Tank Girl
R
104 minutes
1995

reviewed by mousnonya of MSG

In 2032 a comet has crashed into the earth, turning the planet into a desert.
Water is now a vital raw material in scarce supply. A monopoly company "Water
and Power" has taken control of 95% of the planet's water supply.

MIM would agree with this as a possible humyn future. But MIM would say that
nuclear devastation or unsustainable capitalist overconsumption of raw materials
is a far likelier cause of the type of global environmental catastrophe which is
the premise of Tank Girl. That would be one thing that the dictatorship of the
proletariat would change about this story.

On the other hand, the monopoly capitalism exemplified in "Tank Girl" by the
conglomerate "Water and Power," seeking to ruthlessly extract labor and raw
materials from the oppressed is not science fiction at all. It is contemporary
reality. If we substitute "Oil" for "Water" and "GM" (or any other
multinational) for "Water and Power" "Tank Girl" basically describes current
reality: large multinationals ruthlessly enslave and kill Third World
populations in order to extract a scarce, crucial raw material, oil.

Tank Girl is an individualist. This would be MIM's first critique of hir line.
S/he is trying to make her own way in the post-apocalypse world. Her favorite
sayings are "I win" and "Mine." Tank Girl also smokes which is not MIM's idea of
good in a role model. Tank Girl does not have the advantage of Marxist science.
S/he does have strengths however. Tank Girl is aggressive and intent on winning
and never quits. Her friend Jet is a little less aggressive but also thinks
through things further. They make a good team. Tank Girl drives a tank; Jet Girl
flies a jet, and they both kick monopoly capitalist ass. They might be lesbians,
they certainly kiss, and Tank Girl is probably bi. But she has a boyfriend. Her
boyfriend happens to be a kangaroo. Jet has an antichrist tatoo. Tank Girl and
Jet occasionally wear imperialist logos like Australian flags and bullseyes.
But Tank Girl also has a few red stars here and there. So Tank Girl's flaws
(imperialist logos, individualism) are "tolerable": it will become increasingly
unacceptable in the dictatorship of the proletariat to tout imperialist symbols
and logos and associate them with a hero/ine unless those symbols are clearly
ridiculed. As an individualist Tank Girl's class awareness appears limited and
reactive.

The cinematography of the film is very well done. Action scenes, dance
sequences, and ironies throughout make the film interesting. Animated sequences
are interspersed with the filmed sequences so that about 10% of the film is
animated, and that is also well done.  Several well done song and dance
sequences are also included. The film is technically very good.

Water and Power tanks are ex-Soviet. Tank Girl is driving a modified U.S. tank,
though the tanks are not marked as such, so only a person interested in tanks
would know this. Jet's jet is pure fantasy and does not seem to be modelled
after anything in reality. MIM thinks the ex-U.S.S.R. after Stalin slid quickly
into imperialism because of the rise of a bourgeoisie within the party itself.
So we don't think it's so relevant whether Tank Girl or the monopolists are using
Russian or Amerikan tanks. 

"Tank Girl" is overall objectively progressive. It is progressive because it is
the story of wimmin and brown skinned persyns ("kangaroos") fighting against
monopoly capitalists. The Kangaroos' strategy and tactics are interesting. The
Kangaroos believe in reincarnation. They also believe in fighting without
weapons. So the Kangaroos represent some pre-scientific thoughts in the movie,
which are however put into progressive service. If you believe you'll just
reincarnate (or go to Valhalla, or heaven) you're more likely to be willing to
die. The problem with such pre-scientific thought is that it can just as easily
serve imperialism. The Kangaroos do use their strengths, night vision and
superior hearing to their advantage and though they do not use weapons they are
very violent. Tank Girl's tank incidentally has a robot brain. So to some extent
Tank Girl represents the likely future tactics: robotics, night fighting, and
above all gearing our tactics to our capabilities.

There are some reactionary elements in Tank Girl. "Tank Girl" would be a good
recruiter for the military, except she is so individualistic she can't deal with
authority and she is fighting against monopoly capitalists. The imperialist
imagery and logos would be suppressed or ridiculed under the dictatorship of the
proletariat. "Tank Girl" is rather individualist. And a film about wimmin is also
a film about men watching wimmin. It's hard to call "Tank Girl" misogynistic since
she goes around kicking gendered males in the balls, literally and figuratively.
But Tank Girl and Jet are very attractive and the male figures are just not so
hot: they are either militarists (ugh) or kangaroos (?). There are some nice
song and dance routines in the film and the music soundtrack is very good (Devo,
Bjork, among others). We cannot really say that "Tank Girl" pushes the gender
aristocracy line or promotes romance culture. There is just about no romance in
"Tank Girl." After her humyn boyfriend gets killed by Water and Power she seems to
only fuck people for fun, not romance. Is Tank Girl's sexuality gendered male?
Not really, though she fucks like a guy for fun and not out of a sense of
romantic commitment she also fucks kangaroos and maybe wimmin too. So Tank Girl
does not seem to advance the gender aristocracy. Further, Tank Girl's housing is
reminiscent of squats. She is clearly not petit bourgeois or labor aristocracy. 

All in all "Tank Girl" is about the best culture were going to see under
imperialism. The film deserves to be watched, and maybe some comrades would make
fan fiction of a communist and/or lesbian Tank Girl?

Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, 1995, Rated R 104 min. 

Trailers, sound bites, and still images:
http://www.mgm.com/title_clip.do?title_star=TANKGIRL
Soundtrack: Devo, Bjork, among others