I kind of thought Mad Max: Fury Road would make crazy money for its opening weekend, but it made just $44 million (or thereabouts). I also thought it would win the weekend, but Pitch Perfect 2 ended up scoring just shy of $70 million this weekend too. All in all, it was a good weekend to be a lady. You had two great, well-reviewed and feminist films to choose from. Which brings me to what I wanted to talk about: Mad Max and feminism. Every woman who has seen Mad Max has raved about Charlize Theron’s Furiosa character, and how the whole film seems like a very pro-woman, feminist action film. When Charlize was at Cannes last Friday, she was asked about feminism and her answers were pretty amazing:
Charlize on whether Mad Max is ‘sort of a feminist film’: “You know what I think is even more powerful about it? That I think George didn’t have a feminist agenda up his sleeve, and I think that’s what makes the story even more powerful, especially how the women are represented in it. It’s just very truthful, and I really applaud him for that. I think when we use the word ‘feminism’ people get a little freaked out, it’s like we’re somehow, like, being put on a pedestal or anything like that. George has this innate understanding that women are just as complex and interesting as men, and he was really interested in discovering all of that. I think through just his need and want for the truth he actually made an incredible feminist movie.”
Charlize on truthful representations of women: “It’s crazy that we live in a world, not just in Hollywood, where women get paid less than men for doing the same job. And also just the representation of women in film, it hasn’t been that authentic and true. So when something comes along where women are represented in a truthful manner, all of a sudden, people really respond to it. And it’s kind of like, ‘You guys, this isn’t anything new.'”
What feminism means to her: “Feminism is such a tricky thing to throw around because I don’t think a lot of people know what women mean when they speak in that articulation. Really, what it boils down to is just equal rights.”
The “pedestal” quote is interesting. I don’t think there’s a complaint that “feminism” means women need to be put on pedestals. I think to many of the MRA-types, the complaint is that feminism means women in charge of everything, not equality between the sexes. But I agree with Charlize’s larger statements, which are basically that this is a feminist film because it has a fully realized, complicated and capable female lead.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
That’s the state of the world, folks. Showing women on screen behaving as actual human beings is considered subversive and shocking.
(That is not a slam on Charlize, but on Hollywood and society in general.)
Those were my exact thoughts when I first read that there were MRAs up in arms because someone dared to make a film that may or may not have empowered a woman. It’s truly sad. These are the folks who tell us that there is no battle to be fought anymore, yet they start screaming about anything that doesn’t serve to further marginalize women.
Yup. Charlize nailed the larger commentary.
I think she has spoken very well on this.
I think feminist agenda is the new gay agenda lol
So representing a somewhat complex person who happens to be female is a feminist act now? How utterly depressing: we’re half the planet’s population, but to have a female as an interesting character/protagonist is seemingly a bold statement in 2015.
I reckon ol’ George didn’t give any such ‘message’ a second thought (and good for him), but the “men’s rights” loons are apparently frothing at the mouth about the movie’s ‘feminist agenda’.
Arrgh!
Charlize is really growing on me lately.
I will make a feminist statement this week and see Mad Max. 😛
She’s growing on me too.
The problem I had with Mad Max is there were two types of women- one were the ” milk cows” who were being pumped for milk and portrayed as overweight and sedentary, and then there were the waify super models who were worth rescuing by the heroic Furiousa. the breastfeeding women were left behind. Hmmm. When I was breastfeeding I was a hot single lady but I doubt that Type will ever make it to popular culture- call me if that ever happens!
Mad Max is rated R, so it was never going to beat out Pitch Perfect.
It was seriously an amazing film and Tom Hardy is sooooo hot in it, but the film really belongs to Charlize.
Yeah, also Fury Road is going gangbusters internationally. Strangely enough, it was never a big thing in the US compared to other parts of the world. The early films are quite cult, niche things for Americans, not blockbusters.
I’m not in the US, but I also was under the impression the original Mad Max films were more cult hits than huge blockbusters. The original made 100mil worldwide (on a 400,000 budget), but it wasn’t a huge hit anywhere, it just earned a small amount in a ton of countries.
MM films were big hits in Australia, obviously, but also popular in a random selection of places like France, Japan, Brazil. Not so much North America, although lots of American directors cite their influence. I think it’s a good US opening for an R film with limited brand recognition.
I’m trying to get the boyfriend to see it with me this weekend.
The visuals were incredible. I like the movie, but didn’t love it. I liked the fact Furiosa was the main character, buy i didn’t see this movie as feminist. Do people forget the main purpose of women in the story was to give birth and produce milk?!
But the entire point of the the film is that using women in these ways is a corruption of society, and is a type of violence that has contributed to the downfall of humanity. To be feminist, or pro-women, a film doesn’t have to present a perfectly feminist world. Now, I think the “feminism” of Mad Max is pretty basic: women are people too, but addressing the fact that in a post-apocalyptic society ruled by violent men, women would be among the subjugated, doesn’t automatically make a film unfeminist. In another film those women would just be part of the scenery. This film is explicitly about these women, and it makes them the heroes.
It’s the purpose of the film’s villain, and the film is unequivocal in portraying that as a terrible thing.
MSD I agree, I think the “we are not things” line that the old women who had helped the brides says to Immortan Joe even points it out.
Yes, I got that. But i think the story is more about prople than necessarily feminism a d i never said it was unfeminist. the movie depicrs a strong woman helped by two men to free these female slaves.
So is it worth seeing in 3D or no? It’s playing at Assembly Row (3D) but I’d prefer to see it at the theater in Somerville (not 3D).
Sorry if this is off-topic but we want to get tix for Sunday.
Kitten, I personally don’t like seeing any movie in 3D. But this one I saw in 3D . The visual effects are so incredible that I think you will enjoy either way.
@Kitten
It was filmed in 2D and converted to 3D later, so I don’t think there’s any point to seeing it in 3D unless you love 3D.
I don’t really think it’s feminist per se. Furiosa only rescued the pampered super models but left the breastfeeding women sedentary and hooked up to machines. I found the portrayal of breastfeeding women was derogatory- why were they hausfrau? People in the theatre Laughed out loud when the supermodels were first featured. Clean, frail, 95% Caucasian etc. Improbable and just not that cool compared with every other Character.
Yeah Pitch Perfect 2 was long expected to open bigger. Mad Max is rated R, but there will be sequels and it is going to make most of it’s money internationally. I’m glad that Charlize apparently has such a great, badass role and apparently is amazing in it. She’s one of our great, brave actresses. She should have been nominated for Young Adult.
I never knew Nicholas Hault was so tall and Tom was so short.
I knew Tom was short, but I thought Nicholas was too.
I knew he was tall because he makes Jennifer Lawrence look almost petite. As Josh Hutchinson can testify, that’s quite hard.
The film was amazing. Breathtaking even.
Really?! I thought it sucked big-time. I tried, really tried, not to bring in my preconceived-love of the originals (Mad Max and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (lurrrved Tina Turner)), but I felt the storyline was lame.
Cool vehicles and weaponry though….
Spoiler alert ***** Who doesn’t love kickass biker old ladies fighting for a woman’s right to not be raped by warlords? Come on
I’m actually astonished anyone could dislike that movie. It was SO awesome!
But yes, this Max was not even on the same planet as the original Max. If you wanted a reboot or a sequel to the original, then this movie must have been a hard pill to swallow.
I didn’t know anybody liked Beyond the Thunderdome. Huh. I personally thought Fury Road was on par with Road Warrior, and that’s saying a lot cuz Road Warrior is one of the greatest of all time.
This makes me think of Alien. The original script was written with the notation for casting that any character could be male or female, it didn’t really matter. No one sat down and said “I’m going to write a female action heroine”. They wrote a character. That’s how we got Ripley. The reason Fury Road works is that Miller too didn’t have a checklist. When people have checklists, however well intentioned, you can see it a mile off. (I’m so tired of movies where women are written as ‘sassy’ or ‘feisty’ to convey female strength). He just thought, well these characters would be women because that makes sense in the story I’m telling, and women are people and I’ll write the people. It’s depressing that this approach to female characters is still so rare.
Exactly! That was what I was trying to say in my (more clumsily worded) post.
I wish more screenwriters and filmmakers would focus on the human/character first, rather than writing according to their perception of gender, race etc.
I love your comment.
And it reminds me just how much is wrong with the current status quo, and how unnecessary and deliberate the inequality really is. If the results seem REVOLUTIONARY when you simply treat women the same way you’d treat men, the industry has a very big problem.
And yet there are actors, male AND female, who go on record to declare that women and men have equal opportunities & equal representation onscreen. If that were true, this film would be nothing new.
It’s depressing indeed. Feminism is SO far from “extreme” that it’s possible to achieve it by simply regarding gender as one of many fixed characteristics. It doesn’t have to be the center of the story; in fact, it’s even better when it’s not, because gender is never the center of male-driven stories.
*If the results seem REVOLUTIONARY when you simply treat women the same way you’d treat men, the industry has a very big problem.*
This.
@MSD: thank you. You said it perfectly.
I thought Tom’s character was a prop! The movie really belonged to Furiosa and Charlize was wonderful in it. Nicolas too. Meghan Gale is a daggy local model; what was she doing all wonderwoman in it? The weirdness was the mythology in this film, which was quite bitter and hopeful rather than plain dark like The Road.
Seriously. I love me some Tom Hardy, but he was just a supporting character in this movie. It was Furiosa’s story.
The movie was awesome. I really want to see it again.
True. This was her story rather than his and she was great in it. Tom looked hot and sweaty but that’s about it. I don’t really like action pics but this was a great date night movie.
Her name in the movie was The Dag. Look up the name of the Five Wives and you’ll see.
And yes, the movie did belong to Charlize. I also found Nicholas character Nux more compelling than Hardy’s Max.
Her character’s name is just listed as “The Valkyrie” on IMDB. Abbey Lee’s The Dag. More of the weirdness that feel authentically post-apocalyptic.
No one should be bassing their perceptions of reality on anything they see in movies. Hence the old saying “You watch too much television”
Really? Because when I was growing up as an awkward little girl, I most definitely based my perceptions of beauty on what I saw in the movies. And there are millions of little girls doing the same thing today, and failing to find anything to relate to.
It’s easy to write off popcorn entertainment as meaningless when *you* don’t take it seriously, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect entire generations in subconscious and insidious ways. And for minorities who very rarely see themselves depicted as full-fleshed human beings, it can feel incredibly alienating to grow up in a world that’s driven by white male narratives. You don’t feel important, you don’t feel like you have a story to tell (or if you do, you assume no one will listen). There are so many genius potential artists out there who will never create, because they grew up believing their voices didn’t matter, and it never occurred to them to push back (which makes sense, if their daily lives already involved plenty of exhausting attempts to defy racism or sexism). Plenty of others DID actually try, but failed because there wasn’t “an audience” for it.
There’s also the other side of it: privileged people who only see themselves onscreen. Boys who grow up watching action movies that treat women like objects are being taught that it’s okay — normal, in fact, and encouraged — to pursue women as sexual conquests and nothing more. Couples who raise children in all-white suburbs watching all-white TV shows with the occasional black mugger or servant or prositute — it doesn’t matter if they’re told not to be racist; they’re being conditioned to see white people as the heroes and people of color as the “other”, the criminals, the sidekicks, etc.
You might not approve of kids watching hours of TV every day, or people getting their values from movies… but these things happen, and when those shows & films are filled with two-dimensional characters who serve as props in white male narratives, we do a huge disservice to society as a whole.
In my head, I’m standing up and applauding this comment.
One of my media professors in undergrad said that we’re like fish, and media is water. People might not notice it, but it’s inescapable and it affects us whether we know it or not.
I agree, I think film and TV have a huge influence on society, and are also a reflection of it. Your point about diversity on TV shows is very true, and goes both ways. As sad as it is to think about now, the Cosby show was a good thing for people like me, a young white suburban kid who grew up watching it. I loved the show, loved the family, and never thought of them as “different” than me, and that sort of thing carries into adulthood. Same thing for people who grew up in the age of Will & Grace, Modern Family, and other shows that had gay characters. It’s never a cure-all, but I think it certainly has some influence over the audience.
As frustrating as it is to see how unequal it still is for women, I’m excited by all the discussion about it and the fact that not everyone is brushing it aside anymore. When we push for it now, future generations will benefit as well.
Interesting points. But I’ve repeatedly told my kids that it’s important to know the difference between real life and the media. I’ve also pointed out how disproportionality white the media is compared to our multicultural society. Hell people from overseas actually come to Australia and are surprised when they discover that Australia is a lot less white than they’d been led to believe. So yeah, my kids have a healthy skepticism of the media and its “social norms”. My nine year old has even taken to bagging “mainstream crap” it’s cute.
People do, though, and a lot of studies exist to back that up. It’s one of the reasons they suspect why minorities and women as a demographic have lower self-esteem than white boys once they hit their adolescent years. Regardless of what we teach our kids, we’re still molded by our media whether it’s beauty norms, cultural taboos, or stereotypes. That’s how it’s always been, and the advent of Internet, television, and radio just gave us a more invasive reach.
Well said Charlize. Word has it that her and Angelina Jolie are good friends now because Sean and Brad Pitt are good friends. Charlize and Angelina have a lot in common. Both strong, fierce, beautiful, and intimidating women and humanitarians with great presence onscreen and off. More ice queen than America’s sweethearts. I hope they work together.
Man for years since I was a kid I always thought they had a lot in common. They’re both fierce in their own way. I think what surprised me about Charlize was I had no idea she can play such a good action character. That’s something I thought Angie was pretty good at. What I like is these two don’t make compromises when it comes to their work. I would love to see Charlize star in a film that Angie directs. That would be a dream.
Angelina is big into directing now. I also would love to see her direct Charlize in a strong role. The two most badass women in Hollywood teaming up? I’d love it.
I remember back before Angelina was hugely famous, Charlize said that she would get Angelina’s fanmail, and when she met Angelina, she said she would get Charlize’s fanmail. Charlize said Angelina was gorgeous and they chatted about how people would get them mixed up.
But don’t forget, Charlize is friends with Chelsea Handler….
I can’t stand Handler at all but I give her props for being outspoken and not sorry for it (right or wrong).
You can be friends with two people who don’t like each other. I doubt Angelina cares about Chelsea Handler.
I’m glad there are fellow fans of the film here! I thought it was excellent.
Do we think Furiosa was previously a wife? I thought the film hinted at it without outright stating a past connection to Joe. I also thought perhaps she maimed herself so that she was less “perfect” and he would discard her?
This is a good theory (that she maimed herself — or allowed herself to get into an accident of some kind) but Charlize Theron said in an interview that she was discarded (as a wife) b/c she couldn’t bear children.
I wanted to see it for the art, but it was incredibly loud. I covered my ears the entire time, but then again I rarely watch TV. I may not be used to it. But in our theatre, people laughed at the initial wife scene and at the fake pregger belly. It just looked stupid a la fake baby in American sniper. The young frail wives didn’t fit the theme. They should have at least been less coiffed and slightly more dirty. Like hot biker chicks. They reminded me of the Charlie ‘ angels remake- haze cam and distractingly trendy. Why would the BB survive into an apocalyptic world? The audience wasn’t buying that part & it nearly ruined an awesomely tough movie.
MRA’s don’t just think that feminism is bad because women could be in charge. Many think women ARE in charge, and have been for generations, because the law protects them (sometimes) and men are no longer allowed to beat them into submission like the good old days.
Never try to apply rationality to MRAs.
Actually most of them think women are sexual belongings of men, no exaggaration. They openly write that women must be beaten into submission. Rape isn’t wrong in their minds, they are sick and dangerous. Their views are the same as those ISIS extremists’.
I waste so much energy arguing with MRAs. They question my intelligence and perception of reality at every turn. They are truly threatened by equality. It’s becoming less of a man’s world and more of a people’s world. They can’t stand it.
That film was balls to the wall batsh!t crazy and 200 mph start to finish.
I left the theater stunned and blown anway. I can’t wait to see it next week.
The film is like a dagger stabbing into the heart and of a patriarchal capitalist western society and exposing its rotten core….and all this in a film with barely any dialogue! !!
Me too, I had the shakes!
The film is Charlize ‘ s for sure, buy she and Tom were both incredible. They can act with their eyes. From Charlizw, you get Furiosa,’s determination, defiance, her burden of protecting these women and faint hope..
Tom as Max is man haunted by the past, driven by survival and barely hanging on to sanity, but he still retains the combat training of his past (as a cop) and is a force in a fight.
You glean all of this from characters who barely speak, much less speak of their pasts, hopes or feelings. Incredible acting from both!
Im.not even kidding when I saw this may be one of Charlize ‘ s best performances as an actress.
The statement seems to reinforce the feminist agenda pejorative/stereotype. As in, one exists, that is nefarious, but not here.
That’s what you got from that comment?
I think George didn’t have a feminist agenda up his sleeve
From that statement, yes.
I also want to sing Riley Keough’s praise. This woman has SO MUCH screen presence!, and her role was not even a big one. There was one shot where the focus was obviously supposed to be on Tom Hardy and she was only in the background; and I couldn’t take my eyes off her!
Yeah, and it’s also a film where the only non-white person is Zoe Kravitz (And she’s quite light in the movie). Really?
The ONLY thing I hated about Mad Max was Zoe Kravitz bland and unnerving performance. Nepotism at its best.
I do have to say that her performance was… odd. Like she was supposed to be badass but not? the worst for me was the blond chick, the extra blonde one with super clear and big eyes. ARGH, she annoyed me everytime she opened her mouth.
Haven’t seen the movie yet. But I was happy to learn Charlize got paid more if not atleast Equal to her co stars. Shocked that that was even a question.
Besides the fact that she’s a fantastic actress, it’s comments like these that reinforces my fondness for Theron.
I read that he had hired a famous feminist to help him write the script though.
I think that was after he realized that natural progression of the story. He wanted to tell a truthful story and the only way he could was to get a writer with perspective. Charlize said they didn’t have a script. It was sort of being written as they shoot.
Not write the script. He got Eve Ensler of the Vagina Monologues to spend a week on set with the five wives talking about sexual slavery etc. to help them with their characters. The fact that Miller acknowledged he wouldn’t be the best person to talk to them about such things is amazing in itself. ( Theron said there was a script but it was highly unconventional – an outline plus about 3500 storyboards that laid it all out. I bet it’d make a cool comic).
ah gotcha. I know he wants to flsh out some minor characters in comics form. He’s a very visual storyteller.
I agree I love that he consults where he feels necessary and would contribute to better representation and character building.
I’m sorry but everyone in the theatre laughed at the super model wives. I myself cringed when their haze cam scenes came on. That was bad casting IMO.
yes but she is highly problematic. she is transphobic and her play includes “it was a good rape” after a woman rapes another woman.
the wiki links provides insight in various criticisms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vagina_Monologues
i am sure he could have found someone better.
Is it just me or is Charlize who ScarJo wants to be when she grows up? Blond bombshell who is articulate and perceived to be smarter than the avg starlet. A person who actively eschews a nice, sweet image and is attracted to Sean Penn.
The more I see Charlize during this media tour the more I believe that despite the fact that she will never be the nicest celebrity I do think she is an articulate woman who considers what she says before she says it. This is what I realize rubs me the wrong way about ScarJo. ScarJo doesn’t execute properly. You can see her desire to be the smartest blond bombshell in the room but she always says something that allows you to realize that it is her wishful thinking and not the truth. I think she thinks that b/c she’s 5% smarter than other actresses that it means she can hold her own in a conversation outside of Hollywood and I don’t believe that. With Charlize, while I won’t say she’s the smartest thing in the world, I think she has some strong, articulate opinions.
I don’t know if it is irony or just bad luck that my first post on this site under an explicitly feminist post would be to put two females against each other. but i just realized why ScarJo bothered me despite the fact that i like her acting choices. im not trying to bash her. I may not believe in her intelligence as much as she does but I do respect her position in Hollywood and I do like that she makes some really good movies with interesting female characters. But I do think that ScarJo’s vision of herself ( an actresses who is smart IRL as well as Hollywood) is already being better executed by Charlize.
Scarjo is also ten years younger. Give her time and see if she matures. I think she’s getting there, but I agree. Charlize is miles ahead.
You maybe forgot all the times Charlize dropped dumb bombs on interviews over the years:
-when she openly made herself available to Fassbender looking so desperate
-when she got mistaken Budapest for Istanbul
-when she said she feels raped by paps
-when she said she gives disgusting food she doesn’t like to her dogs THEN her maids
…
…
…
I could go on and on…And this didn’t happened long ago, I mean is not that she said those dumb things when she was 20.
Celebs get media training to sound intelligent and articulate when promoting movies.
“when she said she gives disgusting food she doesn’t like to her dogs THEN her maids”
ouch, i remember that now. that was ta terrible low point.
No she was talking about a cake from Chelsea Handler and she mentioned giving it to her friends, basically everyone in her life, not just her dogs and her maids. It just came out wrong because she mentioned her dogs and the help close together. But Charlize loves her dogs like her children.
She was also joking with the Fassbender thing just like George Clooney did. Move on from that.
I think Charlize is more beautiful and talented than Scarlett. Scarlett annoyed me once when she referred to Charlize as the girl next door in talking about Charlize’s sexiest woman alive title. Charlize is no girl next door. Scarlett was just trying to downplay it because she wants to be the glamorous blonde bombshell. Without her boobs, she ain’t all that.
Funny thing: One of the most misogynist sexists pigs in Hollywood has been married and in relationships with women that portrayed amazing strong females (Theron with Mad Max, Wright with House of Cards) and also Madonna: she has fought hard to be considered and played in the boys sandbox of the music industry. Not only, the three of them, for very different reasons come across in real life as women who had it hard, fought and won in life. There’s something that is off with Penn and the women in his life. Why such amazing women would choose that miserable pig? But … I understand Madonna: a mistake of youth marriage can happen. I even understand Wright: she got pregnant very young and then got herself trapped. But Charlize!!! why??? Is she dumb? or just desperate?
Madonna was young? Robin was trapped? Charlize is dumb and desperate? You’re assuming things and over simplifying these women and their experiences.
I think Charlize brings the best out of Sean. He seems happier than I have ever seen him and there was this shot of them on the Cannes red carpet and the way he looked at her with so much pride and love was really sweet. It is possible to change.
How was Robin Wright trapped? That’s ridiculous to say. Just because you have kids with someone doesn’t mean you have to stay with him. If he’s as horrible as you say, wouldn’t the right thing to do would be not to subject your children to that person? But guess what Robin willingly had children by Sean and got with him after knowing about the Madonna incident, and Sean Penn’s kids adore him, which speaks volumes.
I’m over Charlize being the only one of Sean’s women to get crap for being his woman.
Riley Keough WAS suprisingly compelling on screen. She barely had a role and a character but you sense her compassion and stength. Like if Furiosa fell she would take over
I was definitely impressed with her performance.
I was never very impressed with Keough or Kravitz onscreen before this film. I thought Kravitz was very good. I thought Keough was marvelous. This is a film, as people have said, with so little dialogue that it comes down to expressiveness, body language, and charisma. Keough communicated a whole character without speaking words. (I wonder if she’ll be as good in films where she has to *talk* more.)
Agree with you 100%
She was the most likeable and interesting of the bunch, the others were pretty bland.
Ugh. Puhleeze. Those trendy wives ruined fir me. Not a grain of grit betwixt them.
Okay, anyone else want a book of the Furiosa’s character back story? I freakin do!
Please powers that be, get on this right away!
Just chiming in to see that this was indeed a spectacular sci-fi film, one for the ages, and tremendously feminist. Everyone go see it!!!!!!!
The movie’s energy stayed with me long after the credits rolled. Frenetic and visually stunning with some amazing stunts and a simple A-Z plot that is made believable by the performance of the actors. I love action movies and I need to watch this again some time soon.
@Kitten. Save your money see it in 2D. When 3D is added post production it’s not the same.
Charlize isn’t far off with her pedestal comments. I have seen the word thrown around when MRA’s try to dismiss feminism. They they tend to conflate equality with entitlement, basically grouping together women who seek things education and fair wages with women who have spoiled princess attitudes.
I had my hackles raised going into this because this woman has said some nonsense in previous years, but she articulated this very well. You don’t have to make a “feminist” film to support women. You just have to think of them as human beings whose stories are worth the telling.
Great summation of one of the themes of this film (which I plan on seeing in 3D): “Women are human beings whose stories are worth telling.”