Thelma and Louise DRAFT 1

THELMA AND LOUISE

Directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1996.

"Somebody said get a life... so they did."

COMPANY CREDITS

Production Companies:

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Pathe Entertainment
• Percy Main
• Star Partners III Ltd.

Distributors:

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  
• National Broadcasting company (NBC)
• Alamode Film
• Chapel Distribution
• 2oth Century Fox Entertainment

USER COMMENT

"For many years now, women have taken power into their own hands. So I am sure the women that campaigned for freedom and liberty, would have loved the movie, 'Thelma and Louise'. The tradition of the American road trip is shown in such a refreshing way in this movie, with its two lead characters people who are fed up with life, and no longer take any crap from the men that they live with or that they meet. Thelma and Louise is a film that will make you feel warm, but also leave a some what 'bitter-sweet' taste in your mouth."

NOTES AND ANALYSIS

Even before the film has started the DVD selection list has already given us a cultural signifier of the landscape, showing a dry desert- country and western style.

The film begins and we first meet Louise. She is a smart waitress, with immaculate hair and the fashionable garish make-up. It is not until we see Thelma we can make a judgement however. Thelma seems very different. She is in a dressing gown, on the phone with Louise showing she may have just got up whilst Louise is already at work. Thelma rushes around the kitchen, showing a lack of disorganisation and chaos, as her boyfriend/husband walks in. At this point the audience can guess that Thelma is a 'house-wife' whom relies on her husband, whereas Louise is more independent and feminist, making money for herself. Not only this but it is clear that her husband does not treat her well. He shows a dominance and control which is both unfair and frustrating for the woman involved. The man wears many, (we presume fake) gold bracelets chains and rings. This certainly suggests that he only cares about the image people perceive him as, he wants to appear wealthy, and whether he is or not does not matter- from the state of the home we can tell that he most probably isn't. Because he is so demanding, aggressive and with signs of cheating the audience may assume that he uses Thelma as another piece of jewelry, to have something pretty on his arm, whereas Thelma tries desperately to please him, thus showing he naivety and how easily led she is. 

(We skip forward further into the film.)

We are introduced to a dark, shadowy car park. This is certainly a generic location for a thriller, and this could possibly be one of the most prominent moments in the film that has a large sum of aspects of the genre. Thelma finds herself up against a car, alongside a slimy man. He becomes indecently forceful with the extremely intoxicated Thelma. We soon realise what is about to happen as he rips up her skirt and is about to rape her. Louise is then on the scene, with gun in hand. She stands, fuming yet completely still. Here, Scott has represented the mid-western male as misogynists, especially in this scene, using rape as an example. It enhances the ideology that women's rule is to serve and gratify men. The man has not yet clicked that Louise is a dangerous woman, and begins to swear and become angry- this is generally how he would treat women, and shows an ignorance, and arrogance. As he becomes more violent Louise shoots him down against the car. The chiaroscuro lighting highlights the sudden and shocking death, and of course Louise's emotions. The audience see she is stunned by her actions, and can see some remorse in her eyes, however the audience can understand why she has done it. In Thelma's drunken state she begins to scream and panic, representing the stereotype of how women are depicted in most films. Here we see the another strong comparison between the two women, especially with the use of costume; Thelma is dressed in revealing and feminine clothing, whereas Louise is in a tightly buttoned shirt and is almost masculine. This suggests that to have power you must be masculine, so it has not particularly challenged the stereotype of women at all.

(skip further into the film)

As they make a swift getaway there car finds themselves coming out of a junction. They are caught between two massive industrial trucks, and their car looks inferior and vulnerable compared to these. The audience can see that this is a representation the police, and that there mistakes will close in on them, but more generally the effect of males in the situation. The massive trucks show a dominance, and as they squeeze the car in they would feel claustrophobic- a generic convention of the thriller genre. To add to the thriller aspects the road is damp, dark and foggy. The headlights pixelate and break at certain points, mirroring their new broken lives. 

"We don't live in that kind of world Thelma!"

This quotation from Louise shows another contrast between the two friends. It is obvious that Louise knows the world that they live in, where men have the power, whereas Thelma lives in a dreamier world, where she is not yet aware of the real world, perhaps caused by her lack of profession and independence.