Furiosa began her journey down the Fury Road in the Summer of 2015 and 9 years later has finished telling her story of the long and arduous journey through the wasteland in search of the culprits that poisoned the world and stole her childhood.
I too embarked on a long road trip in the Summer of 2015, mere days after Furiosa embarked on hers. I too embarked on a long journey through a (proverbial) wasteland of ideas in search of understanding how my world came to be and how the Christian culture I grew up in has become so obviously poisoned by politics in the wake of Trumpism. While Furiosa discovered that there is no comfort to be had in vengeance – even if you succeed at defeating the present offending culprit – I too struggled for many years to understand how a specific enemy like Trump could arise and amass so much power by cannibalizing the culture I grew up in so shamelessly. After finishing my own journey through the wasteland of perceived career callings, I’ve come to Hampton Roads Virginia, where I’m daily confronted with the deeper historical aspects of American history and have discovered the true capitalist nature of our Founding Fathers. Putting these things together I am able to see, like Furiosa, that the seeds of the destruction of empire we find ourselves witnessing unfold around us were planted long ago and the present manifestation can only be painstakingly struggled against rather than summarily defeated.
As Furiosa discovered that the true enemies she wishes to defeat are long dead world powers in the past, so to have I found that the collection of enemies in the form of colonialists, imperialists, and capitalists are all seated deep within our history. Furiosa’s response to this discovery, turning from vengeance and seeking out the comrades within her midsts and using her wasteland skills to lead them to freedom strikes a strong cord in my heart and sows the seeds of hope. But just as her sought after “green place” is a myth, likely fabricated out of her own fragmented memories, there is nowhere we can escape to (for example, as some seek to emigrate to Europe to escape tyrants at home, only to discover a rapidly evolving reactionary political decay is taking root there as well), but instead the source of hope is in our own fight to reclaim the home we already live in – using the skills we learn trying not to drown in the capitalist system to turn around and fight the tyrants and systems that control us and to reclaim our lives for ourselves.
I find hope in Furiosa’s attempt to fight, but it is the training along the way, learning the tools of the wasteland to fight back against it and share those skills with her new-found comrades, which inspire me the most. Even though we can’t get revenge on the people and systems and ideas that originally and unrelentingly have poisoned the world and alienated us from our work and each other, and even though we cannot escape to a mythical land of tranquility, we can develop skills within the system to turn it back on itself and reclaim our work, reclaim our lives, and reclaim community. We must find the “green place” within ourselves, though it may be controlled by the systems and multi-national corporations that hoard the world’s power, it is still among us and can be nourished to fruition if we take the time to learn to deprogram our minds and build community where we find ourselves, like the war-boy Nux, inspired by Furiosa’s drive and community, managed to do, and so to bring paradise to all around us, even if we don’t get to see those fruits manifest in our lifetimes.
I hope I can use my new-found stability and skills from my recent 9 years of wandering and seeking answers to embark on a similar journey, though ideally with less fury. Just like Furiosa left the revenge portrayed in this movie behind and sought out productive and meaningful action in the events of Fury Road, eventually embracing the need to make the most of what she already had, I hope to use this newfound perspective to continue the journey I started back in 2015. I want to realize my goals of helping others and bringing the promised “green place” heaven to everyone here on this earth where I am now, as naturally and organically as possible, and preferably without needing to discover the non-existence of a perfect paradise somewhere else or having to fight my way back to where I was when I started.
Beyond The Standard 