\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.tcocdn.com\/tco\/images\/Tank-Girl.jpg\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
AI<\/span> over\u00adlords, envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal dead\u00adlock, obscene wealth inequal\u00adi\u00adty, and emer\u00adgent author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan\u00adism \u2013 it all reads like the open\u00ading crawl of some cult-clas\u00adsic dystopi\u00adan flick, but unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly for us, it\u2019s just the state of things in 2025<\/span>. Dystopia looms. How is one to man\u00adage?\u00a0One sug\u00adges\u00adtion: Fight fic\u00adtion with fic\u00adtion and cope like a\u00a0main character.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For inspi\u00adra\u00adtion, look no fur\u00adther than the petu\u00adlant, per\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtive, and per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly horny pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist of\u00a0Rachel Talalay\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Tank Girl<\/i> (1995<\/span>). Sure,\u00a0<\/span>Tank Girl\u00a0<\/i>is raunchy and ridicu\u00adlous (and that\u2019s what makes it won\u00adder\u00adful) but look clos\u00ader. Beneath the absur\u00addi\u00adty lies a\u00a0play\u00adbook for protest and defi\u00adance that (also unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly for us) feels dis\u00adcon\u00adcert\u00ading\u00adly rel\u00ade\u00advant. Although every third coun\u00adtry or so seems to be mak\u00ading a\u00a0hard turn right, there\u2019s still time to course cor\u00adrect \u2013 time to push back against the fledg\u00adling dystopias.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And\u00a0<\/span>Tank Girl\u00a0<\/i>tells us\u00a0how.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s 2033<\/span>. Eleven years pre\u00advi\u00adous, a\u00a0comet crashed into Earth and destroyed the cli\u00admate. The result\u00ading drought led to the cre\u00adation of Water &<\/span>\u00a0Pow\u00ader (W&<\/span>P), a\u00a0cor\u00adrupt cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtion led by the com\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly depraved Kesslee, who \u200b\u201c<\/span>control[s] most of the water and got all the\u00a0power.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Enter Tank Girl, played by Lori Pet\u00adty: A\u00a0water-steal\u00ading, tank-obsessed waste\u00adlander liv\u00ading it up in the desert until a\u00a0W&<\/span>P raid destroys her hap\u00adpy-go-lucky life and launch\u00ades her into a\u00a0kink-cod\u00aded bid for revenge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s be clear: There are a\u00a0lot of dif\u00adfer\u00adences between a\u00a0bad dom with a\u00a0poor grasp of kink essen\u00adtials and an author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan r\u00e9gime like W&<\/span>P (and its non-fic\u00adtion\u00adal equiv\u00ada\u00adlents) \u2026but there are also quite a\u00a0few similarities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In her dal\u00adliances with W&<\/span>P, Tank Girl illus\u00adtrates an ethos most in the kink com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty will rec\u00adog\u00adnize. Con\u00adtrol is achieved con\u00adsen\u00adsu\u00adal\u00adly, or not at all. It exists only when giv\u00aden, and can be revoked at any time. In this equa\u00adtion, sub\u00admis\u00adsion is an informed, freely-made choice, and defi\u00adance is always an option. For Tank Girl, defi\u00adance is just a\u00a0way of life \u2013 she\u2019s a\u00a0quin\u00adtes\u00adsen\u00adtial brat and rec\u00adog\u00adnizes pow\u00ader strug\u00adgles for the poor\u00adly dis\u00adguised game that they\u00a0are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n These moments of defi\u00adance often hinge on Tank Girl\u2019s under\u00adstand\u00ading that her appear\u00adance and man\u00adner\u00adisms cre\u00adate a\u00a0set of assump\u00adtions about her strength and intel\u00adli\u00adgence. She uses these assump\u00adtions as ammu\u00adni\u00adtion, trans\u00adform\u00ading them into a\u00a0weapon rather than a\u00a0tool of her own subjugation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dur\u00ading the W&<\/span>P raid, for instance, Tank Girl unknow\u00ading\u00adly per\u00adforms a\u00a0strip tease for a\u00a0W&<\/span>P guard she incor\u00adrect\u00adly assumed to be her boyfriend. As the bar\u00adrel of a\u00a0gun intrudes upon the scene, the dynam\u00adic changes: The guard nods for her to con\u00adtin\u00adue, and she does, lean\u00ading into his (false) assump\u00adtion that she is a\u00a0sex\u00adu\u00adal, sub\u00admis\u00adsive crea\u00adture for the taking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That assump\u00adtion is his undo\u00ading. She knows the role expect\u00aded of her and plays it well. The illu\u00adsion of con\u00adtrol lasts until the very moment she decides to revoke it \u2013 the very moment the guard meets his fate at the end of his own grenades. The strip show turns into a\u00a0mur\u00adder scene. Con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal pow\u00ader dynam\u00adics turn on their head. And Tank Girl emerges on\u00a0top.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether fac\u00ading impris\u00adon\u00adment in a\u00a0claus\u00adtro\u00adpho\u00adbia-induc\u00ading tor\u00adture device apt\u00adly named \u200b\u201c<\/span>The Pipe\u201d or shiv\u00ader\u00ading after a\u00a0night spent in a\u00a0freez\u00ader, Tank Girl defies fear. She elects not to give her cap\u00adtors the response they expect. In doing so, she dis\u00adarms\u00a0them.<\/span><\/p>\n This phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy is implic\u00adit through\u00adout the film, but is at its most overt while Tank Girl is impris\u00adoned in a\u00a0W&<\/span>P labor camp. There, she meets Jet Girl (Nao\u00admi Watts), a\u00a0beat\u00aden-down pris\u00adon\u00ader. After Tank Girl saves her from yet an obsessed prison guard who doesn\u2019t know how to take \u200b\u201c<\/span>no\u201d for an answer, Jet Girl explains her ethos for sur\u00adviv\u00ading under W&<\/span>P\u2019s thumb:\u00a0\u200b\u201c<\/span>The bet\u00adter you behave, the more they leave you\u00a0alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yet audi\u00adences of 1995<\/span>, 2025<\/span>, and 2033<\/span> all know this to be patent\u00adly untrue. In restric\u00adtive envi\u00adron\u00adments such as these, no one is safe, no mat\u00adter how meek\u00adly they sub\u00admit to the shack\u00adles.\u00a0Tank Girl knows it\u00a0too.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nGet more Lit\u00adtle White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n