This reminds me of a sickening argument I've seen misogynists make about Fury Road, (trigger warning for rape) that: "The wives are spoiled, stupid, ungrateful, and wrong to escape because Joe treated them 'really well.' The wives had it better than anyone else in the movie because they had water, food, safety, medical attention, and tons of books so they had it 'easy' and shouldn't have left." This is a real argument I've seen more than once (and once was too much already.) Just because the wives had basic needs provided for them, doesn't negate the fact they were being held in a literal prison. Try using that same line of logic irl, and argue the exact same thing to someone in prison, to slaves in the southern U.S. before the civil war, or to a kidnapping victim: [Prisoners, slaves, kidnapping victims] are spoiled, stupid, ungrateful, and wrong to escape because [their captor, their owner] treated them 'really well.' The [prisoners, slaves, kidnapping victims] had [or have] it better than anyone else in the [prison, plantation, basement] because they had water, food, safety, medical attention, and tons of books so they had it 'easy' and shouldn't have left." "You should be grateful for being forcefully locked up for the rest of your life, even though you havent committed a crime! Be thankful your basic needs are met and that your freedom is taken away from you!" I mean, besides being held against their will, they *only* have to deal with not having freedom... well that... and the rape. Lots and lots of rape. But I guess the argument I'm referring to (that real life people make, may I remind you) about fictional characters doesn't translate to real life because the violence and rape never happens prisoners nowadays, or happened to slaves, or kidnapping victims... oh wait... I guarantee the idiots that make this argument have never been raped. A lot of women would rather die than have to live with brutal daily rape for the rest of their lives. Speaking from a survivor's perspective, I'd rather get a bullet to the head. Not only do you have to endure a living hell, you also have your humanity erased and become nothing more than an object or the equivalent of a "well cared for" dog. A dog that gets beat by its owner and gets raped. But it's cool because the owner feeds it and gives their dog water, food, and shelter. So if the owner does a beastiality, the dog should suck it up because most dogs have it way worse and get put to sleep. I'm sorry for the rant but it's absolutely disgusting that real people make this argument about the wives in the film. This is an opinion I've only ever seen men express and it's usually followed by adding that if they were in the same fictional universe and could become a wife in exchange for the "perks", that they'd "put on a dress with lipstick for Joe, suck his D**k, and let him do whatever else to them." Even though in that hypothetical situation, they have additional advantages. Biologically, they'd have a better chance at physically overpowering Joe if they wanted to, as he's sickly. But most importantly they'd have a choice to be in Joe's harem or not in the first place. The wives didn't have the luxury of a choice. Sometimes I wonder why it's so damn difficult for some men to simply view women as human beings.

I always really loved how the wives *do* stuff in combat. There's something about the kind of teamwork they exhibit together with Furiosa and Max that strikes me as, for lack of a better word, _really cool._

"Hey Jim, we need to keep the feminists happy." "Eh, just have the broad bonk the nearly dead villain over the head and smirk at the camera." "Will do." This is how I imagine the conversations in Hollywood go down when writing a female character for an action movie.

The concept that the innocents who don't fight can have autonomy and actively HELP the fighters is honestly something I've never thought of before. But you're right. The wives don't refuse to fight because they're women or damsels... They've literally never been taught how to. And they actively contribute to change the world around them the best they can despite that. This movie really does have a healthy balance of people/types that you don't see in a lot of action movies. And it's helped to shift my view of characters like the wives a lot. Thank you for that! Wish we saw it in more stories.

‘Servant the same narrative function as a puppy’ Holy shit, that really hit it home

chills. i'm two parts in and i already love this series.

An action movie where people accomplish things by non-violent means, using non-violent skillsets as more than a glorified key or comic relief? Unheard of!

I think the "damsel in distress" trope, that Anita Sarkeesian (among others) talked about a lot, fits nicely into this one.

I didn't expect Fury Road to become one of my favourite movies. I thought it was yet another generic action movie. Boy was I wrong.

UGHH THAT JOHN WICK SCENE STILL MAKES ME CRY!

My Gods, I hate the word "feisty."

love it that you pointed out the small helpful things, my mom only let me watch raiders of the lost ark as a kid cause she was annoyed that the women in the other indiana jones movies weren't even resourceful

This may seem trivial compared to the rest of the video, but I just thought I’d say I found it hilarious how when you say ‘deuteragonist’ I hear ‘duderagonist’

"They don't know how, because they've been locked in a safe."

3:45 This made me cry. It's so nice to not just be depicted as useless 🥺

Remember that part in James bong specter when the former child prostitute is trotted out in front of bond and the villain in in handcuffs, scotch is balanced on her head, she’s shot (presumably in the face) then bond says a waste of good scotch?

i love your videos, and the touch of putting an epilepsy warning at the start means a lot. thanks very much for thinking of us

In the game of patriarchy, the opposing team isn’t women, women are the ball

Great metaphor -- women treated as just puppies.

Thank you so much for this.

hey just starting to watch thought i was going to click out in the first few minutes but just from the intro this is awesome, cant wait to finish the rest and also for the rest of your uploads!

Fantastic and important series. Thanks for your wonderful work.

It's like you've only picked movies I haven't seen lmao j/k that's clearly not your fault and despite this you explain things in a way I can understand most concepts without having to sit through dozens of these types of movies.

Your analysis makes me love this movie more.

I got suddenly updated of you posting three separate videos? Christmas is early?

God I fucking love you so much. This was probably the only action movie I've ever enjoyed and your dissection makes it even better.

Essentially, "Women in refrigerators"

This is actually really freakin good!

this is an amazing analysis/exploration.. thank you

This is such a fucking good analysis, I'm floored.

I remember seeing this movie in theaters and being pleasantly surprised how much character the wives had. Usually you're lucky to get a character like Furiosa as the token main female, a Black Widow-esqe figure, any other women are set dressing. Not here every single woman had her own character, her own story and felt like a rounded person. They were never passive just at different skill levels than other characters. No one is useless or flat. My favorite line from the movie came from Angharad, "Who killed the world?" That never would have happened in your standard action movie.

Superb analysis on this movie

in WHAT universe is ramona flowers an innocent, passive character? weird choice of example there

"Kick the dog moment" *sweats in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure*

You know, that Joss Whedon "But youre just a girl" moment is so weird and off-putting. Like, isnt there something purely unnatural about that reaction coming from a grown man? It feels like something only a movie character who knows they are in a movie and understands a trope is being subverted would say. Like, if that kind of thing happened in real life, I don't think anyone, not even a huge misogynist, would react that way. Its just not how people talk or react or think. When a real-life expectation we have is subverted, we don't voice it that way, nobody does.

That Buffy clip at the 3 minute mark... you cut out the bit that gives the point to the guy saying that. It works on two levels: she just casually saved him from a huge vampire, without breaking a sweat, and he not knowing what a slayer is, who Buffy is, stammers "How do you do that? You're just a girl", as in, you look just like any other girl. Buffy's answer to that is a world-weary "That's what I've been saying", because she's dealing with so many bigger problems right now (carrying an enormous burden in the wake of her mother's death and protecting her 'sister' from a literal hell god who seems unstoppable) that doing away with some run-of-the-mill vampire isn't even worth her full attention at this point. Her reaction to this kid's words in Season 1 or 2 might have been some snarky wise-crack, but at this point, she's just so tired, she dearly wishes she was 'just a girl'. That she didn't have so much power and responsibility, both in her family structure and as a supernatural hero. It's a re-examination of what it means to be this ass-kicking archetype when the real things beating you down are the day to day burdens of living, rather than the easily-dustable hoards of the undead. So my point is: Joss Whedon is a predictable guy, but Buffy was written with a lot of nuance (by a writing staff that went beyond just Whedon's oversight). I didn't always like her (truly, she grated on me hugely on a regular basis), but I always believed her reactions, she never felt like a tacked on set of faux-minist ideals or a grandstanding anti-archetype. And that clip is kind of proof of that believability, rather than proof of the character's failure.

Wonderful! Tha'ts why Fury Road is one of my favorite movies

You're great. In your effort. I agree and disagree with you to various degrees (jaded by "film theory"). But I always see your effort and logic. Thanks. I'll pay you someday.

Liked, subscribed

I don't think there is anything Fury Road did wrong. I went to the cinema hyped as fuck and was still impressed on the release day

I realize it's important to break the stereotype of a woman being defenseless / passive when confronted with greater violence than they could possibly exert, but I also think it's important to understand most victims of violence end up shutting down in order to protect themselves, that fighting back in any way will only earn them more serious bruises or even death.

Oh yes times 2.

So many movies rely heavily on this.

"Black widow" yep 2:20 2:33 at least he varies it a bit, I wish Missy acted more like the master The mistress?

The measure of a warrior is usually their weight or equipment. There's a reason weight limits exist in fighting tournaments, why the current 90lb MMA/Jiu-jitsu expert meme fails against heavyweight boxers, and why guns have a safety mechanism, and why an AK is likely to beat a 9mm in ranged combat. As someone who's learnt a lot of fighting styles but is permanently DYEL, I learnt this lesson the hard way a few times in my life. tl;dr - I'd rather fight an 8st man than a 21st woman.

I think I need to watch Fury Road again.

I don't think Point Break is really an example of this because it's making fun of action movies. It's supposed to be a parody, it's just that nobody noticed. It's such a well shot movie that people went "Yeah, surfboarding bank robbers makes sense I guess".

2:23 We should've seen Whedon was a creep and a fake by him adding shots like this to his works

2/5...!

For some reason, this analysis boils my blood

How about an innocent character that becomes violent, but not brutal?

Wtf I thought my dog was hurt

Dexter season 5

You okay there?

I know it was to illustrate your point, but the dog scene. 😢

2 shane black movies. hmm.

Average 2008 Toyota Camry owner

You forgot children.

This is my comment. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.

There are dog breeds that are powerful rather than helpless. I'm not sure if I have a bigger point with this, but I'm saying it anyway.

Man *dab*

I have to disagree with you (which I almost never do): the kick the dog moment IS about the dog, for me at least. I don’t give 2 figs about the villain. If I were in that film: I would risk my life or do whatever it takes so that the dog lives, villain be damned. I love Keanu, been crushing on him since I was a kid and he was in Bill & Ted (and that Paula Abdul music video) - but I still refuse to watch these movies because I cannot handle an animal (especially a dog) suffer in any way, let alone die.

I'm not sure I buy the final statement demarcating rescue and escape in this way. Begging someone to get you out of a citadel seems to be functionally identical to a rescue. None of the rescues displayed in this video would have suddenly become escapes (e.g. The Expendables) if the damsel had propositioned her rescuers first.

Basically, Women in Refrigerators, yeah?

I appreciate this series and thank you for putting all the work in. I respectfully disagree with some of your later assertions that being a warrior has nothing to do with gender or nature, there are characteristics such as physical size and aggression that men tend towards more strongly than women.

OK... You wronged Pepper Pots. Pepper is the total source of all of Iron Man's power by the time Iron man 3 happens. She runs his company and provides him with all of his money, Iron Man has 2 superpowers first he is a genius but second, he is fabulously rich, without his riches his genius is quite limited. We even see this as he goes to the hardware store and makes tools that make him viable but not fully Iron Man. How is she the source of his Genius? Besides providing the funding she also is the only person who can control him, not outright because that isn't really what she wants, but when she points out that his Tinkering is separating him from his own humanity and serving as a distraction from his own trauma she is the only one he listens to. His entire character arch from that point on was defined by what she pointed out to him... where does the man stop and the robot begin? She isn't into violence, fine. But when she is needed to step up and be a hero she acts immediately. In the House being bombed scene Ironman gives her his "powers" and she uses them to save him, and then the other woman who was there. No, she doesn't run around and then attacks the helicopters, it isn't who she is and I don't think she would know how... we have established that M42 was not only Glitchy but also not weaponized. So was she a useless innocent? I don't think so. So I want to talk about the final "symbolic" act of violence that was "permitted" to Pepper at the very end... after the main conflict was resolved. Here is Iron Man, sitting on his but, hurt, defenseless and entirely just man. The villain is not completely destroyed, also reduced to his core self... rage/pain. The man is helpless in the face of the rage/pain. He has to be rescued because he does not have a tool in his box to deal with that kind of emotion. This is REALLY important because it ties back to Iron Man's PTSD. This is the symbolic reenactment of him defeating his PTSD by falling into the protection of people who love him. To the rescue, Iron man's Moral campus and the source of his own personal power. Pepper. So Pepper becomes a man and finishes the scene with violence? No. Pepper expresses the full extent of her persona by using her instincts to protect her other half, she didn't save her man from the rage beast with more rage, but with love. Her instinct to protect. And Iron man learns that he doesn't have to be invincible, he can just be a man, because he isn't alone. Because the most difficult things in his life (his trauma) is something that he can face with Pepper. So ya you totally didn't understand Iron Man 3. You have presented what I like to call the "No Win" problem of Feminism. NO WOMAN IS WOMAN ENOUGH. Furiosa to Sarkasian would just be a man with tits, (Ya she's basically said as much)... Sure you approve, but you also showed several really great women action heroes and said, "they are basically guys." OK... Well, Pepper Pots, strong, capable, brave, intelligent, and still very feminine... apparently she is a prop? WTF This is why I can't be a Feminist because if I were a character in a movie, I don't think feminists would consider me a woman. Ultimately my personality would be reduced to an archetype just like you reduced Pepper in order to prove a point. Here, Being a real woman is complicated. I've been a soldier, I can fight, I have been in fights... a shit tone. I have used violence to resolve issues but I am also very protective and loving. I rescue and nurture I am... A Moma Bear. Yay, I am no longer a human being. Yayaya Characters are not real and all that BS. But you select the parts of the Character that support your argument and discard all the parts that don't. I"m Sorry but anyone who insists that they have the right or ability to define who is or is not Fully woman is sexist. You are sexist. Sarkisian is SEXIST. Please stop.

Okay I know you said warning of animal violence at the start of part 1, but then part 1 ended and I forgot about it, and part 2 started on the playlist and you warned me about epilepsy coming in the near future but not the heartbreaking sound of a dog in pain and dying?? I'll be honest, I couldn't hear a word you said after that and I had to stop the video and do something else before I was able to focus again and continue enjoying the analysis. It's just... I'm feeling a bit attacked right now. I do wonder if there wasn't another way to open the topic of abused women than with an abused animal. Like... how about just... abused women...?

Yeah and Mad Max can beat Furiosa's ass despite having lost a lot of blood and being chained down to Nux. So idk how her only having 1 arm has anything to do with it they were both fighting with handicaps.

I understand what you're saying about woman not being "passive" in Fury Road, and how that's different than a lot of depictions of woman in movies from the past; this is a reasonable development in film and the director and script writer did a good job on this. What I always find hard to swallow though is woman warriors. This is not to say that woman can't be tough and resourceful,but watching a movie and seeing a 90 lb woman fighting off two large full grown men is just completely unrealistic. That is not how fights work. Men genetically have dense bones and stronger muscles for the same weight. There is a reason males and females are separated in sports. I believe that if we want to represent femininity and masculinity in a progressive and truthful way, it ought to be done realistically. Collative Learning did a great study of Ripley in Alien as a feminist character. I love to hear your thoughts on it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/er-bkrGFyau8dps.html

For a second there it sounded like you wanted women to be violent and aggressive as like a feminist flex. Then it went from that being sexist in itself. Confusing, yet interesting observations.

I dont get why we need to analyze and fix these movies that don't have enough women doing the right things. Vote with your wallets.

Well, male warriors will always be faster and stronger than female ones, so yeah, there is a very important gendered difference.