Went back for a second helping of Mad Max, today. Still just as exciting and enthralling. However, not as fun for my daughter and roommate. The daughter wanted more background/world building; she has a hard time with jumping into the middle (plus the roommate talked through the beginning voiceover and Alexia missed some of the bits about nuclear war and water scarcity so she was a bit behind the power curve, there. But she's also one of those who has a hard time synthesizing things from the action. She did like the theme of woman power, though, so she didn't write it off or anything, just not high on her list of movies. The roommate had no real complaint, except for the guitar player not getting taken out earlier in the movie, because he's out in front all vulnerable-like; just said she liked the original better.
I enjoyed the second viewing, because I was able to analyze some of the things I hadn't really been able to articulate the first time around. Lots of visual metaphors I missed, or just didn't have an explanation for, the first time around.
I loved the imagery inherent in the Citadel, the clear delineation of upper/lower class through the topography. That the water came down from above, the way it would if it came from clouds, through the god-like power of Immortan Joe, who has become their literal deity.
It took me a while to figure out why chrome paint over the war boy's mouths and then I realized it was to emulate the oxygen mask of Immortan Joe, which is, of course, the chrome grill of a car.
My daughter asked why the war boys and the younger kids were all white? She thought they were albinos, but I said not, yet I couldn't quite come up with what was behind it. Upon further reflection, and a little skimming of wikipedia, I decided that the entire citadel was a metaphor for a termite colony: A typical colony contains nymphs (semimature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both sexes, sometimes containing several egg-laying queens.
Also, a cool picture of an Australian termite mound: [link] It's a great way of explaining the social stratification and physical appearances of the groups in the formation.
![[link]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite#/media/File:Termite_Cathedral_DSC03570.jpg.){kind=link}
And again, the fact that termites are detritivores, responsible for major economical damage to buildings, crops and forests. One of the wives (forget which one exactly) commented on the fact that Immortan Joe had contributed to the destruction of the world.
Lastly, and this may be stretching it a bit, when Nux was banging his head on the floor of the turret vehicles: detect a potential breach, the soldiers will usually bang their heads apparently to attract other soldiers for defence and recruit additional workers to repair any breach. He wasn't just expressing his internal distress, it was a last ditch effort to call for help.
Anyway, just some interesting thoughts. I have no idea if that's what was intended, but that's the way it came across to me, especially after the second viewing, when I had time to have some real thinky thoughts.