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.