evdott:

“Mad Max’s women are part of the tradition of the feminine desert, rather than the masculine. 

[…] 

Much of Fury Road’s action visuals rest heavily on the masculine desert and what can be done to conquer it: spiky scavengers, souped-up war buggies, and rock bikes try to turn the desert into a road. But the feminine desert is something else; there’s a spark of that secret impossible in Furiosa, who straddles both worlds, and whose driving seems supernaturally assisted. The sandstorm appears as if summoned; the camera itself treats its sudden, impossible scope as a reveal, pulling back after Rictus’ exclamation, and seeing what the desert abruptly made for a woman who needs it. When the first Vuvalinas come out to meet the war rig crew, their motorcycles rise out of the sand nearly in plain sight, as if they’re made from it. And though for the War Boys, violent death ensues if the front of their cars ever hit the sand, when the war rig’s engines are set alight, Furiosa lowers the vehicle’s grill, and the desert blooms up to put out the fire as if waking to save a friend.”

— The feminine desert of Mad Max: Fury Road by Genevieve Valentine

evdott:

“Mad Max’s women are part of the tradition of the feminine desert, rather than the masculine. 

[…] 

Much of Fury Road’s action visuals rest heavily on the masculine desert and what can be done to conquer it: spiky scavengers, souped-up war buggies, and rock bikes try to turn the desert into a road. But the feminine desert is something else; there’s a spark of that secret impossible in Furiosa, who straddles both worlds, and whose driving seems supernaturally assisted. The sandstorm appears as if summoned; the camera itself treats its sudden, impossible scope as a reveal, pulling back after Rictus’ exclamation, and seeing what the desert abruptly made for a woman who needs it. When the first Vuvalinas come out to meet the war rig crew, their motorcycles rise out of the sand nearly in plain sight, as if they’re made from it. And though for the War Boys, violent death ensues if the front of their cars ever hit the sand, when the war rig’s engines are set alight, Furiosa lowers the vehicle’s grill, and the desert blooms up to put out the fire as if waking to save a friend.”

— The feminine desert of Mad Max: Fury Road by Genevieve Valentine