Mad Max: Fury Road

The longevity of this city depends upon raids against other gangs of survivors by “war boys,” a brood of Cains, male children rendered sick by radiation but raised to murder and pillage. This is a world filled with violence, the bloodshed given divine sanction through a false religion welded together of relics from the old world, a fusion of scraps of men and machines, ferocious, glorious and hilarious, much like the cars and trucks which serve as extensions of the characters.

The ruler of the citadel is Immortan Joe, the Adamic everyman who has ascended to power — and extended his natural life — through unnatural means. Indeed, everything natural is farmed, exploited and hoarded, from human blood to breast milk. Max, who has told us that his only goal is survival, is himself strapped to a cross on the front of a war vehicle, silent as a lamb beneath a metal muzzle.** He is attached to its dying driver with an IV line, supplying the blood required to sustain the warrior while he takes part in the chase. Despite his claims, right from the beginning, where Max crushes under heel and devours a two-headed desert dragon, he is the truly great one, the Christ.

Hell Hath No Fury—The driver of the plot — and the largest tanker, the War Rig — is Imperator Furiosa, a one-armed woman with a crew cut who is one of Joe’s best raiders. She uses a convoy journey to rescue the young women of Joe’s harem, girls kept for breeding, so it is apt that the body of the tanker is filled with human milk. Furiosa herself was kidnapped as a small child and thrown into the breeding program, but now she is barren, unable to bare children or produce milk. Without her cunning as a raider, she would have remained a throwaway in the eyes of Joe.

Here is a female action hero who is actually a woman. Sexuality after the apocalypse is back to the needs and wants of men — sex and offspring. This angry empress is a used-up supermodel, now devoid of everything that made her desirable, including her hair. She is what feminism has become: a womanhood which escaped exploitation by becoming the exploiter. Germaine Greer’s “female eunuch,” repressed sexually by the constraints of culture, sought to be free of the chains of nature but became something unnatural, something sexless. These things were stolen from Furiosa, but the barren has cause to rejoice. She is not a hero because she can kick and punch, but because she has the motivation of a bereaved mother, the fury of a she-bear. Without children of her own she risks her life to rescue the daughters of men.

Mad World—Some view Max as Furiosa’s sidekick, but in reality he is her enabler. Indeed, he and one of the war boys come to be the only men whom the numerous women in the film learn to trust. It is the women who blame the men not only for their continued exploitation, but also for bringing about the end of the world. Land and womb are both made barren by Adam’s desire for godhood. The planet is poisoned, and even the promised land, the “green place of many mothers” is now a bog filled with scavenging crows, both human and animal.

The refreshing thing about all of Miller’s women is that they are real. Even the stolen supermodels are real people. When Joe discovers that his prized possessions are missing, he sees “We are not things” scrawled in large letters on the wall of the empty harem. Even better are the old women of the desert, grannies on motorbikes who live under the stars, with leathery faces but soft hearts. They are the biggest surprise of the film.

Although they have become suspicious of all men, since men see even the end of the world as an opportunity for gain and control, they still have hope, even though their days are numbered. In Max and Furiosa, they see a reunion of man and woman and a new beginning, a world where Adam will not rule over Eve, and all her desires will be met by him. The two begin in fisticuffs but instead of romance there develops a deep, reciprocal sense of honour.

In the film’s one heartrending scene, after Furiosa’s hopes of reaching the green place are dashed, she falls to her knees, alone in the sand, and lets out a cry of despair. The only way this crew can survive is to return to Joe’s citadel. The movie is a there-and-back-again, which on one level makes the rescue and the chase seem pointless. But as in the Bible, the trip to Egypt and back to Canaan changed Israel forever. Feminism’s green pastures are not “out there.” They are back where women began, but in a home transformed. For Eve to be truly free, she must be empowered by Adam.

Worship the Vehicles—Joe loses his heir, his “mobile throne” (called the Gigahorse) and finally loses his face, all important biblical symbols, in gasoline fuelled chariot battles that take the spectacle of live action to a new level. With sparse dialogue, the film is like the loudest silent movie ever made. As one reviewer noted:

“Imagine if Cirque du Soleil reenacted a Hieronymus Bosch painting and someone set the theatre on fire. This is more or less what Miller has come up with.”***

Joe has gained the whole world but loses his own life. Max and Furiosa have lost everything and yet choose to serve. Max donates his blood once again, but this time voluntarily – to save his counterpart. The final scene is a revelation of the ascension of the bride. Like the Church of Christ, she is beaten and bloodied, her face marred more than any woman. But she has her prize. Max watches as Furiosa is lifted to glory while he humbly disappears into the adoring crowd, a new kind of everyman, a real hero, a Christlike one. And the living waters are released as streams in the desert.

Biblical Feminism—“We’re seeing in the world in many places that women are emerging as a unifying or healing force…” says George Miller. “I think that’s in the zeitgeist.”

Like the women in the wilderness, biblical womanhood is not a state. It is a process of redemption by Covenant. Eve was given to Adam as a gift but he treated her like a “thing” (Genesis 3:12). To protect himself, he depersonalized her. If he had been faithful and protected her, she would have been glorified at his side as a co-regent. We see the same process in the two givings of the Ten Commandments. In Exodus, the women are included with all the other chattels, but in Deuteronomy, they are now listed with their men. The book of Esther tells the same story. Esther, although married to the emperor, is merely a possession until the serpent is crushed and she is enthroned, judging beside her husband. Women must be empowered, but women can only be empowered by faithful men.

*A term used by pilots. When accelerating quickly, the throttle is pushed all the way to the panel and the throttle lever (ball) actually touches the panel (wall).
**The two “war boys,” Nux and Slit, represent the two thieves at the cross. Both curse Max, but Nux eventually comes to bless him, reaching paradise through a spectacular act of self-sacrifice.
***Robbie Collin, Mad Max: Fury Road review: ‘A Krakatoan Eruption of Craziness,’ The Telegraph UK, 20 May 2015.

Comparisons to the Exodus story are interesting, as here good and some self sacrifice triumphs over evil through violence (in the Exodus story, the violence is in the hands of God, rather than people).

***SPOILER*** There are a number of sci-fi films with endings like this, where a few heroes overthrow the pharaohs, free the slaves and spread the wealth to the many, such as “Logan’s Run,” “Total Recall,” “Wall-E,” “The Lord of the Rings.” While these are satisfying and hopeful endings for films, such endings are not really a substitution for what it takes to build a just society we would want to live in.

What do we think is going to happen after the handful of victorious heroines has taken over the citadel and its mass of miserable inhabitants (Max having disappeared into the crowd like his Western forbears in John Wayne films or Shane), that will allow them to plant all those seeds and turn it into the “green land?”

Perhaps a reminder that these films are a cautionary tale about not destroying the civilization that has taken so long to build and needs so much more civilizing. And of course no one in these movies overcomes evil with good, which is what Jesus said to do.

As for character arcs. We have Max who is burnt out and has lost hope in a brutal world. We are introduced to Imperator Furiosa, who is the main protagonist in the story, as she has stolen sex slave “wives” from the cult leader warlord Immortan Joe, and they are fleeing to a safe place where there is plenty of food, water, and freedom. And, finally, we have an ill soldier in Immortan Joe’s army of young men who is involved in the pursuit to capture Furiosa and bring the wives back into custody. In short summary, there is a restoring of hope, there is a gaining of redemption, and there is a glory in sacrifice to save others.

And, of the films noted violence, I feel it needs to be pointed out that it is once again of the classic variety, as say Indiana Jones vs. Nazis in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The action is intense, the chase exciting, but the violence is of necessity, not of enjoyment. Which is to say, the focus is on the heroes fighting to survive and escape, not on sadism. The way the film is masterfully edited accents this by cutting away as one assault is repelled after another. Overall, I feel “Mad Max Fury Road” is a masterpiece of action filmmaking, with the subtle arcs of three main characters that show much thought has gone into what these people must overcome in an adventure of not giving into evil.

Others say this is an analogy of Exodus. I certainly could see that, however, the antagonist was so evil, I don’t know if Pharaoh would even compare. That being said, there were remarkable similarities: fleeing in the desert, a master fighting to bring back his slaves, a fallen and broken hero (Max=Moses), water from the rocks… the list goes on.

However, it doesn’t really matter if this post-apocalyptic, good vs. Evil film portrays a chase scene with a “bad guy” who reminds you of Pharaoh, Satan, or simply a disgusting fallen man and his world of oppressed and brain washed subjects.

Bottom line, this movie, without a doubt, leaves you with three take-aways: 1)be impressed with the stunts and awesome chase scenes and acting 2)recognize human depravity and the insane possibilities of a mob mentality and what an oppressive leader and brain-washed and/or enslaved civilization is capable of, and, 3)feel blessed that we live in such a place and time where we can feel a sense of safety and security as we worship and live how we please while also having the basic needs of life.

This reminds us to be thankful for the simple things like water, green grass, food, air we can breathe in, skin without boils, and no master enslaving us. I am glad I watched this movie because it made me reflect, dig deep, try to understand my feelings and look at it from a Christian perspective. I turned to the word and God, which is always a good thing. It made me feel deeply and ponder critically.

If you can prepare yourself mentally and emotionally and recognize that you will be both negatively and positively affected by this movie, then I charge you to watch and reflect.

But, be sure to pray for God’s protection from evil and ask that he guide you in your own life and help you be courageous and fight every day against evil, even if sometimes you break and feel hopeless. This life is not easy and being a Christian is not easy. We must fight and keep on keepin” on, until we reach the Promise Land.

For an R-rated movie, this one was extremely tame. There was only one F-bomb, a little tiny bit of nudity (No worse than any PG-13 rated movie) and most of the violence and gore was either off-screen or shown in MASSIVE explosions, sandstorms or other absolutely insane events. Hence my “Better Than Average” rating. I’ve seen PG-13 movies that were more violent, profane and sexual than this one.

I also immensely enjoyed the music truck. It really reminded me of something Slipknot would do. (Metalhead here). The red jumpsuit, mask, thudding drums and a dude playing brutal riffs while suspended from chains. Crazy, insanely epic movie all around. I’m taking my dad to see it for his birthday on Saturday, I think he’ll enjoy it. …Easily the best $7.50 I’ve ever spent on a movie. It gets 7 out of 5 stars in my book. GO SEE IT.

Similarly, it is right to “violently” oppose temptation in our hearts with our emotional attachment to God. It is wrong, however, to use violence to fuel our egos when we are wronged. This second type of morality is the kind of sexual and violence laden content in movies such as “Mad Max.” If we’re to compare the violence of this movie with the Old Testament, it should be remembered that God did not approve of all of the violence in the Septuagint. In fact, there are many places where He openly states that some people performing something as “mundane” as animal sacrifices were “covered in blood.” The language is that of disgust with their behavior. This is exactly why the extermination of the Canaanites was a serious enough affair that God gave them 400 years to repent before their judgment would come, and 1000 years before the Flood overtook the Earth. They were not a peaceful people and acted more like wild lions than human beings.

According to the report of his spies (and much sound Biblical analysis by Biblical scholars), Joshua was commanded to rid the land of giants, or the descendants of the Nephilim (Ever seen Jack and the Beanstalk? Yep, some giants were actually described in the Bible as being literally as tall as trees. There is nothing physically impossible with this idea, as many other animals have been known to experience gigantism. These creatures were extremely violent, and the land was figuratively ready to “vomit them out” of it.) The act of God in ridding the Earth of such violent giant tribes, and those allied with them, is that first, the God-derived form of morality already described…

but watching a movie that glories and revels in the desolation of human beings for sport, such as “Mad Max,” leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and a depreciation of our fellow man.