The Mad Max films are available for digital rental.
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Motivated by reality feeling like a Mad Max opening monologue, I yearned to experience a deeper sense of madness. Like listening to a sad song when you’re down, I turned to a key piece of fiction in this arena: Mad Max.
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Discussions of the Mad Max saga tend to focus on the brilliance of the first sequel, Mad Max 2 (a.k.a. The Road Warrior). Or they hone in on the absurdity and lunacy of the first half of the third film in the series, Beyond Thunderdome. And even more commonplace in contemporary film discourse is a reveling in the brilliance of Fury Road, director George Miller’s magnum opus. But what about the original film that drove our titular Max to become “Mad”?
Tracing the post-apocalypse back to the original Mad Max sees the audience transported to the near-apocalypse. The Australian outback, the perfect backdrop for the turbulent state of humanity, hangs in peril as the thin line of society comes closer and closer to collapse thanks in part to two warring factions: the police and the Zed Runners, the latter of which are led by one Toecutter (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne who’d later go on to play Immortan Joe in Fury Road).
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What ensues is the descent into sorrow and madness of Max Rockatansky, who loses everything he holds dear at the hands of Toecutter and his band of flamboyant theatre rejects that makeup the Zed Runners. In his plunge into madness, Max becomes that which he seeks to protect society against. Not because Toecutter won, and the police force “lost,” but because Max realizes he has nothing left. In a world where creature comforts run extinct, the only thing that makes sense is madness. But what sets Max apart from the wastrels wandering the wasteland is his shame for what he’s become.
But in understanding what he’s lost, Max finds his gift. Like the dying cry of War Boys in Fury Road, Max understands (usually after some convincing) that it is his duty to bear witness to the marginalized, forgotten, and weak. Max weaponizes the skill set he developed as part of the Main Force Patrol unit to help elevate the voice of The Other in a world actively seeking to snuff it out. And therein lies the timelessness of science fiction. It offers us an opportunity to explore the present through the safe lens of over-the-top set dressing and, in the case of the Mad Max saga, tons of sick car destruction and flames.
Outside the first film, Max isn’t the main character of the Mad Max saga. He’s the vehicle by which the audience perceives the story. In a future where humanity runs scarce, Max serves to chronicle the waning voice of it. In The Road Warrior, a reluctant Max elevates and protects the livelihood of a small colony of settlers who’ve taken refuge in an oil refinery against the wishes of The Marauders, led by Lord Humungus. In Beyond Thunderdome, Max leads a Planet Erf community of children to liberate a local trading outpost known as Bartertown — and to freedom and safety. Max’s utilizes his skillset to serve others. Fury Road? Same thing. Through sheer happenstance and a little reluctance, Max ultimately helps Imperator Furiosa overtake The Citadel from the tyrant Immortan Joe. Again, he’s bearing witness and serving a community composed of the downtrodden. Because sometimes all it takes is the action of one good person to make a difference. And that’s the core of the Mad Max franchise: the humanity.
In the real world, where Black voices are being oppressed and silenced, I can’t think of a better message. It is the duty of everyone who is able to protect and strengthen those voices. That simple act is the benchmark of humanity and our saving grace.
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Binge It! is IGN’s recommendation series. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, music… if you can binge it, we’re here to talk about it. In each installment of Binge It!, we’ll discuss a piece of content we’re passionate about — and why you should check it out.
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Nick Limon (@AdventNick) is a Shows Producer for IGN Entertainment. When he’s not doing work stuff, he’s often found watching tons of films, playing old video games for the umpteenth time, and cooking.
