tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post6267438825486034346..comments2024-03-26T02:31:48.024-05:00Comments on Trollsmyth: Retro-stupid Refuel - Mad Max: Fury Road Reviewtrollsmythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-49041125323048117032015-06-01T09:06:54.655-05:002015-06-01T09:06:54.655-05:00Pierce: Thank you. I absolutely do get why people...<b>Pierce:</b> Thank you. I absolutely do get why people are excited. But it's not, for instance, Aliens.<br /><br />I'm still rolling that "chrome mouth" thing around in my head. At first, I thought maybe it was a drug? But as the film went on, as we saw more of it, it seemed to be more just paint. Clearly, chrome = good. And there's certainly an objectification angle to it; you chrome a loved car, for instance. Chrome is gilt, shiny veneer. But I can't help but feel like I'm missing something more there.<br /><br />Yeah, going with a misogynist villain is the lazy way there. One of the awesome things about Aliens, for instance, is how the final mano-a-mano battle is matriarch vs. matriarch. I was happy to see Fury Road avoid wallowing in that trap.trollsmythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-78437457241794802872015-06-01T08:42:22.675-05:002015-06-01T08:42:22.675-05:00Ok, fair points. I think I appreciate your stance ...Ok, fair points. I think I appreciate your stance on the film. I had mistakenly thought you didn't think the treatment of women in the film was worthwhile. Not realizing that your feeling is the opposite, that the filmmakers didn't go far enough. :)<br /><br />Good point about the war boys. I had missed the doll connection. Did you catch any significance for the silver mouth spray thing they do?<br /><br />You last point is great. A film doesn't have to have misogynists to have strong feminist tones. Women aren't defined by their relationship to oppressive men.<br /><br />Piercehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17342275462566805167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-49148124719314559702015-05-31T11:37:05.392-05:002015-05-31T11:37:05.392-05:00Pierce: When is the last time you saw a bad-ass la...<b>Pierce:</b> <i>When is the last time you saw a bad-ass lady over the age of 60 in a hollywood film?</i><br /><br />Off the top of my head, it was probably Dame Dench in her last appearance as M in the Bond franchise. But it is <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverMessWithGranny" rel="nofollow">a trope</a>. I'll get more excited when she's a main character. <br /><br /><i>The brides do a decent amount of ass-kicking on the way back and return to the citadel as conquering rulers.</i><br /><br />Find me a female supporting lead who doesn't do this in an action film made in the last 30 years. The female lead puts in a few good punches and gets to say in interviews that her character is a "strong woman" blah-blah-blah... That's gone beyond trope to being as noticeable as the air we breath. Granted, it's handled A LOT better in Fury Road than in a lot of films. (The absolute worst in recent memory was probably Cate Blanchett in 2010's Robin Hood; she talks a good game but gets her ass kicked and needs to be rescued just about every time a confrontation turns physical). <br /><br />I'll grant you, what's done with the female characters in this film is better than most, but there's nothing really novel here. It's just what most films reach for and miss with their female characters. Fury Road handles it a lot better than most, but then, Fury Road handles just about every aspect of the action genre better than most. Furiosa, the Vulvalini, the brides are all great in this film, and I can totally see why folks are so excited by them. But nothing here is really novel, and the only thing unusual about them is that they're done so well. Fury Road is very much the WoW of movies; there's nothing really new here, they just hit all the basics so solidly you end up with something that solidly hits the ball way, way out of the park. <br /><br /><i>AND Max repeatedly nurtures the other characters with his blood, symbolically nursing.</i><br /><br />He does this exactly twice in the film. The first time, it's not by choice, making a very important point a lot of people miss about this film: the villains are not really misogynists. They treat <i>everybody</i> like objects to be owned and used and used up. People don't point out that painting the warboys white makes them look like dolls because people aren't used to noticing men being treated that way, but that's exactly what's going on there. <br /><br />That's what this film is about. The villains treat everyone and everything like an object, a tool, a means to an end. The heroes treat people like people. All else is kick-ass action and commentary. ;)trollsmythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-42674276071697352602015-05-31T01:01:37.910-05:002015-05-31T01:01:37.910-05:00When is the last time you saw a bad-ass lady over ...When is the last time you saw a bad-ass lady over the age of 60 in a hollywood film? Old women are either wise or they are witches; if they are lucky enough to be in the movie at all. Women in movies (especially in the action genre) have a shelf life that ends as soon as they get wrinkles. These capable older women were a joy to see on the big screen. Also, sure, there was a truck full of "damsels", but the whole point of the movie is that they (their bodies and their children) are not the property of anyone. The brides do a decent amount of ass-kicking on the way back and return to the citadel as conquering rulers. Even the milked women get a moment to shine by opening the cistern at the end. AND Max repeatedly nurtures the other characters with his blood, symbolically nursing. This movie should definitely be praised for more than it's awesome spectacle.Piercehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17342275462566805167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-14457504791796246432015-05-29T20:36:38.937-05:002015-05-29T20:36:38.937-05:00Anonymous: Ha! Could be! I'm not familiar w...<b>Anonymous:</b> Ha! Could be! I'm not familiar with that film.trollsmythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-37321216877282468262015-05-29T20:14:56.902-05:002015-05-29T20:14:56.902-05:00Haven't seen this yet, but is that spikey car ...Haven't seen this yet, but is that spikey car a reference to "The Cars That Ate Paris"?<br /><br />http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4211711488/tt0071282?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_prd_3Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-15024363254296138892015-05-28T22:22:34.681-05:002015-05-28T22:22:34.681-05:00Trey: He's still got the car. I suppose that ...<b>Trey:</b> He's still got the car. I suppose that could put it between Road Warrior and Thunderdome, assuming he salvaged the car after Road Warrior, except he doesn't have the tattoos and brand.<br /><br /><b>Dennis Laffey:</b> that's a neat one I hadn't run across before.<br /><br />Myself, I love the idea that these are all stories told about a semi-mythical figure, and everyone gives him a different spin based on their own interpretations of the character. trollsmythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-81566732727099989242015-05-28T19:35:55.903-05:002015-05-28T19:35:55.903-05:00*squares
(sorry about the double post and typos, ...*squares<br /><br />(sorry about the double post and typos, I blame it on my phone's tiny keyboard)Dennis Laffeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03053699552003336733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-53107317746333714032015-05-28T19:00:38.064-05:002015-05-28T19:00:38.064-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Dennis Laffeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03053699552003336733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-43304381675649865552015-05-28T19:00:19.075-05:002015-05-28T19:00:19.075-05:00Read an interesting fan theory that this Max is ac...Read an interesting fan theory that this Max is actually the grown up Feral Boy. It sauares with Furiosa's age since she was apparently born post apoc.Dennis Laffeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03053699552003336733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-52334572919322113482015-05-28T18:43:23.487-05:002015-05-28T18:43:23.487-05:00What makes you think it happened between Mad Max a...What makes you think it happened between Mad Max and Road Warrior? That was not the impression I got--though I completely agree it is a bit difficult to place and with any placement, you'd have to wink at some things.Treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04647628467658839351noreply@blogger.com