Much has been made following the release of Mad Max: Fury Road about the role played by women in the film, not least the fact that Charlize Theron's character Imperator Furiosa is arguably more heroic than Max himself. While this is perhaps debatable, she clearly dominates the path the protagonists take for the bulk of the movie. Compare this to Furious 7 and - Michelle Rodriguez's over-worn action heroics aside - women in the film are either relegated to being the partners or wives of the male heroes or extras instructed to shake their booties as the camera lingers on their rear ends in voyeuristic slow motion. While the Wives being rescued from the clutches of Immortan Joe in Fury Road might look like typical damsels in distress, in fact they are active participants in their own fate and function as agents of change just as much as any male character. The suggestion that Mad Max: Fury Road represents new territory for the role of women in action films betrays a lack of familiarity with the genre - Vagina Monologues writer Eve Ensler might have advised on the film, but heroic women can be found as recently as last year with Emily Blunt's character in Edge Of Tomorrow, as well as further back in time with the Alien and Terminator movies. Still, when comparing the objectification of women in Furious 7 to the well-rounded female characters in Mad Max: Fury Road, it's immediately clear that once again the older filmmaking veteran comes out on top. Do you think Mad Max: Fury Road is a better movie than Furious 7? Why not join the discussion in the comments below?
