Thelma and Louise

 Thelma and Louise, released in 1991 is an iconic film to watch featuring Susan Sarandon as our Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma.  They are also joined by other stars including Bradd Pitt.

The premise of Thelma and Louise is, Louise wants to get away on a little trip in the hopes of making her then ‘boyfriend’ Jimmy, jealous. Jimmy is a musician therefore he is constantly on the road, whilst Louise waits around for him back at home wondering when she is going to hear from him. Thelma is Louise’s bestfriend who is in a boring marriage ruled by her husband. Together they embark on a journey which doesn’t go to plan. Louise kills the man who attempts to rape Thelma, the journey ultimately becomes them running away from the police.

Thelma and Louise is a must watch film in my eyes, I myself wonder why I have not seen this film prior to me watching  it.By this I mean on must watch movie lists and in stores. The film is almost a satire on road narratives, which usually see’s male leads crossing the American road. Woman are usually depicted as pit stops along the way, they serve the men in the restaurants and they offer comfort to them. However Thelma and Louise is showing 2 female characters as they make their journey across the American Landscape whilst the male leads are stuck in one place back at home waiting to hear from the women.

I found the film very interesting as at the start of the film Thelma is a very shy naive character, this is probably due to her having to stay within the domesticated space. Cooking and cleaning to look after her husband and having to ask for his permission to go places, whereas Louise is the strong female character who continuously offers advice to Thelma and calms her down. As the film progresses the women swap roles, Louise becomes more emotional and Thelma becomes more confident. The road reveals Thelma’s true self.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the movie for those who have not watched it but the ending itself is very ambiguous. You are left wondering if that was truly the end of the road or does their journey continue?

It’s truly refreshing to see 2 female characters become stronger as the film progresses, showing the role reversal as they are off onto their journey whilst the men and their husbands are sat at home wondering about them. You can see how Thelma and Louise learn to adapt to the road which was seen as a very masculine space however the men don’t adapt to the home, this is evident in the police and Thelma’s husband awkwardly standing around in the living room.

I would highly recommend checking out Thelma and Louise, it is one of those films you need to at least watch once during your lifetime however please note that the Attempted Rape scene is not nice viewing, obviously this is a horrific crime many woman and men face. It is hard to watch but this is what sets their journey in motion. This particular scene shows how violent the road can be.

Thank you for reading!

If you have any film suggestions for me to check out please leave me recommendations.  I love to watch ‘older’ films and I do take a Film course alongside my English unit therefore I watch a variety of films to study each week. Let me know if you also like these film reviews; I have done them slightly summarized with little points as I don’t want to spoil the whole movie for those who have yet to check it out.