Brianna Parker - Blog Post 6

1. X: The sandstorm scene in Mad Max: Fury Road suggest that the society is so chaotic and dehumanized that the only options are to escape or embrace it.

Detail 1: This scene contains many frantic camera movements when it is focused on Furiosa. These camera movements reflect her desperation to break free from these societal restraints. The frantic movements focused on the war boys, however, show that they have embraced their place in society. 

Detail 2: The music within this scene instills a suspenseful and threatening tone as it progresses. This shows that the farther Furiosa gets into the sandstorm, the more she is risking her life. It is clear that if she were to be caught there would be many consequences, but despite this, she continues to chase her freedom. 

2. Y: In one aspect of Williams’s article, he discusses how dystopias can reflect issues within society that people “must contend” (Williams, 391) with. This expresses that these ideals are not agreed with and are not good qualities of society. People would obviously want to find a way to gain freedom from these ideas or change them. 

Detail: In this scene, because Furiosa has already recognized these flaws and is now in the process of finding a way to gain freedom. Embarking on this dangerous journey suggests that, unlike the war boys, she has not accepted the beliefs of Immortan Joe. She is going against what everyone else is doing by defying the person in control. 

3. Taking Williams’s article into account, light can be shed on how the societal issues are reflected in dystopia and how the ideas within them are not always agreeable. The movie, Mad Max: Fury Road expresses how these beliefs can either be dealt with by fighting to gain freedom from them or being embraced by members of society. 

Spencer Miller

1. The main issue in my short paper 3 is the fact that the trip has been extremely hard and the characters were losing hope.
Detail 1: the colors are all blue and dull in the scene suggesting a dim mood and loss of hope
Detail 2: Long shots show the very slow movement of the war rig
2: Portable concept; Woolmark says that gender roles are reversing in common science fiction stories
Detail: The film scene that i chose for short paper 3 is terrible and i change it for essay 2. This portable concept does not fit this film scene at all so i chose the scene where Max kills the bullet farmer because it has much more powerful gender role aspects.
3. Mad Max seems to be about just a badass dude but also seems to be about empowering women more as Furiosa is a woman who leads all of the wives away from the citadel with the help of Mad Max. This shows that instead of a reversal of gender roles, they are both equal in the movie.

Hannah Winne - Blog Post 6

1.     X: The last scene in Mad Max: Fury Road is an allegory of the necessity of the needed shift in the power dynamic between men and women.

a.     Detail 1: Max’s conscious decision to remove himself from the car platform as it was rising to the citadel with the mothers on it, signifying his recognition that now is their time.

b.     Detail 2: The resulting moment between Max and Furiosa, in which he is on the ground and she is continuing to rise higher and higher above him on the platform, literally depicting her physical position in relation to him related to her newfound social position.

2.     Y: Williams writes in his Ideology as Dystopia: An Interpretation of “Blade Runner”, that “beneath the official and authoritative voices of society,” being patriarchy, a system so engrained in society that it’s largely unnoticed,  “there also have always been other voices,” referring to surfacing feminism as a point of view in popular culture, “imagining alternative arrangements of power and authority.” (p391) These “alternative arrangements of power” presented by feminist authors offer most notably the differences in female experience and ideologies, and what those could bring to the table if authority were rearranged in order to give them more influence.

a.     Detail: In this scene, the mothers are seen pulling people onto the car lift with them, as opposed to Immortan Joe’s lackies throwing people off toward the beginning of the film. This demonstrates their different values, which thanks to their new role of influence in society, can be voiced.

3.     The final scene in Mad Max literally depicts the shift in power from men to women. This fits with William’s claim that the “other voices” provide “alternative arrangements of power,” often as a way of providing a solution to a social issue, such as the failures of patriarchy depicted in the film, or as a way of benefitting the majority of people.

Feminism & Freedom - Alexis McDonald

1. The movie Mad Max: Fury Road contains many common dystopian ideas such as the worship of a higher power and the desire of freedom. Along with other modern dystopian films, this movie presents the role of female characters in increasingly essential roles.
   1. The music in the sand storm scene emphasizes the loyalty of the War Boys towards Immortan Joe.
   2. The camera angle does close ups on Furiousa more than any other characters because she is the main character in this scene and her emotions are important to the plot.
2. In Wolmark’s Alternative Futures? Science Fiction and Feminism, she describes the plot in The Female Man. In the end of this story, the women come together and work off each other to try and break through typical women roles (55).
   1. This relates to Furiousa and the wives she is escaping with. The women all work together to flee from their oppressive ruler in search of true freedom.
3. The movie Mad Max: Fury Road seems to be about the chase for the wives and their desire to be free. However, in light of Wolmark’s idea that women are becoming stronger characters in modern dystopian novels, the movie seems to also emphasize the importance of feminism behind the wives wanting to leave and Furiousa being their heroine.

Adriahna Rutland- Blog Post 6

1. One of the biggest issues in the Hunger Games is the oppression of the districts. The capitol oppresses them by seeing them as less important as the Capitol and forcing them to participate in the hunger games every year. This oppression is visualized in the Reaping scene by the camera angles.

Detail 1: Close-ups are focused on Effie to capture her every move and show details of her outfit. Her outfit is a symbol of her wealth and status.

Detail 2: When the camera is faced towards Effie, it's always angled upwards showing her superiority but whenever the camera is faced towards the crowd the camera is angled down on them.

2. In his “Preface” to Scraps of Untainted Sky, Thomas Moylan defines dystopia as being “largely the product of the terrors of the twentieth century” (xi). Moylan implies that our fears are brought on by events that have already happened. This suggests that the terrible things that make a dystopian novel a dystopia, already exist in the real world.

Detail: In this scene, the people are being controlled by an oppressive government, this could be a parallel to the oppressive governments that have existed in history.

3. While this movie seems to be about an oppressive government, Moylan's definition of a dystopia suggests that it's actually about our fear of being oppressed.

Hollan Southwick Blog Post 6

1.  The use of colors in the Immortan Joe's speech scene in Mad Max: Fury Road is symbolic.  Each color has a different meaning attached to it; therefore, how much each color is used in the scene can help sway the viewer's emotions.

• Detail 1: Brown is a prominent color in this scene.  In this case, the browns imply that the people are dirty and lower class (compared to Immortan Joe and his War Boys being clean and white).  Lower classes in the real world are typically repressed, and it is evident in this scene that Immortan Joe's people are no exception.  
• Detail 2: The colors green and white are not shown often in this scene.  Green is the color of hope, so the lack of green in this scene gives off the idea that there is little to no hope.  White can be associated with goodness.  There is little white found in this scene - the water and Immortan Joe and his War Boys.  The water is truly good and pure, while Immortan Joe and the War Boys simply give off the illusion of being good (they are really evil because they repress the people and resources).

2.  In Wolmark and Moylan's articles, each addresses the issue of repression in dystopian narratives.  Repression can be seen in Mad Max: Fury Road through excessive amounts or lack of colors.  

• Detail:  Repression of people and resources are spoken of in both Moylan and Wolmark's works.  Repression is evident in this scene through colors.  The lack of white water gives the viewer the idea that the water is regulated and kept away from the people.  The excessive amount of brown that coats the lower class can show the viewer that they are being repressed by Immortan Joe because they wear dirty rags while the War Boys wear proper clothing.  

3. The movie Mad Max: Fury Road seems to be about a journey to freedom and finding oneself, but when applying Moylan's and Wolmark's idea of repression in dystopia, the movie seems to actually expose repressive governments.  

Hannah Rayner- Blog Post 6

The scene where Furiosa decides to return to the citadel suggests that dystopian societies contain aspects of hope as well as utopian possibilities.   

Detail 1: The bare and bleak landscape shown while the characters are riding their motorcycles suggests that the dream the characters are chasing may not actually exist. 

Detail 2: The camera view shown from above the characters suggests that only God knows whether the characters are trying to find utopia exists.  While the camera view from the characters, suggests that the characters have no way of knowing whether the utopia is in existence or not. Lastly, the close up view of the map suggests that a map is an important part of the film.  The map is shown in the center of the screen implying that the map is showing something of pivotal importance. 

2. Y: now look at the portable concepts in SP4. Pick one portable concept and in two sentences, describe how it extends your original reading in step 1. Relate this to a visual concrete detail.

In the “Preface” to his book Scraps of the Untainted Sky; Moylan says, “In some form, a utopian horizon, or at the very least a scrap of hope, appears within the militant dystopia” (Moylan xiii).  Moylan in this quote is explaining that in a dystopia the characters can either find a small section of hope or discover a possible utopia.

Detail: In this scene, Max draws a map on a scrap of cloth he finds.  He ends up drawing on the map the location of the citadel with his blood.  This detail suggests that the citadel is the ending destination of the dystopian story and it suggests that blood will be shed in order to reach this goal.  The map drawn on the scrap of cloth represents the “scrap of hope” that Moylan refers to in his quote because the characters are filled with a feeling of hope when they realize that the citadel could be the answer to all of their problems. 

3. Following the suggested thesis structure, write down your X/Y thesis.

The plot of Mad Max: Fury Road suggests that the characters return to the citadel rather than venture into the unknown because they know the city is left unguarded and has resources.  However, when considering the insights of Moylan and Wolmark, the framing and camera work shown in this scene suggest that the characters are acting on the sense of hope they have created from their previous knowledge.  This film scene suggests that characters should not chase an unknown possibility, rather they should return to what they know.

BP6 Sydney Swigart

1. X: In The Hunger Games, the scene where they send out the "muttations" in order to scare, injure, or kill the members of the games.  It explores the idea of control.

Detail one: The "muttations" are much larger than the members of the games proving that they are stronger and more powerful therefor instilling a sense of fear.

Detail two: The lighting gets dim and intimidating music plays to prove that there is a sense of fear once again.

2. Y: Moylan in his piece discussing Dystopias says, “dystopia expresses the simple refusal of modern society” (xii).  This quote proves that dystopias include events that are much different and worse than a normal society setting.

Detail: The previously mentioned Hunger Games scene takes ideas from this quote, the whole idea of The Hunger Games is a refusal of modern society but this scene especially reflects that idea because with in an already different society as the members begin to get used to the society and adjust to it, they bring out the "muttations" and create an all new playing field and society.

3. By taking a close look at the lighting, music, and sizing we can see that The Hunger Games expresses a refusal of modern society including the idea of excessive control.

Faith Wheat - Blog Post 6

1. X: The scene where Immortan Joe gives his speech and gives water to the people shows the relationship of dependence and independence.

Detail 1: The camera points down on the distressed and mistreated people. This shows that they are inferior to Immortan Joe and shows that they are dependent on him. The camera also shows a close up of the people’s faces so the audience feels sympathy towards them.

Detail 2: The camera always points up at Immortan Joe and at one point, the view is even distorted when the people are looking up at Immortan Joe. This shows that he is independent from the people down below. The camera also has a head-on camera angle when the half-life war boys and Furiosa are in the shot. 

2. Y: In Jenny Wolmark’s “Alternative Futures? Science Fiction and Feminism”, she states that “At a certain level, then, these narratives are quite capable of subverting the dominant ideology of gender” (52) Wolmark is going against the idea that popular narratives just go along with the current “dominant ideologies”. She is arguing that popular narratives can reconstruct and change the values of current, contemporary culture and in doing so, change the dominant ideologies. 

Detail: In this scene, it is evident that Immortan Joe has dominance over the people, but he’s also dependent on his slaves. While it might seem as if Mad Max: Fury Road follows the dominant ideologies, when Immortan Joe gives his thanks to his half-life war boys and Furiosa, it is clear that this film will challenge the dominant ideologies. Immortan Joe is dependent on Furiosa and because of this, the gender roles are switched. Furiosa has some power and it shows that Immortan Joe is dependent on a female, which goes against what would be expected with the dominant ideologies. This scene shows that by changing the gender roles in the dystopian narratives, the “dominant ideology of gender” can be overthrown.

3. When considering Jenny Wolmark’s “Alternative Futures? Science Fiction and Feminism”, this film scene shows how the relationship between dependence and independence in dystopia can challenge the dominant ideologies that are present in today’s popular narratives.