Mad Max: Fury Road Movie Review: Symbolic motifs
I think that in the movie “Mad Max: Fury Road” most people did not see any point at all behind the spectacular action. Indeed: for half the film the heroes travel in one direction, for half the film in the other. What can we even talk about here?
But in fact, the plot contains many symbolic images and motifs that give this work an almost mythological character.
I bring to your attention two alternative points of view on this film.
What does the philosopher see in this film?
The philosopher sees a universal triad of categories formulated in the 5th century by the Greek philosopher Proclus: “dwelling — originating — returning.”
This triad underlies both being in general and all things, and describes the main stages of any process.
The architecture of Mad Max: Fury Road is a literal illustration of this triad.
The starting point of the story is the stay of the main character in the Citadel, standing at the source. The philosopher here sees a symbol of the One and its creative power.
Then the heroine makes an “exit” — she sets off on a journey to her intended goal. She sees this goal as being somewhere in the outside world. This is the stage of the exit of being from the state of indivisible unity, the transition to multiplicity.
Having reached the intended goal, the heroine receives new knowledge that the real goal is at the same point from which she left. It returns to the source and internal unity, acquiring a new quality, enriching itself with the knowledge of otherness.
The triad “dwelling — originating — returning” describes our life as a whole: staying in indistinguishable unity with all that exists, then birth and exit into flowing temporal multiplicity, development associated with overcoming suffering and fragmentation, and the final return to unity and origin.
This triad permeates our every day: we stay in the house, leave it to extract resources and return back.
This triad is the internal structure of our cognition and development:
- At any moment in time we are within ourselves.
- At any moment in time we change, become different, lose our temper in the act of cognition, relating to the outside world.
- But at the same time, while changing, we remain ourselves, that is, we return to ourselves, to our unchanging essence.
Max’s story goes through a similar cycle. Max’s starting point is the desert, in which he is constantly alone. His origin is a transition to the human world and collaboration with Furiosa and her associates. At the end of the film, he returns again to where he came from — to the desert.
What does the psychologist see in this film?
Now let’s look at the content of the film through the eyes of a psychologist.
The psychologist sees in this film the story of a woman who comes into contact with her feminine essence and frees herself from the negative influence of her father.
Let me remind you that from the point of view of psychology, the heroes of the film are a reflection of the internal parts of our personality, which is why empathy, compassion for the heroes and our identification with them are possible. That is why after watching the film we feel freed from some internal pressures, we feel new strength and readiness to act.
The main character, Furiosa , as usual for the main character, personifies the conscious and volitional center of the personality, our Self.
There is an interesting typology that compares female psychological types with ancient goddesses. According to this typology, Furiosa is a typical Athena. She has a logical mindset, knows how not to succumb to emotions and act correctly in conflict situations. She thinks clearly and is extremely pragmatic. This is a woman who is constantly in the company of men, easily finds a common language with them, but does not seek romantic love, as she is completely self-sufficient.
Furiosa and the other characters live in the Citadel , a fortress located inside three rocks. The fortress, whose function is to separate and protect the internal from the external, symbolizes the personality as a whole.
Inside the Citadel there is a source of clean water — a symbol of the source of life and internal energy of the individual. The source is also the center that attracts all living things to itself, and as such it symbolizes the inner center of the personality, the Self.
Water itself is a symbol of the feminine principle and is associated with the archetype of the Great Mother and her attributes — birth and fertility.
Access to the source is controlled by the dictator Immortal Joe .
Undoubtedly, Immortan Joe is the image of a father figure. In his positive aspect he is the leader, the legislator, the protector of the kingdom and the personification of the unifying principle. But we also see its negative aspect. The water is under his complete control; and thus it prevents renewal, development and the free flow of life.
That is, the film may reflect a situation where the principles adopted from the father, or his authority and power, do not allow a person to develop independently and interfere with free self-determination. And attempts to live by their father’s rules do not lead to anything good, as indicated by the inferior sons of Immortan Joe.
Immortan Joe’s 5 wives represent those feminine qualities that the main character wants to free and develop in herself. She kidnaps these so-called “mares” to take them to the Green Lands, to the tribe of a Thousand Mothers, from where she herself was once kidnapped.
As you can see, all archetypes are easily recognized here. Green lands are an image of the lost Paradise. The place of original and final bliss, where there is no suffering. It is an image of the ultimate goal of human life. The green lands are, of course, in the east, which represents dawn, hope and rebirth.
Tribe of a Thousand Mothers — indicates the archetype of the Great Mother, with whom the heroine must establish contact in order to free and develop her femininity.
Journey
Travel is another archetypal motif of the film. Almost all screen time we follow the journey of Furiosa. The journey is the hero’s transformation, development, transition to a new quality, to a new level.
Redemption motive
The motive of redemption is perhaps the main driving force for Furiosa and Mad Max. Each of these heroes has a dark past: they blame themselves for wrong actions they once committed and want to atone for their guilt and get rid of the torment of their conscience.
Many people believe that guilt must be expiated by suffering. The motive of redemption through self-sacrifice for the sake of others resonates quite strongly in our soul and is therefore used in the film.
When Furiosa says she is waiting for redemption, she immediately becomes closer to us, we understand that she is not just some ideal female warrior, but just like us, she once did wrong things that she regrets. This makes it easier to empathize, and through sympathizing with Furiosa’s suffering, we experience relief from our own suffering.
Although, at the same time, the film feeds our belief in redemption through suffering and thus can provoke us to unconsciously seek situations in which we will suffer.
The escape
The journey that Furiosa sets out on almost immediately turns into an escape.
Escape is also a reality of our inner life. In our dreams we often run away from someone. This “someone” is a manifestation of our inner fear, which we do not want to face. These are some life situations that we avoid.
Indeed, in some situations it is wiser to avoid the problem, change the situation and start over from scratch, since we may not have enough internal resources for direct confrontation. But still, in order to get rid of the complex, you need to meet it face to face.
Turning point
At the end of the planned route, Furiosa finds several women from the tribe of 1000 mothers, i.e. makes contact with the inner Mother, but finds out that the Greenlands are lost forever. She is already ready to continue her escape, but here Max says his weighty word. He makes it clear to her that it is impossible to run away forever and offers to return, simultaneously engaging in a fight with Immortal Joe.
This moment of the film means the heroine’s realization that Paradise must be found at the point where she started her journey. But to achieve it, you need to face your fear.
Mad Max plays the role of the Inner Sage here.
Surprisingly, in any difficult situation when we don’t know what to do, in fact, the answer is already within us. If we listen to ourselves, our inner sage will tell us the way. The only problem is that usually this path is directed to where it is more terrible, and in order to go along it, we must defeat our internal enemy.
Furiosa’s travel destination now moves from outer space to inner space, back to the starting point. The heroine has come into contact with her feminine essence, gained new experience and knowledge (which are personified by plant seeds) and now she has all the conditions to make the Citadel a paradise if she dares to meet what she was running from.
Of course, the heroine takes this step, otherwise she would not be a heroine. Furiosa and his assistants return, overthrow the dictator, and lead the settlement, opening a source of water for all who thirst.
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Conclusion
In this analysis, I have listed only some of the mythological themes that the filmmakers skillfully wove into the plot outline. Even if we don’t pay attention to these themes while watching a film, they still fulfill their task on a subconscious level: they make the story shown whole and meaningful.
