Cindy Giang

Sociology 1 Summer 2015

Professor Prior
Project 1: Video/DVD Analysis
For this project, Ive chosen to write about Mad Max: Fury Road and specific aspects or
scenes from the film in relation to this classs topics. Mad Max: Fury Road is set in a postapocalyptic world revolving around the titular character meeting a group of women by chance
and helping them escape the totalitarian villain, Immortan Joe, and his army of War Boys. Max
and the women then actually attempt to take down the patriarchy of which theyve all been
victims to. The film exceeds the 30 minutes limit required for this project, I chose to talk about
specific instances to provide examples of how Comte, Marx, and Durkheim would view and
interpret the film. I also chose to write primarily about the only established society in the film,
ruled by Immortan Joe, because I felt that since it is already established, I could write more about
him in relations to the objective of this project.
August Comte developed positivism, which is based on the idea of observing social life
and establishing reliable, valid knowledge about how it work, which is then used to improve
towards the improvement of human condition. Positivism also focuses on what can be observed
with the senses, and that social theories should be built scientifically. Comte would find that Mad
Max: Fury Road does show good representations of positivism because the film does shows
examples of scientific conduct being done on social interaction, social structures, etc. Since
positivism is about observations deemed viable by only our senses, the film is set in a postapocalyptic world, our senses tell us who is in charge of what remains of human society and how
these people interact with one another in conflict for access to natural resources. A lot of what is
shown in the film is not intuitive, its clear what roles many of the characters have in relation to
the world that they live in now.

Cindy Giang
Sociology 1 Summer 2015
Professor Prior
Karl Marx is one of the most prominent figures in sociology. He wrote The Communist
Manifesto, and is the face behind Marxism. Marxism is based on the assumption that all societies
progress through class struggle. In order to mediate these factors in order to create a harmonious
society, Marx believed in a classless society. He was also anti-capitalism and believed that farms
and businesses should belong to the masses, and not to individuals. Marxism is often confused
with communism because communism builds much of its foundation on Marxs beliefs;
however, they are not the same thing. Marx would not agree with Immortan Joes ruling.
Immortan Joe being totalitarian goes against Marxs ideas of a classless society and equal
distribution of goods and property. Immortan Joes totalitarian ruling puts many of the citizens at
his mercy. He controls how much water is distributed, he controls who is valuable to become a
member of his citadel, he basically strips away the rights and self-identity of many people, in
addition to objectifying many of them as well. There is a clear struggle in classes shown in the
beginning and end of the film that involves Immortan Joe and many citizens living outside of his
citadel mountain. The citizens are all malnourished, heavily suffering from radiation caused by
their environment, and they have no access to natural resources. Immortan Joe, on the other
hand, is sick, however, he has a machine made to suit for his needs and helps him breathe and
thus live. He has access to as much water as he wants and he has forced a group of women to be
milked like cows to supply him with nutrition. He has a harem of healthy, beautiful women to be
used for the breeding of a perfect child who is unaffected by the deadly repercussions of the postapocalyptic world. In addition, Marx viewed religion to be a negative thing that promised
rewards in the next life, and that it made people easily controlled by the wealthy class. He would
find Immortan Joe guilty of doing exactly what Marx thought religion did.

Cindy Giang
Sociology 1 Summer 2015
Professor Prior
Emile Durkheim is also considered a major prominent founder of sociology. He set the
foundations for the theory that is functionalism, which views society as a structure with
interrelated parts that meet the biological and social needs of individuals. Durkheim believed that
crime was normal and an important aspect of society because it can be used to reinforce laws. He
also believed that good morals keeps a society together, and that any immorality causes
disintegration. I think Durkheim would find some of Immortan Joes actions to be true to
functionalism. Crime is not viewed to be an issue in the film, but Furiosa rescuing Immortan
Joes wives and escaping with them is seen to be highly punishable since he issues his entire
army of War Boys and accompanies them in the task of chasing her across the wastelands. He
has no problems wasting any bodies in order to reach Furiosa and to kill her for her betrayal. The
relationship between Immortan Joe and his War Boys is manipulative and of total control. Good
morality is established in the sense of commonality, and not necessarily of good nature. All the
War Boys believe in the same religion, the same belief and have the same objective. They all
view Immortan Joe to be their immortal ruler and to be a godlike figure to them in which they
would happily serve and die for. This type of morality allows their society to retain order and
prevents the type of disintegration that Durkheim talks about. However, since Immortan Joe calls
for his entire army of War Boys to follow him into the capturing of Furiosa, he himself ends up
being killed along with many others. So when Furiosa, Max, the wives, and a group of older
women who call themselves The Vuvalini of Many Mothers arrive back to the citadel with
Immortan Joes dead body, the citizens cheer at the sight. Thus the disintegration of the
patriarchy.
I think the films most important characteristics is symbolism. There are many instances
where this is evidenced but a major prominence shown throughout the film involves Immortan

Cindy Giang
Sociology 1 Summer 2015
Professor Prior
Joes War Boys. These War Boys are all young men who were specifically chosen at a very
young age based on their health. They were then brought up in a cult environment, believing
Immortan Joe to be their immortal leader. Since these young men grow up indoctrinated in the
belief that they are already half dead and that immortality is achievable by entry into Valhalla. In
order to reach Valhalla, one must die in the service of Immortan Joe. Being indoctrinated, they all
willingly shave their heads bald and cover themselves in white dust and paint their eye sockets
black to imitate the appearance of skeletons. This type of ritualized uniformity to diminish the
individuals self-identity is prominent in the military. Throughout the film, many of the War Boys
are shown spraying silver paint onto their mouths and teeth in the heat of a battle prefaced by a
short monologue about Valhalla. This is symbolic because its meant to show their devotion to
their religion of worshipping automobiles and obtaining immortality.