Finishing the
film, Thelma & Louise, my main
reaction to the film is just WOW! The ending was beautiful and emotional, and
the build-up to their choice to be free together, to the still of their car
floating and the happy expressions on their faces still makes me tremble. There’s a lot of heavy content to the story of
how they became fugitives, but it’s well balanced with appropriately timed dark
humor, silly humor, and vulgar humor.
Music in the
opening credits was a beautiful piece that made the pan of the black and white,
turned color, open road a significant hint and symbol of what’s to come, the
first of many natural scenery shots to offer a breather and open eye from the
chaos of Thelma and Louise’s actions in rebelling against society’s
expectations and escaping the mundane, settled life. The world is filled with rules that seemed
black and white, but as the introduction shows—there are also blues, reds,
oranges, and so on, but finding out how to gain this perspective and assurance
is a process, which requires defying the odds.
As the frame of the open road came onto the screen, light embellishes the
scene to offer hope for whatever lies ahead in combination of the long road,
open sky, and surrounding desert.
Another scene
where music is significant is where Thelma and Louise are on the run from the
cops with the ballad of “Lucy Jordan” playing. The tune contributed to forming expectations,
anxiety, and overall build- up to the climax of their ultimatum in the end. The song’s story also relates to the film, as
Lucy Jordan was an older woman who had lost dreams through a settled domestic
life, but in the end, she lives her dream by going to Paris, finally living her
life the way she had always wanted.
Much of the film
involves driving on desert highways, with various tracking shots within or
outside of the car. The IMDB website
mentions there were a total of five 1966 Thunderbird convertibles used
throughout the film. Louise’s green
T-bird goes through quite a bit of rough driving that provides an imitation
Western theme (instead of horses), so two stunt cars were required, as well as
the main car, camera car, and a back-up.
It looks like the camera car was driving alongside the T-bird in some
scenes, behind the car, and in the T-bird with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis
during their conversations on the road.
The two women also showed similarities to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid’s dynamics of friendship, teamwork, and goals on their journey and crimes—both
pairs were buddies and outlaws, and neither pair would abandon their partners
when the going got tough. Each pair had
a dream to escape their current location in hopes of something better—Thelma and
Louise wanted Mexico, while Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid wanted Bolivia. Both pairs also took a leap of faith when they
were cornered, although the results for each leap differ.
This movie made
bold statements about gender, and I cannot fully understand why it was
criticized as male-bashing. Leading men
in the film featured redeeming qualities—they just weren’t the focus or essence
of the movie, which probably left people unsettled because it was uncommon to
have a movie with leading women whose lives didn’t revolve around men. The police inspector, Hal Slocumb, Louise’s significant
other Jimmy, and Thelma’s young lover J.D. were prime examples that had confident,
caring, compassionate, concerned, and protective male characteristics. Although they were opposite examples of the
others to appear, their kindness had a stronger presence among the overwhelming
numbers, especially when Inspector Hal chases Thelma and Louise’s car to in
attempt to stop the women from driving off into the Grand Canyon, and prevent
the cops from shooting at them. If this
movie is considered male-bashing for the appearances of a tyrant husband, an
almost rapist (if not one already), manner-less truck driver, and careless
cops, then the reality and viewpoints of real women in a world that actually
includes those types of people is shamefully missed. Although the messages are controversial, they
are also powerful for addressing views of the Women’s Movement in the early
1990s—a conversation was sparked that hasn’t been fully rekindled since.
Another well done
aspect of the film is the visual context.
From the very beginning, the images provide information of how Thelma
and Louise are opposite in personality and outlooks. Thelma packs her suitcase in a frilly,
feminine bedroom, and she iss aloof as to what to bring on a weekend trip to a
Mountain. In the parallel editing, we
then observe Louise in a matching, clean, proper, room with a neatly packed
suitcase holding the necessities.
Neither woman receives much attention from the man in their life, restricted
to their domestic roles and constant waiting for something better except for
this one weekend.
Many takes
included both Thelma and Louise in the same shot, very close to one another to
signify their closeness. Acting by all
characters was individually developed through conversations and costuming
depicting the growth of each character.
In the beginning, Thelma was a quiet housewife, who wore a simple, white
dress out in her innocent desire to find fun.
After the crime nearly done against her and the murder that saved her
from the sexual assault furthering, her hair got less fussy, her clothes
changed to jeans and a belly-revealing top, then leather or jean jackets and
vests, with sunglasses and boots to give her a harder look. Thelma became stronger in her abilities to
defend herself, her best friend, and survive in the world while freeing the
crazy, fun-loving woman she was inside—allowing her to officially begin her
life even if it meant unethically to the dismay of her oppressive husband, some
convenience store shoppers in Oklahoma, and a pitiful cop.
Louise begins as an
organized, well-aware, independent and strong friend. Her hair is tightly bound up, she wears
make-up, and her outfits are plainer—more conservative. Slowly after saving Thelma from getting raped
and murdering the man responsible for ill-chosen words that struck a nerve of
her past, she gains the ability to express the pain and anger she had bottled
away for the crime against her. Louise
even gains the ability to trust Thelma and Jimmy to take care of her in the
most desperate of situations. At the
movie’s end, her hair is down, she has no make-up or jewelry to restrict society’s
standards of beauty, and she even goes sleeveless in a looser fitting top,
succumbing to the desert heat. Her
transformation from an uptight, organized, untrusting, fearful, regretful
nature to a free woman who felt loved, broke the rules (and law), and became
ultimately more spontaneous is revealed through these visuals.
Thelma & Louise is a very empowering
film for women, embodying the adversity of sexism at their extremes, yet relaying
the message of how love and life are best when you’re wide awake, aware, and
don’t waste a minute on regret from pressuring problems of society that drive
people to desperate measures.
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