Reflection Paper on “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Mad Max: Fury Road was the fourth post-apocalyptic action film of Mad Max movie

franchise which was all directed by Director George Miller. This insane, chaotic, yet amazing,

jam-packed action movie depicted the issue regarding to what is happening to our own world.

Despite being an action-filled film with explosions and high-speed car chases, it did not fail to

interpret how the upper class/privileged beings oppressed and took advantage of those who

works for them. The crises of capitalism were depicted by portraying oppression and deprivation

of supplies especially water by those people to the underprivileged ones.

The film starts with the world years after the downfall of civilization, their leader named

Immortan Joe, who portrays the Bourgeois of our society, turned the apocalypse survivors into

his own slaves, the Proletariats, in the middle of the desert called “the Citadel”. Few of the

survivors became slaves and were called war boys/pups that was fanatically loyal to him because

of the lies he fed through his made-up religion. This shows how the powerful uses power and

resources to make the people below them to follow. These people who was deprived of resources

has no choice but to work under these greedy beings.

To Immortan Joe, these survivors—men, women and children were mere beings only. He

only sees them as objects who he can use for his own benefits and dispose whenever he wants.

Men were used as his slaves who was brain-washed using his made-up religion where he is the

“god” who they should worship and follow. Woman were used for his pleasure and as milk

providers, and children were used as a tool to operate a machinery such as the platform elevator

shown in the film.

 Furthermore, this film took place in the middle of the dessert and emphasized the scarcity

of water towards the underprivileged people and lack of greeneries. Although the abundance of

both were seen on the top of the Citadel where the tyrannical leader and the privileged ones lived

compared below where underprivileged were. Their place was dry and only sands were found

everywhere. Greed took place and deprived them the supplies they should have. Because of

these, people below have no choice but to look up to Immortan Joe and beg for his mercy to

“bless” them with more water. This shows how the Bourgeois uses greed and control the

distribution of supplies, depriving the Proletariats their needs and took advantage to the situation

they’re in and use it against them so that they will follow him blindly, accepting what is given to

them whether its small or average. They were mistaking his greed to mercy.

Going back to the film, one of his servants, Furiosa, portrayed by Charlize Theron,

betrayed the tyrannical leader and gives hope to the leader’s five sex-slaves or what he calls his

“wives” to go to the “green place” which leads to an escape and intense high-speed car chase

where they met and forge an alliance with Max played by Tom Hardy, a newly captive prisoner

who managed to escaped the leader of the Citadel. It only shows how these characters were so

oppressed to the point that they had enough and decided to fight for their freedom and escaped

from these oppressors who runs an unfair system that only the privileged can benefit. That’s

what happen when the leader requires a lot of work but deprived or only give little

recognition/resource/prize to those unprivileged ones.

Another memorable part of the film is when they defeated and killed the tyrant leader and

came back in the Citadel. Everyone rejoiced with them and felt relieved because the oppressor

they once blindly follow was gone. A new hope was born and the one that caused pain and chaos

to them was long gone.

 Overall, what I think about this movie is that it was assembled perfectly. It was not just

another action movie where everyone was fighting and just pure violence, instead it was an

insane, chaotic, yet amazing, jam-packed action movie depicted the issue about oppression of the

powerful to the underprivileged. We must all learn from Furiosa and Max who stood-up, fought

for their freedom and broke loose from the unfair system, where upper classes was the only who

can benefit. Like them, you should know that no one owns you and has the power over you. You

are more than just an object who works for an Immortan Joe accepting what is given to you

whether its small or average.