'Mad Max: Fury Road' is Radically Feminist

 

When you think of feminist theory in movies, your first thought by be of movies like Legally Blonde, Barbie, or Little Women (all of which are fantastic). All these films are sites of struggle about the role of women in society and the gender inequality in our society. However, as we learned in this week's module, there are many different types of feminism. While feminism in general is pretty awesome, there's one specific category of feminist theory that is especially "radical." 

First, a quick recap. Feminism evolved through several "waves" of protest and through the challenging of various social norms that were seen as biased towards men. First-wave feminism helped women secure the right to vote, and started to dispel the notion that women were only fit to be homemakers. Second-wave feminism pushed this agenda even further by helping female professionals find opportunities in traditionally male-dominated fields. Finally, third-wave feminism raised questions about why we need to define the role of womanhood at all, and suggested that maybe we could even make space for women to make their own decisions about what femininity means. 

There is another type of feminism called "radical feminism," and this is the lens through which I like to view Mad Max: Fury Road. Radical feminism states that our entire organized society is built to give men an advantage over women, and that gender equality cannot truly be achieved without dismantling the system (known as the patriarchy) itself. 

Fury Road is a film about an apocalyptic wasteland full of savage raiders who follow a tyrannical leader named Immortan Joe. This fictional world is far from progressive when it comes to gender equality. Women are hoarded as prized concubines for Immortan Joe, and they have zero freedom or bodily autonomy. While the title might suggest that Max is the main protagonist of the film, I would argue that that title belongs to Furiosa, a badass, tough-as-nails woman with a mechanical arm. The plot revolves around her quest to free the concubines and topple the reign of Immortan Joe. 

While the setting of Mad Max is very stylized and over-the-top, the way the film suggests that the only way for a woman to gain her freedom in this world is to create an entirely new one is Radical Feminism 101. The fleeing concubines even try to escape from Immortan Joe in secret, but soon realize that they have to return to his city and take control. This is what differentiates it from third-wave feminism, which seeks to alter societal norms to make space for strong women. Furiosa and the rest of the gang don't alter Immortan Joe's society-- they topple it! 

Mad Max: Fury Road is radical movie in more ways than one. Are there other movies out there that draw on radical feminist theory?