Sociology & Media: Analyzing Alienation, Anomie & More - Essay Sample

Introduction

Sociological analysis examines the sociological concepts which can be applied to media analysis like, alienation, anomies, social stratification, deviance, elites, gender, and sexuality among other sociological theories. With the idea of anomie, one can be able to understand the social instabilities caused by moral decay among society members. Alienation or the feeling of separation from others enables people to understand the behaviour of characters in the film and social groups. The concept of social status, values, ethnicity, socialization, and elites also takes an important place in the behaviour concepts which can be identified in media analysis. This paper seeks to do a critical sociological analysis of the movie "Mad Max: Fury Road."

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The mad max movie represents a destroyed world where influential people impose their rule on others through violence. The film also adopts the use of a post-disaster setting to represent the real world inequalities. This movie has generated a masculine perspective skewed towards feminine side because it shows a world led into ruins by men and can only be saved by women (Jones 2015). Feminism is shown by portraying a vast diversity of female gender as active players in the movie. Despite the focus on the issue of gender, the film also focuses on the concepts of religion and power. Mad max ultimately paints a picture of faith used as a tool of oppression and cultural rituals and beliefs that legitimize class and gender domination.

The movie starts at an oasis in a post-disaster wasteland known as Citadel. The tyrannical ruler called immortal Joe is first shown with servants ceremonially covering him with body armour decorated with medals and military badges which symbolizes the lifestyle concept of sociology. Immortal Joe leads a group of war boys who worship him like a god and engages in rituals aligned on violence and danger (Jones 2015). The conflict begins when Joe realizes that, Furiosa, one of his officers, has smuggled out some of his captive wives. In response, Joe leads an army of devoted war boys in pursuit of Furiosa and the escaping wives.

Besides, just like many other post-apocalyptic movies, Mad Max identifies human beings as habitual producers of culture. This movie suggests that, when people are stripped of their institutions, they rebuild them fresh, create symbols and rituals that fill their lives with new meanings. Throughout the movie, it is seen how the shared beliefs and rituals of Joe's cult help him to maintain his position of power over the war boys. Therefore, Mad Max's take on religion echoes as a critical Marxist that analyses religion as a tool for domination and inequality. Belief consequently led to the emergence of a group of people at the top of the social pyramid known as elites (Jones 2015). These are the sort of Joe and his close allies who possess more power and freedom over the other people in the movie.

More so, the film focuses on a war boy called Nux, who demonstrates the themes of religion and power. Nux is presented along with other war boys ritually playing at an altar made of from engine parts and steering wheels, and his skin painted white with an engine tattooed on his chest. As the movie progresses, Nux and other war boys are seen to be very excited when Joe acknowledge them, and they fantasize about dying in battle and heading to Valhalla (Dokterman 2015). The war boys are also seen psyching themselves up for the acts of violence and self-sacrifice. They are shown ritually spraying their mouth with a paint spray, and in one instance, Joe sprays Nux mouth, telling him to return his wives, and he will carry Nux through the gate of Valhalla himself. Nux shifts his car into high gear for a more dangerous move and chants to himself. "I live, I die, and I live again..."

The beliefs and rituals of the war boys justify Joe's rule over them by identifying Joe as a god-like figure. The war boys are not able to notice their oppression because they have internalized the sacred masculinity of Joe's rule. This provides Joe with an army of people who are more interested in pursuing Joe's course other than focusing on the earthly class or gender domination imposed on the society by their tyrannical ruler. This following of rules by the war, boys is an act of bureaucracy which is a collection of more or less anonymous people who follow fixed rules (Dokterman 2015). One consequence of bureaucracy is depersonalization, which results in a powerless and alienated society, as seen in the movie.

Another sociological concept seen in the movie is deviance. Deviance is a behaviour pattern that is different from the conventional one. Deviance in the film can thus be said to be any violation of Joe's rules. Deviance is demonstrated when Furiosa leads Joe's wives away with an attempt to free them from his inhuman treatment (Dokterman 2015). This generates anxiety and fear among the people because they feared that they might be affected by the consequences of Joe and the boys' search for Furiosa and Joe's wives.

Moreover, the movie also demonstrates the theme of gender as an essential sociological concept that is linked to social roles. Gender can be defined as the social roles and behaviours associated with people of a certain sex in society. In the movie, strong men are used as war boys and fighter in Joe's cult when women are seen as inferior and only used for enjoyment by Joe and his men.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mad Max: Fury Road movie is full of sociological and cultural concepts and realities in today's world which can be very important in fighting against the inequalities experienced in society today (Dokterman 2015). In the movie, people are socialized to be violent and inhuman. Consequently, the issues of gender discrimination, inequality, stereotyping, misleading values and believes, deviance and social stratification find its way in Joe's world.

References

Jones, Eileen. 2015. ''Actually, Mad Max: Fury Road Isn't That Feminist; And It Isn't That Good, Either.'' In These Times. Retrieved September 29, 2015 (http://inthesetimes.com/ article/17960/actually-mad-max-fury-road-is not-that-feminist).

Jones, Eileen. 2015. ''Actually, Mad Max: Fury Road Isn't That Feminist; And It Isn't that good, Either.'' http://inthesetimes.com/article/17960/actually-mad-max-fury-road-isnt-that-feminist.

Dochterman, Eliana. 2015. ''Vagina Monologues Writer Eve Ensler: How Mad Max: FuryRoad Became a 'Feminist Action Film.''' Time. http://time.com/3850323/mad-max-fury-road-eve-ensler-feminist.