MAD MAX: A POST-APOCALYPTIC CRITIQUE ON THE RHETORIC OF ECOLOGY

Abstract

George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is a cinematic presentation of a life after the apocalypse depicting environmentally ruined earth and the struggle of survivors in post-apocalyptic situations. This article analyzes film as a method for depicting futures and especially life after the apocalypse. To link dramatization of the struggle of survivors after apocalypse to the possible future of humanity after the exploitation of nature, apocalypse and post apocalypse, the analysis of the study highlights the social, psychological, political and environmental problems of post-apocalyptic societies. Mad Max: Fury Road is used as a cautionary tale underscoring the importance of environmental stewardship and to shape public imagination of what would be the future of humanity if the exploitation of nature is not being stopped and to explain the need for sustainable human practices.  In the research article Mad Max: Fury Road is analyzed by using the lens of post-apocalypse presented by James Berger (1999) and his theory is also supported by Teressa Heffernan. The article qualitatively explains the disastrous impacts of apocalypse on post-apocalyptic societies. Catherine Belsey’s approach of thematic analysis is applied by method of familiarization in analyzing the movie. The study is a cautionary tale to avoid the present exploitation of nature otherwise the future of human kind would be disastrous in the form of post-apocalyptic situations. The article concludes that the environmental collapse and its connection with social disintegration, violence, and authoritarian rule would emphasize the resistance of survivors and the quest for renewal after the apocalypse