From your post and from the replies, I see the film has a dual message: it appeals to environmentalists because it critiques what led to the wasteland and places the bad guys as the big oil car drivers, it also appeals to self-reliant ultraneoliberals because it indulges the fantasy you talk about of fighting for resources on car chases, a hierarchy of violence and owning people like cattle...idk.

I mean, the Matrix is supposed to be a 'trans metaphor' (edit: not my words, it was the Wachowskis who said it :/, I don't see it) https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53692435, but probably a lot of conservatives and conspiracy nuts adopted the whole red pill metaphor as a symbol of liberation from whatever.

Rocky I is also good at this dual message, it has rugged individualism, but it also does some social critique and takes the view of the underdog, who suceeds against all odds.

Good films hit all the right buttons and end up pleasing greeks and trojans, that's why they're good I guess...but I don't like and have never finished watching the last Mad Max or any of the previous films...so what do I know 🙃