By Kassandra Garcia |Staff Writer|
Although Vanity Fair has hailed “Mad Max: Fury Road“ as the most surprising feminist triumph, it is also viewed as “a feminist piece of propaganda posing as a guy flick” by some absurd men that go by the term “meninists” (members of the absurd men’s rights movement).
If you’re unfamiliar with the controversy surrounding the new Mad Max movie, here’s a quick rundown: There are some men out there who actually fear that America is being feminized and that “real” men—men who are tough and totally secure in their masculinity—are being threatened by an ass-kicking half-bionic heroine who defies death to rescue five young women from sex slavery, according to Rex W. Huppke of the Chicago Tribune.
Aaron Clarey, a writer for the website Return of Kings, which claims to be a blog for “heterosexual, masculine men,” actually asked men to boycott the film because of the Hollywood “garbage propaganda machine which spews out this feminist drivel filth.”
I mean how frail can some men’s egos actually be?
What adds to the comedy is that Clarey claims all this without having watched the movie.
“This is the vehicle by which they are guaranteed to force a lecture on feminism down your throat,” Clarey states.
Why is it so threatening that in this movie women rescue women? The wives aren’t dependent on the goodwill of a man to get them out of a bad situation, instead they ask a woman.
Max is not the initiator which obviously terrifies “meninists” because they have to actually acknowledge that women exist and can be badass without men.
“What’s threatening about ‘Fury Road’ is the idea that when the earth burns, women might not actually want men to protect them,” said BuzzFeed’s Laurie Penny.
It is revolutionary, in a sense, that it is a female dominated film. I think this type of representation—women being fearless and willing to be unstoppable—is important.
Why is it threatening that Furiosa, the leading lady, is not your stereotypical “perfect” heroine? That she has a buzz cut, is disabled and isn’t wearing any visible mascara?
The message is simple. There aren’t prolonged speeches about how wrong it was for Immortan Joe to mistreat them. Instead, it’s summed up in a single sentence: “We are not things.”
Clearly to Clarey, it is a harrowing experience having to acknowledge that hundreds of male actors are overlooked by female-dominated leads, an obvious cinematic atrocity against the male gender.
“Its so funny that men are actually offended by strong women. The movie was great!” said student Adam Lewis.
It is clear that “Mad Max” isn’t your typical gun-filled, action-packed summer blockbuster because for the first time in who knows how long, it was a mostly female main cast.
Usually, the only woman in an action film is dressed in a body forming suit and is only there to draw in male viewers, which seems to not be the case here.
I agree that it is not the perfect representation of female empowerment. It could have done without the scene where the wives hose each other down like a car wash fantasy.
“It’s about time there is an action movie that truly represents how tough women are and can be,” said student Ellien Jones.
“The story is this: The liberation of women is the liberation of everyone, and there’s only one way to stay alive when the world burns. We must learn to survive each other, because we can’t survive without each other,” stated Penny.
And that’s what makes the movie so forward-thinking: it’s not feminist because Furiosa’s character gets to engage in as much violence as any other action lead, but George Miller, the writer and director, has brought to light the horror of sexism and the necessity of freedom from patriarchy.
“Mad Max: Fury Road“ is the perfect example of emerging feminist influenced cinematic culture. It’s fantastic, very watchable, and shuts down the patriarchy without insulting men. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you go watch it.
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