisor was told 'that's not why Disney bought us. They already have the girls' market on lockdown' referring to the Disney princesses. Projansky projects the idea that the postfeminist woman must give up all connections to feminism to achieve full equality (2009:75), which is exampled in the audiences for Marvel films, women still want to watch them despite their limited audience focus. Mentioning critics like Bonnie J. Dow and her representation of the 'masculinised New Woman' Projansky further states that 'desire for full equality with men means that she must repress her maternal feminine side… in order to succeed.' (2009:76). Women want to idolise these characters but because of the denial of their market they are adjusting their feminist views and desires. The observation creates a paradox, as the masculine audience of the MCU and the intended audience of the Marvel films are not comfortable with this threat to heteronormativity, yet their films promote an undercurrent of strong women who are unconsciously following this postfeminist narrative.
Scarlett Johansson in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
The difference between a feminist film and a performative post-feminist spectacle is that the objective of feminism is forgotten. Feminism and the modern feminist fantasy is rooted in equality. After the Women's March of 2017 and the fall out of #timesup and #metoo on the film industry it could be argued that Captain Marvel (2019) was a way for Disney to cash in on women's empowerment. The performative feminism they project has also been seen in action films full of women warping under the weight of their own plots. Men have done that for years. It's why remakes with women are not always successful, because they present a mirror to male-dominated action films that do not add anything to the feminist narrative, instead make it look more constructed. This can be seen in the Ghostbusters (2016) remake, specific scenes in Avengers: Endgame (2019), and unfortunately, in Captain Marvel. The film itself fell victim to a 'review bomb' from trolls and within hours of its theatrical release 'roughly 58,000 audience reviews flooded the critical aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, leaving the audience score at 33% (Vejkvoda, 2019). As the studios had focused on the male audience specifically for 11 years, the switch to a female led feature fuelled the social unease men were feeling. Men and male subjectivity are as interchangeable as waves of feminism which was already being challenged in politics and power so when they turned to something that was 'theirs' and it has been broadened to wider audiences we revisit those moments where masculinity is in crisis (Silverman in Chaudhuri 2009). Men reclaiming masculinity through action films is no longer as plausible in the rise of female led action in the late 2010s. The backlash of this could also be the fact that the film does not follow the usual plot device that 'the female hero is a generic anomaly, and the narrative takes a lot of trouble to explain why she is in a man's world, what she is doing there, and carefully exports her out of the plot,' (Schubart 2007:23), breaking common archetypes and tropes that were previously a comfort.
A lot of women and allies are clinging to what they know with ‘girlboss’ postfeminist feminism, using it to promote women’s empowerment rather than embracing newer, more focused ideals and representations. This causes a regression in the mainstream action films as studios react through audience’s desire. Silverman’s theory concerning men in crisis is a cycle that will, once again, come into fruition, as exampled already by films like Joker (2019) western media presents white men as victims of change; women and homosexual men making social and psychological gains at their expense (Silverman in Chaudhuri 2007:105). This conversation about making men ‘comfortable’ through mainstream media and entertainment is one that will be continually tested now that Hollywood has been put under pressure post #metoo. 15 years ago Rikke Schubart wrote that 'today's female hero is domesticated but not tame. She is killed but not dead.' (2007:11). Maybe in reaction to the 2010s, Trump, Boris Johnson and other factors exposing masculinity as a negative, destructive presence in society, this role will be reversed. Fury Road was promoting a forward leaning projection of the possibility of feminism and its power before the world was shocked by the events of 2016 and 2017. This caused the realised potential of what Miller was formulating to be disrupted. Whilst feminist philosophy has progressed since the 70s when Laura Mulvey introduced her ideas, I don’t believe that there has been any more mainstream development since Fury Road in 2015. The feminist fantasy still lies there.
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Filmography
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Directed by Whedon, J. [Film] United States: Marvel Studios
Avengers: Endgame (2019) Directed by Russo, A and Russo, J. [Film] United States: Marvel Studios
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997- 2003) [TV Programme] United States: 20th Century Fox
Captain Marvel (2019) Directed by Boden, A and Fleck, R. [Film] United States: Marvel Studios
Charlie’s Angels (2000) Directed by Mcg. [Film] United States: Columbia Pictures
Fast and Furious (2001) Directed by Cohen, R. [Film] United States: Universal Pictures
Ghostbusters (2016) Directed by Fieg, P. [Film] United States: Columbia Pictures
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) Directed by Gunn, J. [Film] United States: Marvel Studios
Hancock (2008) Directed by Berg, P. [Film] United States: Columbia Pictures
Joker (2019) Directed by Philips, T. [Film] United States: Warner Bros. Pictures
Mad Mad (1979) Directed by Miller, G. [Film] Australia: Kennedy Miller Productions
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Directed by Miller, G. [Film] Australia: Kennedy Miller Productions
Monster (2003) Directed by Jenkins, P. [Film] United States: Denver & Delilah Films
No Time To Die (2021) Directed by Fukunaga, C. [Film] United Kingdom, United States: Metro- Goldwyn- Meyer
Snow White And The Huntsman (2012) Directed by Sanders, R. [Film] United States: Roth Films
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) Directed by Filoni, D. [Film] United States: Lucasfilm Animation
The 355 (2022) Directed by Kinberg, S. [Film] United States: Freckle Films
Tomb Raider (2001) Directed by West, S. [Film] United States: Paramount Pictures
Transformers (2007) Directed by Bay, M. [Film] United States: DreamWorks Pictures
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011) Directed by Bay, M. [Film] United States: Hasbro Films
Wonder Woman (2017) Directed by Jenkins, P. [Film] United States: Warner Bro
