MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Well,  MOST of us have seen this 2015 release by now and there's NOT A LOT TO ADD.  The Conspiracy Zone chapter meetings show we are very much in agreement about what this movie says about the Naked Apes.  But here are a few points that interest me:


CLIFFIE'S NOTES ON MAD MAX: FURY ROAD


>> The movie is hardly about Max at all!  He is drowned out completely by the wild, testosterone-fuelled POSTURING of males more alpha than Max, and those who WANT to be more alpha than he is.  Max -- not really the protagonist of the story, just a guy along for the ride -- is no more than a plucky survivor type afflicted with auditory and visual hallucinations of people he thinks he ought to have saved from some unknown menace.  SAVED FOR WHAT?  ANOTHER DAY IN THIS HIDEOUS WORLD?  A trackless desert travelled by thyroidal funnycars full of maniac killers?   The message may be that Max is a hero, not because of his incredible fighting chops, but because he doesn't want to be part of this game at all. 


>> I can hardly blame him.  This is what this world looks like:

I'd be screaming too if I had to live there.


>> One wonders how this male vs. female battle of the clans is likely to come out.  The matrilineal tribes from the Green Place are certainly painted as better than the alternative.  But they still ride around on motorcycles, shooting at their enemies (almost everyone) who fall into the traps they set for them.  At least they look relatively healthy; you can't say that for a lot of the characters in this story.


>> That alternative -- the Citadel, as they call the aerie of Immortan Joe (shown above) -- is where women go to be EXPLOITED and the men hope they can get to the top -- THE TOP OF WHAT, YOU ASK?  They want to be seated at the right hand of good old Joe, their dictator for life, who makes Dennis Hopper in Waterworld look pretty normal and reasonable.  There's apparently not much else to do at the Citadel but kowtow to Joe -- everyone looks like they're on the point of collapse.  Even their would-be war hero, Nux, takes Max along to the battle because he needs a source of constant blood transfusions.  Yeah, he's one of their top-flight soldiers! 


>> If you look out the window you can see they are, in fact, headed in this direction, AND IT'S UP TO US TO SAVE THEM. 


And here's the thing:  THEY APPEAR TO KNOW THAT, TOO.  Here's a quote from Joe, who has a monopoly on all the water in the desert:

"Do not, my friends, become addicted to water.  It'll take hold of you and you will resent its absence."

Is he freaking serious?  That's like being addicted to oxygen.   

So if you think about it, the real heroes of this story are US.  The fish.  Come with us and we'll lead you into the water, where you will dwell in wonder and glory forever.