4 Reasons why Imperator Furiosa is the Best Female Character in
film since Ellen Ripley
By: Brian Cotnoir
A while back I was
discussing with a friend how there is a serious lack of Strong Female
Characters in film. If you ask any
person to name one strong female character in film they will usually without
hesitation say Ellen Ripley from the “Alien”
Franchise, and then they really have to stop and think of any others. Well recently our prayers have been answered,
by director George Miller and we have been given a new, awesome strong female
character in his latest film “Mad Max:
Fury Road”. That character’s name is
Imperator Furiosa, and she is one the Best, Baddest, and Original characters to
come out in a long time.
1.) Fearless
Furiosa is a fearless fighter.
She takes risks that could mean death if she is caught, and she just
plain doesn’t care. She stands up to the
evil tyrannical leader Immortan Joe, and betrays him by stealing one of his big
rigs (and helping his wives escape too) in hopes that they can all find a
better life far away from his Citadel.
She is not afraid to battle either.
Throughout the film she is pursued by Immortan Joe and his War Boys,
hell she even fights Mad Max at one point.
She is a women who is driven (no pun intended) and unafraid to do battle.
2.) Intelligent
Furiosa is also incredibly intelligent and cunning as well. Not only does her plan of escape start off—relatively—successful,
but she also has a slew of calculated moves and back up plans for her mission
as well. From the way she manipulates
the other War Boys who are escorting her on the journey to get gas and oil, to
the emergency kill switch on her rig, to the way she convinces a rival biker
gang to cause a rock slide in the canyon to slow down the ever approaching to
her cautious approach to Mad Max. She
doesn’t just openly trust Max upon their first meeting, she actually believes
that he is an enemy. It is clear from watching her in the film that she
has—practically—thought out every move and decision on this journey. It is her intelligence and cunningness that
ultimately lead to her survival throughout the film.
3.) She’s a Fighter, and not a Damsel
One thing that always pisses me off in Action Movies is when the
films story introduces the token female character who is meant to be the
counterpart to the Main Male Character, and she spends the whole film showing
that she knows how to fight and is a bad a$$, but then somehow forgets all her
fighting skills and gets captured by the villain and their henchmen, and has to
be rescued by the Main Male Character.
Yeah, Furiosa doesn’t do any of that.
She proves herself as a fighter, and is more than capable of protecting
herself. At no point do she and Max have
to rescue each other, if anything
they’re just helping each other out.
Also she is NOT just
there to serve as a Max’s love interest
in the film. Another great thing about
Furiosa is she does not follow your typical Leading Female design. Furiosa is played by Actress Charlize Theron,
who is absolutely gorgeous. However, she
doesn’t exploit her true beauty in this film.
She is not just relegated to being Eye Candy in the film. Her hair is
cut short, and her skin is covered sand, dirt, and oil...oh and she’s an amputee
too. This is the second film I’ve seen
Charlize Theron in where she seems to go out of her way to make you forget that
she is actually really pretty in real life (the other film she did this in was
“Monster” which received on Oscar for
Best Actress for her role).
4.) She is the True Star of the Film
For a film called “Mad Max: The Fury Road”, their certainly is a
lack of Mad Max doing much of anything in the film. I mean he barely has any lines in the film,
but you want to know who does have a lot of lines in the film, and is the
primary focus of the film, and kicks a$$ the entire film? Imperator Furiosa! She truly is a strong and amazing character,
and without a doubt the Best Leading Female I’ve seen in a Film since Ellen
Ripley in “Alien”.
