thoughts about Angharad
I’ve been thinking about her character more. Spoiler-y comments below.
- I think “The Splendid Angharad” must be a title given to her by Joe. (I think the same is probably true of Toast the Knowing and Cheedo the Fragile.)
- Joe calls her Splendid when he runs into the wives’ chamber looking for her, and when he’s scolding her for shielding Furiosa.
- The other wives call her Angharad. Significantly, that’s what Joe calls her when he shouts his warning about the rock. I think it shows how afraid he is in that moment that he abandons the pet name.
- Joe treats the wives as property, but I get a sense that Angharad has special status in the Citadel that goes beyond that, verging on her being viewed as royalty. Maybe it’s a reflection of her being Joe’s favorite, and the prospect of her producing a healthy heir. But whatever the source, she has an aura of queenliness.
- She’s clearly the leader among the wives. She’s the only one Furiosa speaks to directly up until the point when she’s lost. She’s the one whose words are painted on the walls in the Citadel. The escape plan appears to be as much hers as Furiosa’s. She’s the one who takes the lead in arguing not to kill Nux when he attacks Furiosa in the cab of the war rig (”No unnecessary killing! We agreed!”), and then engages with him verbally before they throw him out.
- Despite that post I previously reblogged, I no longer think Max was lying when he said “she went under the wheels.” It wasn’t the wheels of the war rig, though; it looks like she goes under the wheels of the pursuing vehicle, even as Joe is swerving to avoid her.
- George Miller has said there is a deleted scene in which Miss Giddy is tortured and killed in a failed attempt to get her to reveal the wives’ plans. Since Miss Giddy in the Big Foot during the chase through the canyon and is seen caring for Angharad before her death, that scene must come after that point. I assume it will be on the DVD, and I hope it sheds more light on Angharad’s character, as well as on the question of why Joe is hanging around on the other side of the canyon when the war rig returns.
- I didn’t know anything about Rosie Huntington-Whiteley before this, but in listening to Fury Road podcast reviewers I heard one particular dudebro laugh while saying her acting was weak, but better than in Transformers 3. (Then I said something rude and changed to another podcast.) I didn’t see Transformers 3, but if her character came off as wooden and unbelievable there I think it probably says more about Michael Bay as a director than it does about her. Certainly she delivered a compelling character here.
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Tags: fury road, mad max spoilers, text post, angharad, the splendid angharad.
