Mad Max Fury Road Essay

Do Not, My Friends, Become Addicted to Water This year, George Miller released the long-awaited film “Mad Max: Fury Road”. In this post-nuclear-apocalyptic world, a new power structure has arisen under the figurehead known as “Immortan Joe”, a man poisoned by radiation that has only risen in command due to his monopolized hold on the population’s water supply. Essentially, his God complex is entirely validated by his ability to decide the fate of his people through the giving, or withholding, of water. It is only through this intentional commodification of water that allows for such a direct structural power imbalance. Although Immortan Joe does commodify human bodies to perpetuate the lives of his radiated, terminally-ill “War Boys”, as well
In the words of Alan Moore, “Artists use lies to tell the truth.” In the case of “Mad Max”, perhaps this cinematic falsehood could shed light onto a growing problem in the world. Currently, one of the highest-returning stocks in the world are water stocks, and as of 2012, many of the world’s water stocks are being bought up by a group of powerful men, now dubbed as “Water Barons”. In recent news, Nestlé has been making news lately for their privatization of the water industry, which will hopefully begin to disband this monopoly, considering Nestlé now owns over 70 percent of the world’s bottled water brands. Just as Immortan Joe uses his monopoly on water as a way to control his people, water was also used as a sign and demonstration of affluence. The way water stocks are trading, water is very quickly becoming a commodity that can be traded and bought and controlled by transnational companies. Additionally, many Middle Eastern countries have been urging businesses and individuals to invest in water stocks, which shows this issue has been culminating for quite some time