Symbolism in Mad Max: Fury Road?

Azumarill | Mythic Invincible!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Azumarill
IP: Logged

7,654 posts
 
Alright so I'm shamelessly lifting a post from reddit because it was super interesting. It's basically a theory on how the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear in Fury Road.

Quote
It is apparent that the three main warlords are representative of their chosen "commodity" - water, weapons, & gasoline. But, I believe they actually represent something greater - the cause of the apocalypse itself and each of them is in fact a representation of one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Immortan Joe represents Conquest/Pestilence. We know that he pursues and enslaves people in the Wasteland (i.e. Furiosa's origin) and then turns those conquered people so they view him as god-like and the path to heaven. In this way, he assumes the same duality as the Christian horseman - as both a righteous figure (some interpret Conquest as Jesus spreading the gospel) and an evil figure (some interpret Conquest as a false prophet), and also as an infectious influence like the modern "Pestilence" (he "turns" his slaves into followers).
IJ and his followers also embody Pestilence by their own bodies. They are covered in festering sores, are mis-shapen and/or disabled, and have tumors from the nuclear radiation (side note: I find it interesting that Fury Road is the first time Miller has basically beaten everyone over the head with "It was global thermonuclear war, dummies!", when the series has only ever strongly hinted at that before).
The Bullet Farmer represents War. This is an easy one but hear me out. The Christian horseman isn't simply the embodiment of all war, it is the embodiment of unchecked aggression and "non-righteous" conflict. In a modern sense, War is simply unchecked militarism and internecine warfare. The Bullet Farmer doesn't merely represent these qualities, he actively pursues them. When the rest of the group is stuck in the mud and the three warlords have a talk, The People Eater tells him to wait and not hurt the "wives", but instead he goes riding off alone (unchecked aggression) and fires wildly with no regard to who he hits (collateral damage/internecine warfare/"friendly fire").
The People Eater represents Famine. "But he's fat!", you say. Read on, this requires more backstory of the Christian horseman. Famine is generally shown carrying weighing scales to measure grain during a famine. When he appears Saint John hears an exclamation on the prices of grain, but it then concludes:
and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine
Why does the voice say this? It's generally interpreted to mean that luxury goods should remain unaffected by famine, meaning the rich will not suffer, while the poor will. In this way, Famine also embodies the injustice and gluttony of the rich. We see this reflected in the characters surrounding The People Eater - many will resort to eating mutant salamanders, whereas TPE is extremely obese and has major gout, he is obviously well-fed.
TPE also embodies Famine in his name. Throughout history there are recurring episodes of cannibalism practiced by people who were not getting enough nutrients.
So, I bet you're wondering "who's the fourth Horsemen???"....it's Max. Max is Death. Nowhere is this more clear than Max's visions of the dead people he has been unable to "save". He carries the dead with him, leaves people dead in his own path, but can also never be killed himself. Max and Death are both remorseless forces of nature, and that is especially true in Fury Road.

I think this is pretty sound, you do always have to reach a bit to really get at the symbolism of movies like this. More symbolism that I picked up on: lots of gender symbolism, especially relating to feminism/fertility (the seeds going back to the place with water). The three warlords can be said to represent religion, greed, and conflict, which birthed the apocalypse.

What do you think? Do you think Fury Road has a lot of neat symbolism? Do you think it was just a cool action flick?


 
Hahahaha very funny Zonda
| p o l l o
 
more |
XBL: banjo my honey
PSN:
Steam: BanjoKazooie
ID: ねこ
IP: Logged

18,562 posts
RIP ENDIE
This user has been blacklisted from posting on the forums. Until the blacklist is lifted, all posts made by this user have been hidden and require a Sep7agon® SecondClass Premium Membership to view.


Magos Domina | Heroic Invincible!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Kiyohime
IP: Logged

6,711 posts
01001001 01101101 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110010 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01110000 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101
Interesting. So who's Humongous?


 
Hahahaha very funny Zonda
| p o l l o
 
more |
XBL: banjo my honey
PSN:
Steam: BanjoKazooie
ID: ねこ
IP: Logged

18,562 posts
RIP ENDIE
This user has been blacklisted from posting on the forums. Until the blacklist is lifted, all posts made by this user have been hidden and require a Sep7agon® SecondClass Premium Membership to view.


Magos Domina | Heroic Invincible!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Kiyohime
IP: Logged

6,711 posts
01001001 01101101 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110010 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01110000 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101
My cock :^3
Spoiler
you perv


This guy?


A Cheese Potato | Legendary Invincible!
 
more |
XBL: A Cheese Potato
PSN:
Steam:
ID: A Cheese Potato
IP: Logged

5,922 posts
 
I quite liked the movie but I didn't really notice this until now


Azumarill | Mythic Invincible!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Azumarill
IP: Logged

7,654 posts
 
Interesting. So who's Humongous?
I don't think he factors into this because the series is almost an anthology. Mad Max sort of exists as a folk legend; Miller himself has said the movies don't have much to do with each other. Each film is its own story with its own themes. Humungus seems to be a sort of mirror to Max; he's also lost people he cared about, his former career was probably in the military/police sector like Max, he's lost his mind but still somewhat nuanced, etc.
Last Edit: May 17, 2015, 03:08:10 PM by Azumarill


Magos Domina | Heroic Invincible!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Kiyohime
IP: Logged

6,711 posts
01001001 01101101 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110010 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01110000 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101
Interesting. So who's Humongous?
I don't think he factors into this because the series is almost an anthology. Mad Max sort of exists as a folk legend; Miller himself has said the movies don't have much to do with each other. Each film is its own story with its own themes. Humungus seems to be a sort of mirror to Max; he's also lost people he cared about, his former career was probably in the military/police sector like Max, he's lost his mind but still somewhat nuanced, etc.
I know he had nothing to do with Fury Road. But I ust watched The Road Warrior when I posted that and though Humongous was a pretty funny villain (Jason Voorhees in BDSM gear). Immortan Joe seems to be the the deadliest/most badass villain in the Mad Max films, from what I can tell the rest are a little cartoony