Thelma & Louise
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Actor: Christopher McDonald, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Susan SarandonBrand: SARANDON,SUSAN/DAVI
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 130 minutes
Published: 2003-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2003-02-04
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Thelma & Louise
DVD Review: Road to Empowerment
Summary: 5 Stars
Road to EmpowermentThelma & Louise inspired a wide range of criticism after its debut in 1991.
Brenda Cooper cites numerous reviews in her article "`Chick Flicks' as Feminist Texts: The Appropriation of the Male gaze in Thelma & Louise:" Sheila Benson's review represents one side when she accuses the film of being no more than "`bloody, sadistic or explosive revenge for the evils men do,' and ask[s] her readers: `Are we so starved for "strong" women's roles that this revenge, and the pell-mell, lunatic flight that follows, fits anyone's definition of strength, or even more peculiarly, of neo-feminism?'" (par. 2). Cooper counters, "the film's alternative cinematic gazes that challenge and resist patriarchal construction [...] result [in] a subversive narrative that effectively negates complaints that Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise's (Susan Sarandon) freedom is self-destructive and that male dominance is reaffirmed in screenwriter Callie Khouri's controversial screenplay" (par. 6). Although some critics have condemned the movie for its negative portrayal of women, in truth, Thelma & Louise is the story of two women's road to empowerment.
The opposition claims that the movie portrays women negatively because Thelma and Louise do not make sound decisions. The film does not require the audience to deny its personal values, but to consider the circumstances and reasoning behind Thelma and Louise's decisions. Cindy Griffin cities that, "The film also offers a vehicle for discussion on why Thelma and Louise behave the way they do and serves as a tool for educating individuals about the obstacles and oppression women face" (par. 19). Though the plot is plausible, it puts both the characters and the audience in the middle of extraordinary circumstances and requires them to react with what they have learned from life experience. The audience and characters react with totally different intentions and capabilities.
Thelma and Louise's choices prove quite logical considering the circumstances and their life experience. Thelma is the product of her lack of experience. Her life since high school has consisted of waiting on her abusive husband, Daryl (Christopher McDonald). Her naivety and need for affection and adventure stemming from her lack of life experience and loveless marriage are evident in her behavior with Harlan (Timothy Carhart) and J.D. (Brad Pitt). She enjoys the attention she receives from both Harlan and J.D. She does not expect anything bad to come of it. Her lack of experience is also evident in her lack of self-confidence. She doesn't know what to do after the shooting. When Louise refuses to go to the police, Thelma concedes like she does every day with her husband. She does not have the confidence to insist that she is right in any relationship.
Louise is in the same situation with different past experiences to draw upon. Louise is a few years older than Thelma, independent, and self-sufficient. She is painfully aware of the world and its dangers, and she rescues Thelma before she becomes a victim. Louise reacts from fear and pain, the source of which the audience does not learn until later. Fortunately, most women do not find themselves in this situation, but it represents reality for some.
Many of the seemingly erroneous decisions Thelma and Louise make result from the circumstances in which they find themselves. Jack Boozer states that the film "highlight[s] the larger social forces that drive [its] heroes to desperate acts" (par.10).
The Texas warrant for Louise's arrest and her mistrust of the legal system prevent her from going to the police. The theft of all their money prompts Thelma to rob the store. Their previous illegal acts and mistrust of the legal system require them to do whatever is necessary to escape. They trap a police officer in his trunk when he pulls them over for speeding. They blow up the semi simply because they have had enough. They will not passively put up with any more abuse from the vulgar driver or anyone else. Their suicide extends this same procurement of power. Their current situation provides only two choices: turn themselves in to the male dominated legal system that they both mistrust or choose the alternative to "keep on goin!"
The opposition also claims that Thelma and Louise's immoral behavior should not represent contemporary women. Again, however uncommon, these life situations do exist in real life. However immoral, Thelma and Louise are not amoral. Boozer states, "Thelma and Louise are disinclined to rob banks or trains as a calculated lifestyle. They are neither accomplices to nor promoters of male violence, much less neo femmes noir who seek financial advantage from it" (par. 8). They struggle morally with their actions and question whether or not they are doing the right thing. "They constantly articulate and interrogate their impulses, repeatedly checking by phone [by calling Hal (Harvey Keitel] to clarify their status" (par. 17).
Thelma and Louise's actions throughout the movie confirm their conscience. In the beginning, the shooting obviously affects them. Louise and Thelma's shock exemplifies the physical effects of the event. Thelma nearly swerves into a semi as they pull onto the highway, and Louise has to stop by the side of the road to vomit. "Force is neither liberating nor laughable for Louise, however, who continues to be traumatized rather than inspired or transfigured after the shooting," Boozer writes. "Violence does have repercussions in this film, as much from the degrading word or sign as from the deed" (par. 25).
Later in the film, Thelma and Louise express their consideration for others as well as each other. Louise prevents Jimmy's (Michael Madsen) culpability in the shooting by refusing to tell him what happened. She later confesses to Thelma: "I think I fucked up. I think I got us in a situation where we both could get killed." Thelma assures her that they had no other choice. Louise reciprocates later when Thelma takes the blame for their situation by telling her, "If there's one thing you should now by now, this was not your fault!"
Finally, the opposition claims that Thelma and Louise's behavior fuels the stereotype that women are weak, irrational, and impulsive, and the ending renders male dominance the victor. On the contrary, Thelma and Louise may not make decisions that the audience considers correct, and their actions may be in response to the situation they find themselves in; but they make conscious choices and are not dissuaded from their chosen course. Boozer writes that the film emphasizes "their shared determination to regain control of their private destinies" (par. 14). Louise makes her decision not to go to the police and adheres to it even after Jimmy's proposal. Cooper quotes Mann, writing that Thelma not only "gain[s] sexual liberation in her relationship with J.D.; she also gains the opportunity to play out his life story, to adopt a dominant male role when she performs her gun waving bandit act which J.D. taught her" (par. 37).
The ending creates the most controversy, and critics claim that the suicide proves the failure of Thelma & Louise to convey a feminist message. Cooper writes, "Some would argue that [...] [in] the suicide ending [...] the women are `punished' for their resistance, and masculine control is reaffirmed" (par. 49). Actually, the suicide ending affirms their newfound control over their own lives. McHugh writes, "the film points [...] to male aggression, economic limitations, and the constraints of their respective feminine roles (wife and waitress) as their motivation to `keep on goin'" (par. 21). Cooper adds, "[...] Thelma and Louise's decision to die together can be read as the final stage in feminist consciousness-positive action for change-both personally and societally [sic]" (par. 49).
In conclusion, despite criticism that Thelma & Louise negatively depicts its female protagonists as either victims or criminals, the positive example of two women choosing conscious action rather than passivity is undeniable. Thelma and Louise transform completely during the film, which substantiates their strength. Cooper cites, "it is precisely this change from `dependence on men to female independence' that transforms the film's narratives into an `inner journey into feminist self-awareness,' as spectators watch Thelma and Louise become `self-reliant and heroic rather than helpless and scared'" (par. 54). Thelma and Louise realized their potential on their road to empowerment.
Works Cited
Boozer, Jack. "Seduction and Betrayal In the Heartland: Thelma and Louise."
Literature/Film Quarterly 23.3 (1995): 35 pars. Humanities Abstracts. First Search. Northern Illinois University Libraries, DeKalb, IL. 22 March 2004 <http://www.niulib.niu.edu>.
Cooper, Brenda. "`Chick Flicks' as Feminist Texts: The Appropriation of the Male Gaze
in Thelma & Louise." Women's Studies in Communication 23.3 (Fall 2000): 60 pars. Humanities Abstracts. First Search. Northern Illinois University Libraries, DeKalb, IL. 22 March 2004 <http://www.niulib.niu.edu>.
Griffin, Cindy. "Teaching rhetorical criticism with Thelma and Louise."
Communication Education 44.2 (April 1995): 31 pars. Humanities Abstracts. First Search. Northern Illinois University Libraries, DeKalb, IL. 22 March 2004 <http://www.niulib.niu.edu>.
McHugh, Kathleen. "Women in traffic: L.A. autobiography." South Atlantic Quarterly
97.2 (Spring 1998): 33 pars. Humanities Abstracts. First Search. Northern Illinois University Libraries, DeKalb, IL. 22 March 2004 <http://www.niulib.niu.edu>.
Thelma & Louise. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey
Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, Stephen Toboluwsky, Brad Pitt,
and Timothy Carhart. MGM, 1991.
Description of Thelma & Louise
Directed by action master Ridley Scott (Hannibal, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) from an Oscar(r)-winning* screenplay by Callie Khouri, Thelma & Louise is an "exhilarating" (The Washington Post), full-throttle adventure hailed as one of the best road movies of all time! Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis star as accidental outlaws on a desperate flight across the Southwest after a tragic incident at a roadside bar. With a determined detective (Harvey Keitel) on their trail, a sweet-talking hitchhiker (Brad Pitt) in their path and a string of crimes in their wake, their journey alternates between hilarious, high-speed thrill ride and empowering personal odyssey even as the law closes in. *1991: Original ScreenplayThelma & Louise is a feminist manifesto writ large on the big screen, a smart and funny gender reversal of the standard Hollywood buddy formula, a road movie extraordinaire, with characters who became instant cultural icons. No matter how you define it, Ridley Scott's 1991 box-office hit pinched a nerve and made the cover of national news magazines for tweaking gender politics like no movie before or since. Callie Khouri's screenplay overhauls the buddy formula with its story about two best friends (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) who embark on a liberating adventure that turns into an interstate police chase after a traumatic incident makes both women into fugitives; they are en route to a destiny they could never have imagined. The perfect casting of Sarandon and Davis makes Thelma & Louise a movie for the ages, and Brad Pitt became an overnight star after his appearance as the con-artist cowboy who gives Davis a memorable (but costly) night in a roadside motel. --Jeff Shannon
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