“Mad Max: Fury Road” is a story about a group people who, quite literally, break the chains of their bondage and rise up against authoritarianism.
In the film, Tom Hardy’s character (Max) is captured and enslaved, his only purpose in life to provide clean blood to the ruling class’s warriors. Meanwhile, Immortan Joe, the land’s ruler, maintains power with an iron fist forged by military might and the flow of resources. Joe keeps his people in line, keeps his subjects suppressed, by restricting their access to water – then preaching his necessity and humility when he allows a few drops to fall on the masses.
Beyond this, he keeps several wives in captivity, enslaved as his child-bearers and, presumably, as sex slaves as well. It’s this line of oppression that forces Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to smuggle the women out and escape to greener pastures. It’s to this end that Max becomes an unwitting participant, getting thrown into the mix and aiding them in the quest for freedom. After car chases and explosions though the post-apocalyptic desert, Joe is killed, and Furiosa, Max, and Joe’s wives return to “The Citadel” as heroes and liberators. The people attack Joe’s mangled, dead body, and set into motion what appears to be revolution.
There is but one main thrust of this film: freedom versus tyranny. Immortan Joe suppresses his people to the brink of starvation. Joe enslaves people to keep the wheels of his war machine turning. He locks women away for his own bodily needs. And in the end, all rise up for the same goal: freedom. The women don’t want to carry his children anymore; Furiosa wants to end their suffering and return to the home she was plucked from many years ago. And Max, he just wants to be left alone.
1) Does Max’s car represent his freedom?
2) Though he acts as their caretaker, why does Immortan Joe limit the amount of water he releases to his people?
3) What prompts the character of “Nux”, the solider who eventually aids Furiosa, Max, and the girls, to do so?