Mad Max: Fury Road got me thinking about female action heroes – and in many ways I see Furiosa as a direct descendant of Ripley from the Alien Franchise.
Additionally, the relationship between Max and Furiosa has parallels with that of Ripley and Corporal Hicks in Aliens. Both are refreshingly platonic pairings between a man and a woman that still carry a ton of emotional weight. While MM:FR pushes the relationship more into the forefront of the narrative, it’s an interesting comparison to make and I enjoyed that element of both films.
If you loved Max Max, I highly recommend checking out Aliens (the second in the franchise); I bet you like it too.
Oooh! Oooh! I’ve been mentioning Aliens a lot, but you went and put it all on the page with shiny chrome gifs and caps and all…
Another thing I think makes such a good parallel between these relationships is how in both cases the man cedes authority to the woman without there being some bullshit about how it emasculates him. In Aliens it’s more explicit in the narrative because it’s a military mission and Ripley is a civilian observer (after being stripped of her rank because the company doesn’t believe her.). But Ripley is so incredibly quick to seize the chance to put Hicks in charge. She’s just seized the moral authority in the film by being the one to take action and rescue the surviving marines. Then when she realizes that Gorman (the inexperienced Lieutenant in command) is incapacitated and that company man Bourke expects to keep steering things, she points out that Hicks is the ranking officer left.
The look they exchange…where they recognise their kinship is so Furiosa and Max. Ripley was an engineer who rose to Warrant Officer, Hicks was a grunt who rose to Corporal. Just like Furiosa and Max almost immediately see how alike they are. And while Hicks is technically in charge, he’s taking all of Ripley’s suggestions because she’s clearly the one who will stop them all from getting killed.
So yes, watch Aliens – it’s a bloody good movie. My rec? Watch the theatrical release, it’s a much tighter and more suspenseful film without the additional material from the Special Edition.
