MovieChat Forums > Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Discussion > What was so terrible about Aunty Entity?

What was so terrible about Aunty Entity?

posted 9 years ago by saxman12
12 replies | jump to latest

At the risk of engaging to much with this movie, hear me out. She's clearly meant to be the villain, but the only reason I can see for that is that she's opposing Max. She's built a vestige of society, she's found a way to engineer a genius renewable power source, and as far as I could tell, she doesn't seem to be screwing anyone over in trade. In otherwords, all deals made in Bartertown seem to be completed in good faith.

She may be a little power hungry, but remember you have to judge people by their environment, and by Mad Max movie villain standards, she is downright saintly. Yes she hires Max to kill Blaster, but remember Max agrees to it. And frankly, Master does come off as an equally power hungry dick at the beginning. The only reason she's pissed at Max is because he blew up her goddamn home and steals the one person capable of keeping it running. In fact, after Master gets away and she catches Max, she lets him live!

Maybe I'm making to much of this, but if my choices of a tyrant to live under are limited to the Humongus, Aunty Entity, and Immortan Joe... well I'm going with Tina all the way.

[–] grazatt 9 years ago

Yeah, she was the antagonist, but she was not really a villain

[–] Anansasem 9 years ago

Honestly, she carved out the closest thing to civilization yet seen in the Mad Max world and that includes the per-apocalyptic first Mad Max.

I get an endorphin rush imagining them revisiting Bartertown... maybe casting Beyonce? 

Done and dusted.

[–] nystulc 9 years ago

Saying that she's nicer than the Humongous is kind of damning her with faint praise. And perhaps not entirely fair to the Humongous. The Humongous wasn't being mean just to be mean. He had his motives.

But yes, the Mad Max series is full of morally-damaged people, and Aunty is probably not the worst of them.

But she's not the best of them either. Max is also morally damaged; but he's better than Aunty.

Aunty murdered poor Blaster, who was an innocent. And even Max drew the line there, by refusing to help her. And Aunty sentenced Max to death by hydration ... for refusing to murder an innocent. So yeah, she does kinda suck.

[–] saxman12 9 years ago

Well we do see the Humongus strap people to the front of his car, burn them alive, and we see his troops rape someone. In other words, while I'm sure he had his motives, I think the results speak for themselves in his case.

And yes, obviously Aunty is not better than Max, but I think at least within the context of MM:BT it's closer than you might think. Max is the one who breaks their deal. And she isn't the one who sentenced him to death. That was the wheel. She gave Max the same chance everyone else who breaks a deal has. It absolutely makes sense to me that bartertown would need really strict anti-dealbreaking laws.

Also, on the subject of Blaster. I think innocent is a bit strong. He is a giant musclebound man who uses those muscles on anyone who gets in his way, including at one point choking a complete stranger (Max). He also gets into the Thunderdome of his own free will presumably understanding that his goal is to kill the other guy. Yes, he's only doing what Master tells him to do, but I'm not sure you can call him an innocent.

[–] Caralho_Voador 9 years ago

Max is the one who breaks their deal. And she isn't the one who sentenced him to death. That was the wheel. She gave Max the same chance everyone else who breaks a deal has.

There was an "Aunty's Choice" option on the wheel. That would have been the real test of her morals and character. Even then she would be well within her right by the rules of the city to choose the worst possible punishment. It would have been interesting to see how she would handle that. However, judging by how she reacts at the end, she might have been merciful.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] me-1523 9 years ago

Because she didn't need another hero.

She didn't need to know the way home.

All she wanted was life beyond....

[–] FortySix2 9 years ago

👍

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 9 years ago

Because she didn't need another hero.

She didn't need to know the way home.

All she wanted was life beyond....

It's gotta be something better out there.... *silently humming rest of song*

"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬

[–] mad_roke 9 years ago

That's the good thing about the movie. There really isn't a villain. Neither MasterBlaster nor Aunty Entity are villainous. They're antagonists because they want different things but thats it.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MrRazorz 9 years ago

The underlying theme of the film is a new society being built on the ruins of the old, but it's all about how you do it. Aunty's brought civilization back in Bartertown, and claims it's all built on commerce and trade, but look beneath the surface (literally) and you find that the place actually runs on slavery, murder, blackmail, political intrigue and dodgy deals made behind closed doors (which Max describes as "real civilized."). Aunty's brand of civilization is just repeating the ugly mistakes of the past, and when Max runs foul of it he's handed a fate every bit as brutal and barbaric as any atrocity The Humungus was responsible for.

But then he's saved by a tribe of children, who (once they've gotten over their messianic ancestor worship) find their way to the ruins of Sydney and go on to found a much more peaceful egalitarian society, where they keep to the tribal traditions they followed in the desert and (presumably) no one's withholding resources for political leverage or hiring road warriors to assassinate each other. In her closing monologue, Savannah Nix even expresses the hope that others will follow their example, and find their way to "the distant light" of civilization.

I'm not sure which society has a better chance of surviving, but I know which one I'd rather risk living in.