It Will Be A Hard Day Print Release
Much has been written about the feminist themes that run through “Mad Max Fury Road.” It’s worth giving some attention to some of the others too.
At one point a character named the “People eater” opens his ledger where he has carefully recorded the heavy expenditures of this short war. “We’re down 30,000 units of gasoline, 19 canisters of nitro, 12 assault bikes, 7 pursuit vehicles. And now, sir, you have us stuck in a quagmire.” This he says while the wheels of their vehicles are stuck in an actual quagmire.
Soon after, a character named “The Bullet Farmer” who wears a bandoleer of 50 caliber bullets draped on his head like a judge’s powdered wig is sent to safely retrieve the “assets” (the women that are the entire reason for this expensive war) and after loosing his vision he fires two identical machine guns at them with indiscriminate abandon. “I am the scales of Justice. Conductor of the choir of death.” This he shouts while wearing the same blindfold that Lady Justice wears.
To me the most compelling and carefully hidden theme is that of non-violence. More specifically, a forceful and powerful form of non-violence. When Splendid is handed a weapon and urgently ordered to reload it, she looks down at the gun resting on her pregnant belly and hesitates, saying that she can’t. The moment passes quickly and another woman impatiently takes over, making Splendid seem inept or overwhelmed. She is neither of these, however (evidenced moments later when she uses her own body and the life of her fetus as a shield to protect her companions). Rather, she is taking a profound ethical stance—a refusal to carry out violence at any level, even the justifiable act of loading a gun that will be fired by someone else. A refusal that a pregnant woman might very well be entitled to.
This film has, like other great pieces, transcended the confines of genre fiction and earned a seat as a fine art masterpiece. Not unlike 2001: A Space Odyssey and Kurt Vonnegut‘s Slaughterhouse 5 (the book only).
“It Will Be A Hard Day” is my way of giving a shout out to such an accomplishment. It describes yet another theme in the film. I’ve used the overly dramatic poses and the line sensibilities of German Renaissance print artists like Albrecht Durer and Hans Holbein.
I hope you enjoy it.
ravi
