Brett Pinto
Arts 2062
The theme of masculinity is very common throughout movies, with the genres of action/adventure and Westerns being jam-packed with it. Mad Max embodies the best of both genres, as it is a modern (for the time it was made) reinvention of a western flick. Max Rockatansky, portrayed wonderfully by Mel Gibson, is the manliest of men in the dystopian Australian future. He is the most efficient cop around, seemingly never missing his mark. Throughout the film, it is clear that Max is a head and shoulders above the other cops in his exploits, evidenced both by his having the Interceptor as well as the respect that is paid to him by both his superiors and by his targets. He keeps his cool regardless of the situation, considering his partner Goose, wife and son were savagely slain by the bikers. The film consistently portrays Max being “the man” amongst men, while also promoting Australian masculinity in a number of ways.
One influential way that the director George Miller displayed the theme of masculinity in this film was by having nearly no female characters in the film. Only Jessie, Max’s wife, played a prominent role in the movie, yet when she is killed it seems to bring out the inner vengeance of Max. The only other females that I can recall in the movie is Nightrider’s girlfriend or companion, who also is killed off very early in the film.; the other is Jessie’s mother or the owner of the property they were staying on in the country. Another important motif to look out for in the film is the ruggedness of the Australian male. It is an important thematic value in the film as it resembles the fortitude, strength and ruggedness of the Australian male. The fact that Max drives off into the wilderness at the end of the film only works to further solidify this point. Max is forever changed from and he cannot return to what his life was.
Another successful way of aggrandizing Australian masculinity was through the emphasis on cars, as well as the bikers’ motorcycles. In a world where gasoline is at a premium, having the best and fastest car was a priceless commodity. Max's relationship with technology, and with his V8 Interceptor in particular, underlines his heroic status as the number one driver on the roads. Max’s “Interceptor” was the fastest car on the road, and instilled fear in others—notably Nightrider in the opening scene. In that opening scene, Nightrider wreaks havoc on the roads, destroying police cars left and right. By the time he sees the Interceptor, his sheepish grins and hearty laughs turn to tears, as he is aware of the legend that is Max. He knows that death is the only alternative to prison and braces himself for an unwinnable car race.
The brilliance of the way Max’s mysteriousness is portrayed largely again in the opening scene as he prepares to join in on the Nightrider chase. As his colleagues fall by the wayside (or roadside) in a frenzied chase after the Nightrider, the camera repeatedly returns to the lone figure of Max who slowly and methodically dresses and calmly prepares to join the chase. He washes his oiled up hands, then a cut back to the chase; Max puts on his jacket, then his holster, all the while he is as calm as can be as he prepares to track down a cop-killer. Not showing Max’s face creates an aura about him that the viewer immediately knows that the character is certainly no one to mess with.
Australian film and the Western, for that matter, have seemingly been built on one necessary contradicting theme, Wilderness versus Civilization. The motorcycle maniacs enter the civilized city from the wilderness of the land and then systematically deconstruct the structure that has been set in place. They are anti-establishment, anti-authority and, as a result, carnage and mayhem are played out. Max becomes more involved than he originally bargained for, even though he already had quit for what seemed not to be the first time he’d done so, he was dragged into the battle personally when the bikers killed Goose along with his wife Jessie and his son.
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