Mad Max: Feminist Propaganda?

With the release of the brilliant Mad Max: Fury Road came an outcry of dismay from several men's rights activists about how the movie is nothing more than a work of feminist propaganda, and that it ought to be boycotted at every cost. The main reason for this averse reaction is simple: the main character is arguably somebody other than the titular Max. In fact, it's Charlize Theron's 'Furiosa' who takes the leading role for most of the film, which defies many gender stereotypes we've had within action movies for a very long time. Does this mean that Fury Road is a man-hating, feminism-glorifying piece of cinema? Of course not. 

In the world of Fury Road, men are the overwhelmingly predominant gender. Villain Immortan Joe's hope of a future heir relies upon his five 'breeders', who he keeps locked up in his fortress, in the hope of producing a male child. Furiosa rescues these women and takes them far from Joe's evil grasp, trying to reach the promised 'green place' from where she came. However, during all of this, Max himself is present. Sure, he begins the movie captured and chained to the front of a car, but he's soon set free and is forced to side with Furiosa to ensure any chance of survival - and in that lies the key point. Max sides with Furiosa; he's not overshadowed by her. 

There's a handful of scenes that have made people particularly angry, one being a moment at which Max hands Furiosa a sniper in order for her to shoot at a far away target effectively. Three bullets remain in the gun, and Max shoots two - both of them miss. To save wasting all three, Max acknowledges that Furiosa's previous display of marksmanship is superior to his, and so he hands her the gun, which she places on his shoulder; using Max as a makeshift bi-pod. This scene doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Max is a man and Furiosa is a woman. An earlier scene shows how her talent with a gun surpasses that of Max's, and so she completes the task at hand. It's been established that Max is more of a regular guy than an all-out action hero, and so for him to be perfect at every stereotypically masculine skill would not only seem unrealistic, but go against the established narrative of the Mad Max series. 

Another point of contention that has riled up certain groups of people is that Fury Road's director George Miller hired Eve Ensler to talk to the five wives in the film (alongside others) in order to give a perspective of their situation. Eve is the writer of 'The Vagina Monologues', and is a woman's rights activist. Many took this as George Miller having a feminist agenda when producing the movie (though this wouldn't necessarily be a terrible thing), but Eve only offered insight and advice to some of the actors and actresses. If it results in a better, more grounded movie, then why would this be such a huge issue? 

The fact of the matter is that Furiosa is a strong, empowering female character who can easily stand alongside the likes of Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor. This doesn't mean that Max is less than her; nor does it mean he's superior. In Fury Road, Max and Furiosa end up being equals, and both have a joint motivation: survival. How about, instead of being so concerned with the politics of a movie like this, we enjoy it as the amazing, exhilarating action film that it is? Having women in leading roles within movies isn't a terrible thing, and that should honestly go without saying. But we can still have our Jason Stathams and Sylvester Stallones, too. 

Because it's about equality, right?