The pessimistic future

I don't have enough desire to be sure that I'm right to make me watch all the Gibson Mad Max movies, but I have seen quite of bit of Beyond Thunder Dome on television. The ending reminded me of something that I read in a review.

It focused on Max being the loner hero, always left behind. In the third movie he sacrificed himself to let the others get away, and it sounds like that was the case in the second film as well. That made some things really interesting about Fury Road that we will explore today and tomorrow.

This also brings us back to Elysium.

(Since Matt Damon's character was also named Max, we are just going to refer to him as Matt Damon.)

Matt Damon did not need to die because of the radiation poisoning - the capabilities of their healing technologies were more than adequate. When he stole the brain data from Carlyle, there was a protection mode that meant retrieving the data would kill him.

The way the machines repaired a blown apart Kruger strained credulity far more than the idea that DNA level repairs could restore a damaged brain. The protection itself wasn't very logical; wouldn't it make more sense to kill the person while they are mining your brain, rather than after they have done so?

Instead, I think his death satisfies a belief that you can't have this great good - healing a dystopian future - without a sacrifice from someone else. Someone won't be able to enjoy it.

It could be a religious in nature, with messianic symbolism, though Christ's death wasn't permanent. Still, Matt Damon was raised by nuns, one of whom told him he would do something wonderful. That could have been a way they were going. That Matt Damon could go from only wanting this for selfish reasons to choosing to sacrifice was important character growth; he just wasn't going to have the opportunity to see what life was like as a person who cares about others.

I think more to the point is that science fiction reflects the time period in which it is written. If writers keep inventing dystopia, and even imagining a way to overcome that dystopia means that the hero does not get to enjoy it, what does that say about our times?

The things that can allow us to be optimistic will take up more of tomorrow's post, but one of the most fascinating things about Fury Road  for me was that Max was not left behind, though he did still choose to walk away.

At first it made me wonder whether he was just too damaged to be able to deal with a tranquil life. There were signs of him having PTSD before. While he seemed to make some progress, it can be very hard to make the transition from a life of violence to one of peace.

I think The Hurt Locker explores that as well, but I don't know that it has answers. Dave Grossman comes close to some answers, but seems to have become too enamored with war to help anymore. Therefore, the best hope I have seen comes from Navajo ceremonies that were used to help Chester Nez deal with his WWII experiences. We should be looking more into that.

In addition, the trope wasn't entirely abandoned because Nux essentially took Max's place - sacrificing himself so that the others could get through. There's a part of me that wonders if the only purpose for his character was so that someone could still be that loner hero who doesn't get to see the happy ending.

There are many things that I don't know how to solve. I still believe solutions are possible, but it will require not only belief, but desire. If we can want good things for everyone - happiness, satisfaction, actualization - we can find ways.

If we stay mired only seeing others as people we need to get ahead of, then no, there is no reason to believe we can do better.