Mad Max Fury Road Gender Roles

The representation of women in media and film has evolved over time but often portray feminine or emotional stereotypes to fulfil her role in a heterosexual romance (Krahn 2015, 6). The main characters Brave (Chapman and Andrews, 2012) and Mad Max: Fury Road (Miller, 2015) defy these gender roles, presenting strong women who demolish the view of females being passive or weak.
“I wanted a real girl, not one that very few could live up to with tiny, skinny arms, waist and legs. I wanted an athletic girl. I wanted a wildness about her, so that's where the hair came in, to underscore that free spirit. But mainly I wanted to give girls something to look at and not feel inadequate” (Murphy, 2012) Brenda Chapman explained in an article about designing
Mad Max: Fury Road is located in the post-apocalyptic desert with harsh orange and yellow colours with open skies, every shot is bright and has high key lighting. With the setting alone the viewer can imagine the immense heat of the land and the lack of life in this world ravaged by the folly of past men. When creating the costume for Imperator Furiosa, the main item the design team highlighted was that it was practical and focused on protecting her body instead of focusing on her feminine features (Harris, 2016). She is by no means sexualised or beautiful like an action hero heroine, but designed to show her strength and masculinity instead. All the elements of mise-en-scène in this sequence remind the audience of the world of survival these characters live in, not only are they fighting each other but also the elements of nature in the barren wasteland
Merida broke her clan traditions placed for a proper princess in a series of flying arrows and close up shots, accompanied by the sounds and music of Scotland. Imperator Furiosa rushes headstrong into battle with an armed man, quick shots and cuts centring her movements on the camera provide the audience with feelings of awe and inspiration from her courage. Neither of these women fit into the stereotypes of their genre, instead of seeking betrothal Merida aims to avoid it and instead of being presented as weak or a romance option to her male counterpart, Furiosa doesn’t hesitate to attack. Both depictions of fictional women make them more enjoyable for the audience and gives them a modern, relatable woman who does not exist only for the male’s gaze or enjoyment. The film’s creators have successfully created women who fit into strong female gender roles, placed not as a girl waiting for her prince or a sexualised action movie lusting for the male protagonist but as