‘Furiosa’ and Furious Competence
‘Furiosa’ and Furious Competence
An unnecessary origin story leavened by a rich thematic vein on the subject of knowing stuff.
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Origin stories are usually bad ideas1. They usually diminish the character being origined, because they strip away mystery and make everything leadenly literal—they take the marvelous, delirious bullshit your audience imagined happened and offer up some lame, tidy explanation instead, reducing the amount of delirious bullshit in the world by some unknowable amount. Which is, I feel the need to explain, a bad thing2.
They’re also rarely necessary in any sense. If you’ve done your job as a writer, your audience knows everything they need to know about your characters, and they can have fun imagining the rest3. If you have the opportunity to write more stories about them (which, if the words “origin story” are being bandied about, you probably do) you can always reveal these details later, in dramatically or comedically effective moments that drive plot and develop your character. An origin story is just dumping it all into a box and walking away, whistling.
So: Furiosa. A perfectly good movie, a perfectly fine Mad Max movie, a lot of fun. And completely unnecessary, as you do not really know much about Imperator Furiosa by the film’s end that you couldn’t have guessed or imagined on your own after watching Charlize Theron’s terrific performance in Mad Max: Fury Road4. Sure, the precise details maybe would have been different in your head—though now we’ll never know. But! A fun movie, and a film that’s saved from total lack of necessity by a rich exploration of the value of competence in a postapocalyptic wasteland5.
You Fabulous Thing
If you saw Fury Road, you already know the thumbnail of this story: Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) once lived in the Green Place, a place of abundance in the midst of a desert hell decades after society collapsed6. Then she was kidnapped, and eventually found her way to the Citadel of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who controls the water supply and has built a miniature empire of brutality and cruelty. Furiosa eventually becomes Immortan Joe’s trusted Imperator, driver of the War Rig, though she despises Joe and eventually rebels against him.
Here, we get all the expected details. Furiosa is kidnapped by raiders who are part of the Biker Horde, led by Dementus (Chris Hemsworth with a shockingly effective fake nose7). When Dementus learns about the Green Place and its “abundance,” he spares Furiosa’s life, hoping to wheedle its location from her, and soon tortures and kills her mother in an attempt to force her to show him where it is. He develops a soft spot for her, calling her Little D and imagining she is his daughter. Eventually Dementus manages to infiltrate and take over Gastown, a refinery that supplies the Citadel with fuel8, and forces Immortan Joe to recognize his authority. In exchange, Immortan Joe takes Furiosa (and Dementus’ doctor). In order to escape a future of sexual assault and endless pregnancy as one of Immortan’s wives, Furiosa cuts her hair and hides in plain sight as a boy. Eventually she shows her fierce value to Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), who makes her his apprentice, teaching her how to fight with a war rig and helping her plan her eventual escape.
Whew, there’s a lot of plot in this two and a half hour movie9. But that partial recap was necessary because it lays out the core dynamic of the film, which explores the contrast between Dementus’s absolutely buffoonery and Furiosa’s steely competence.
I'm Afraid for You, Sweetheart, Really Afraid
Dementus is introduced as firmly in control of the Biker Horde, a buff, long-haired man with a nasally voice wearing an angelic white robe—he seems almost meditative, like a guru. Where his underlings try to threaten and brutalize Furiosa to force her to tell them where the Green Place is, Dementus quickly realizes that won’t work, and shows her kindness, instead—followed by intense violence. He seems almost smart10.
Meanwhile, even as a child, Furiosa is super smart, and capable. She’s brave and competent, taking smart chances and doing real harm to her captors. She’s observant and patient even in the face of confinement and horror. As her story progresses, she’s shown to be perhaps the most competent person in the whole universe11. She grasps situations immediately—when Immortan Joe’s son Rectus smells her hair and looks at her longingly, she can smell the rapey vibes and immediately formulates a plan to escape. When that escape is thwarted by raiders attacking the war rig she’s hiding under, she calmly and effectively kills them all, saving the rig and Praetorian Jack—and earning his respect and support.
Basically, Furiosa isn’t just fierce. She’s smart, and she nails every test she’s given.
On the other side of things you have Immortan Joe and Dementus, who are somewhat less competent. To an astounding degree. Dementus manages to take Gastown, but in doing so loses the faith of one of his chief lieutenants, and trades away both Furiosa and his physician (in a world where physicians are not exactly climbing out of the woodwork). He then manages to mismanage Gastown so completely he has to turn his sights on the Citadel12, because all Dementus is capable of is stealing already-functioning things and then ruining them—this is one reason Furiosa is determined he never locate the Green Place. He’s cunning, yes, but he’s not competent.
Immortan Joe is slightly better; he’s managed to sculpt a dedicated army of War Boys at the Citadel, and manages things with violent capability, to an extent. But he’s also easily fooled by an idiot like Dementus, and we already know that he will fritter away his tiny empire in Fury Road through a series of very terrible decisions13.
Meanwhile, Furiosa is just a competence machine, coolly navigating the insane world she finds herself in14. It’s no wonder that she eventually fights her way to the top of this sinking world (with an assist from Mad Max, of course). It’s really just a wonder that it takes her as long as she does, considering her competition.
Maybe I’m over-awed by simple competence because I lack it almost entirely. For example, I am currently wearing tissue boxes for shoes because all of my shoes have become non-functional for various reasons.
NEXT WEEK: The Third Man knows the depressing life of the writer.
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For example, my own involves that time my 5th grade teacher told me I didn’t have to do my homework because I’d won a spelling bee and even sent me home with a note and my mother didn’t believe me and made me do my homework anyway and I’ve been working off the fumes of that resentment ever since.
This is why I drink: To replenish the world’s supply of delirious bullshit. So far, it’s going well.
For example, whenever there’s a close up I like to imagine the actors are not wearing pants. It’s fun! Also: Very on-brand.
My biggest disappointment is that her name is actually literally Furiosa and that’s not an honorific given to her because of her ability to be furious. So disappointed.
I’ve said this many times, but lest we forget: I will survive the apocalypse precisely as many days as I have cans of tuna in the house. After that, it’s exit Jeff stage left, pursued by ravagers.
I always thought people holed up in a mall complaining about a lack of espresso like in the Dawn of the Dead remake was a much more accurate depiction of the end of the world. Green Places sound like a lot of work when there are thousands of candy bars stocked behind counters everywhere.
Somehow it only makes him more handsome, but that’s why he’s Thor and I’m … not. Also: Abs.
George Miller’s attempts to explain how people fuel up their cars in a Mad Max world raises more questions than it answers, honestly.
If you’ve ever tried to sell a novel in this cruel, uncaring world, you get rather good at writing plot synopses. Usually through bitter tears.
Almost Smart is both my personal brand and the title of my memoir.
Aside from whoever is making all the capes and leather breastplates in this post-inudstrial hellhole.
Dementus is truly a charming beast of a character, and represents the best work Hemsworth’s done in his entire career.
Is A Series of Very Terrible Decisions the title of my memoir? Not if my recent all-in investment in meme stocks and joke crypto pays off it’s not.
Cheers to Taylor-Joy who manages to make Furiosa’s grim expertise seem natural and earned instead of Mary Sue-ish.