12 women are on screen, all with speaking roles, and none of them are talking about a man. It not only outpaces mediocre measurements like the Bechdel Test—which the vast majority of Hollywood films never attempt to pass—it reminds you how feeble they were as yardsticks to begin with.
Mad Max: Fury Road is everything you’ve heard and so much more
Just as important is Hardy’s choice to play Max as a subtle, quietly feminist hero. Max never objectifies the women he’s with, or views them as props for his own agenda. He helps when he’s asked to help, and when he finally speaks for any length of time, it’s not to take charge of a group that’s floundering without his help—it’s to make a suggestion, stand back, and then let the group decide.
This view of what equality actually looks like in a film is rare enough; but it’s even rarer to see it in this kind of genre material. Fury Road is every inch the high-testosterone, manly action movie of your dreams. And even when they show weakness, its female characters are still fully in charge of their own destinies. [Read More]
(via dailydot)