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We are (still) not things
Aug. 9th, 2020 01:38 amSo, last time he visited, Austin reminded me that he has never seen Mad Max: Fury Road.
If you haven't been here in a while, Fury Road ranks as "probably the best movie I've ever seen". I have joked about how, whenever I watch a movie, I rank it against "would my time have been better spent watching Fury Road instead" and honestly, most movies do not cross that threshold. I try not to do the "oh-em-gee you must watch my personally curated media list or your life is UNWORTHY" thing to people, because like...we all have different needs and wants and joys and it's okay to not like things, *but* I am down to rewatch this movie pretty much any time, and if you want to watch it with me, I will figure out how to arrange that.
So like, Austin is mostly not my media boyfriend, but still, I figured this could be a good thing to happen. It didn't wind up having time the last time, but we were in a good movie space this visit! I gave him a choice of three1 movies that I like and would enjoy watching with him, this is the one that was picked.
Now, I love this movie, but the part I forgot to warn Austin about is that it is an *intense* movie. And in fact, I don't think I've actually watched it myself in at least a year, and maybe as many as two or three. So while I remembered the most of it, and there were a lot of moments and beats and scenes that were right where I'd left them, there were also parts that were fuzzier, and less present.
Having watched it for the first time in my thirties, I remain convinced that it is truly one of the most beautiful action movies ever made. One or the other of Austin-and-I were squeezing the blood out of the other one's hand for nearly the whole time, just from the sheer overwhelming tension of it all. We paused halfway through for a brief bathroom break, and he said something along the lines of "I didn't realize the movie would give me this much anxiety!" which, you know, fair.
The thing that still gets me about Fury Road, the thing that has gotten me from the start (the thing that got me to see it the first time2) remains that this is a movie which is a story about women, made like that's the norm. It's not a "feminist movie" in that it goes out of its way to be all about the Grrl Power, it is simply framed exactly the same way as every other action movie, except the main beats belong to the women, and the supporting beats to the men.
It is twenty-fucking-twenty, and I haven't seen or heard of another movie that does that, and especially not another movie that does that in as calmly blase a way as Fury Road does. Nothing in this movie feels forced. It is a poetic, explosive, exquisite cinematic experience, that squeezes your heart with emotion, and fills your brain with fire.
But with women.
And of course, I myself am not a woman, but I caucus with them for strategic reasons. I can see more of myself in every female character here than I can in basically any "canonically" nonbinary character. Because the women in this film are so varied, and whole, and real. Sometimes they fuck up, sometimes they succeed, always they exist and it is amazing.
If you haven't seen this movie, and like action movies, I suggest it. If you don't mind action movies, and like epic cinematography, or breathtaking stunts3, or narratives about redemption, I suggest it. If you love women, if you see them as whole and complete and complex, I suggest it.
Witness me.
We Are Not Things.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: The other two were George of the Jungle, which I described as "light hearted comedy/mild romance, with a happily ever after ending and generally super family friendly" and Into the Spiderverse -"still family friendly but less lighthearted and more actiony but still with some jokes". I described Fury Road as "nothing but an action movie, but sublimely done"
2: Oh sure, I saw a trailer and went "that looks like a pretty great Action Romp" but I didn't expect to actually get off my ass and go watch it in the theatre until all the men of twitter started to be Loudly Angry.
3: Real! Almost all of the stunts in the film are real, and live! Which, there was a very good article back when it came out that postulated that this is part of why the movie was such a success, because CGI is great but you can't fake physics all the way out of the uncanny valley yet, and so things that are real will still hit with more weight.
If you haven't been here in a while, Fury Road ranks as "probably the best movie I've ever seen". I have joked about how, whenever I watch a movie, I rank it against "would my time have been better spent watching Fury Road instead" and honestly, most movies do not cross that threshold. I try not to do the "oh-em-gee you must watch my personally curated media list or your life is UNWORTHY" thing to people, because like...we all have different needs and wants and joys and it's okay to not like things, *but* I am down to rewatch this movie pretty much any time, and if you want to watch it with me, I will figure out how to arrange that.
So like, Austin is mostly not my media boyfriend, but still, I figured this could be a good thing to happen. It didn't wind up having time the last time, but we were in a good movie space this visit! I gave him a choice of three1 movies that I like and would enjoy watching with him, this is the one that was picked.
Now, I love this movie, but the part I forgot to warn Austin about is that it is an *intense* movie. And in fact, I don't think I've actually watched it myself in at least a year, and maybe as many as two or three. So while I remembered the most of it, and there were a lot of moments and beats and scenes that were right where I'd left them, there were also parts that were fuzzier, and less present.
Having watched it for the first time in my thirties, I remain convinced that it is truly one of the most beautiful action movies ever made. One or the other of Austin-and-I were squeezing the blood out of the other one's hand for nearly the whole time, just from the sheer overwhelming tension of it all. We paused halfway through for a brief bathroom break, and he said something along the lines of "I didn't realize the movie would give me this much anxiety!" which, you know, fair.
The thing that still gets me about Fury Road, the thing that has gotten me from the start (the thing that got me to see it the first time2) remains that this is a movie which is a story about women, made like that's the norm. It's not a "feminist movie" in that it goes out of its way to be all about the Grrl Power, it is simply framed exactly the same way as every other action movie, except the main beats belong to the women, and the supporting beats to the men.
It is twenty-fucking-twenty, and I haven't seen or heard of another movie that does that, and especially not another movie that does that in as calmly blase a way as Fury Road does. Nothing in this movie feels forced. It is a poetic, explosive, exquisite cinematic experience, that squeezes your heart with emotion, and fills your brain with fire.
But with women.
And of course, I myself am not a woman, but I caucus with them for strategic reasons. I can see more of myself in every female character here than I can in basically any "canonically" nonbinary character. Because the women in this film are so varied, and whole, and real. Sometimes they fuck up, sometimes they succeed, always they exist and it is amazing.
If you haven't seen this movie, and like action movies, I suggest it. If you don't mind action movies, and like epic cinematography, or breathtaking stunts3, or narratives about redemption, I suggest it. If you love women, if you see them as whole and complete and complex, I suggest it.
Witness me.
We Are Not Things.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: The other two were George of the Jungle, which I described as "light hearted comedy/mild romance, with a happily ever after ending and generally super family friendly" and Into the Spiderverse -"still family friendly but less lighthearted and more actiony but still with some jokes". I described Fury Road as "nothing but an action movie, but sublimely done"
2: Oh sure, I saw a trailer and went "that looks like a pretty great Action Romp" but I didn't expect to actually get off my ass and go watch it in the theatre until all the men of twitter started to be Loudly Angry.
3: Real! Almost all of the stunts in the film are real, and live! Which, there was a very good article back when it came out that postulated that this is part of why the movie was such a success, because CGI is great but you can't fake physics all the way out of the uncanny valley yet, and so things that are real will still hit with more weight.