AustLit

'The projection of empty space crucial to modern European colonial endeavors can be seen in the post-apocalyptic future of the film 'Mad Max III' (1985), a process that may repeat the representation of racial and gendered imperial power relations in the victory of the white, male Max. The multicultural center of Bartertown, however, suggests that the film's representation of imperial attitudes is more ambivalent. This ambivalence comes into conflict with the generic demands of Max's development as a character. In order to complete his trajectory across the trilogy, Max must fulfill the role of hero with which he has been repeatedly identified. To this end, the ambivalent postcolonial outpost of Bartertown must be destroyed so that the children Max reluctantly leads can make their way 'home.''

Source: Abstract.