Cars are a very big deal in the world of Mad Max: Fury Road to the point that they are worshipped, especially by the war boys. The viewer sees to what extent the war boys worship cars from the shot that shows a shrine made of steering wheels. As one of the war boys approaches it, a low angle shot makes the large steering wheel on the top of the shrine appear above everyone around it which is emphasized as the war boy bows before it. The low angle shot along with the single bright ray of light shining down upon the shrine gives a very holy and religious image. As the war boy bows before the shrine, he says “By my deeds I honor him, V8” in a way that sounds like a prayer. He also makes a V sign with his hands using a total of eight fingers, again showing honor and praise to V8. This car cult is headed by Immortan Joe, the provider of water and gasoline who will lead his war boys down fury road to Valhalla.
Mad Max Fury Road shows that during extreme times, people are more willing to look to anyone or anything to believe in. Immortan Joe represents people who take advantage of other’s desperation and use religion to control them. He forms a cult that allows him to get young boys to do what he tells them, even if it involves killing themselves. The war boys live to serve Immortan Joe believing they will be awaited in Valhalla. This worship of engines and of those who provide them reminded me a lot of Snowpiercer and how the people on the train worshiped Wilson and his sacred train engine.
In a post-apocalyptic world, will those that provide essential resources become so powerful that they will be considered gods and worshiped by others, or is that too extreme to be believable?
Imagined Futures, Imagined Ends 