We Are Not Things: Mad Max: Fury Road Is A Feminist Masterpiece

Let’s start with this: I have never seen any of the original Mad Max movies. I barely know enough about them to understand pop culture references to them. And one week ago, I had no intention of seeing Mad Max: Fury Road at all.

Then this happened: Men’s Rights Activists the internet over started pissing their pants about the movie’s blatant feminist agenda. Now, I don’t consider myself a spiteful person by a long shot, but if doing something is going to make bigots angry, sign me right up. If it has the added perk that I get to watch lots of explosions and cool action on top of that, well, that’s just gravy. While the pessimist in me felt that there was no way that the movie could be as bad (which is to say, good) as the MRAs claimed, I was determined to give it a go. My (also deeply skeptical) mom and I hit the cinema on Monday night to take this so-called feminist screed into our eyeballs.

And holy hell, I loved it.

(Trigger warning for discussion of rape below the jump—nothing explicit. Also, spoilers.)

Fanfiction Fridays: Water and Earth by ssstrychnine

It’s probably bad form to write a post reccing a fanfic from something that you haven’t written the actual review of yet. To that I say: I do what I want. Tomorrow you’ll get a bona fide Mad Max: Fury Road review from me, but today, I’ve got a delightful Furiosa-centric fic for your reading pleasure.

When Furiosa is named Imperator and given the War Rig to drive, she does not feel anything. It growls under hands. She paints her face in engine grease and she drives like a demon, but her dreams are empty, and the green place does not exist. She does not see the Wives anymore, she avoids them because Angharad still looks at her like she has the answer. She avoids them because they are too much like the many mothers from her childhood. Women who she had loved and who had loved her.

Angharad tells the Wives that they are not things and Furiosa beats her fist bloody against a wall because it’s too dangerous. These girls will get themselves killed with things like hope and things like freedom. Furiosa is calm water, but Angharad bandages her split knuckles with a strip from her dress, and looks at her like she knows every truth.

When Angharad becomes pregnant, she comes to Furiosa with a plan.