Mad Max: Fury Road opened in theaters this weekend to positive reviews citing impressively strong female characters: The Independent’s critic described it as “a very unusual re-boot” in which “Theron matches [Hardy] for sheer kickass malice and resourcefulness.” But not everyone was pleased about an action movie featuring bad ass heroines who can beat up just as many people as their male counterparts: Men’s Rights Activists are calling for a boycott of Mad Max: Fury Road.
Why? Because apparently they weren’t willing to sit through a couple hours of “feminist propaganda” that was a blatant attempt at undermining “traditional masculinity.” Ugh.
Aaron Clarey, a blogger on Return of Kings, a site that focuses on men’s issues, was appalled when he realized that the trailer for Mad Max insinuated that Charlize Theron had more lines and screen time than Tom Hardy, who plays the titular character.
“Charlize Theron kept showing up a lot in the trailers, while Tom Hardy (Mad Max) seemed to have cameo appearances. Theron sure talked a lot during the trailers while I don’t think I’ve heard one line from Hardy. And finally, Theron’s character barked orders to Mad Max. Nobody barks orders to Mad Max,” Clarey wrote.
While he was initially excited about the “explosions, fire tornadoes [and] symphonic score of Fury Road,” because it “looked like a straight-up guy flick,” he was mortified when he read reviews of the film that discussed Theron’s sizable kickass role. Clarey claims that men are being “duped by explosions, fire tornadoes and desert raiders into seeing what is guaranteed to be nothing more than feminist propaganda, while at the same time being insulted and tricked into viewing a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten right in front of their very eyes.”
It’s astonishing just how wrong Clarey is on so many levels. To start, both the original Mad Max movies and the reboot aren’t American, they’re Australian—written and directed by Australians. So pointing out that people are destroying a piece of American culture is simply not factual.
Also, how is Mad Max “duping” anyone? Since when did an action movie have to consist of solely a strong male lead in order to make it watchable for dudes?Although we still have a long way to go, action films in the 21st centuries are beginning to embrace strong female characters, as evidenced by the Hunger Games, Divergent, and even the Harry Potter movie franchises.
While Clarey’s reaction to the Mad Max: Fury Road trailer (he hasn’t even seen the film!) is both shocking and hilarious, we’re glad most people are defending the film. Feminists of both genders have totally shut down his claims on Twitter. In fact, it’s because of comments from people like Clarey that more people are planning to go see this film. So thanks, Clarey, for making Mad Max:Fury Road sound like a movie we cannot wait to see.
Image via: The Independent.
