Thelma And Louise, A Feminist Voice In The World Of Men

Thelma and Louise  is one of those films that stays on our retinas, offering us memorable and immortal scenes. Why do we love  Thelma and Louis  so much? Consider a moment more commercial films, more “Hollywood”, especially last century films…

How many female protagonists do we have? How many stories come to mind in which women play a key role? And above all, how many of these women are not connected to a man or a strong romantic plot?

Not many movies come to mind that would match this profile. In the midst of this world of men, dominant alpha males, and submissive women, whose plot is deeply rooted in some romantic or materialist, one film stands out:  Thelma and Louise. It sounds like a shout of war, shocking and aggravating these powerful and dominant men, shaking the manhood of the film industry.

However, this film is not the most feminist or moving film in the history of cinematography; but it is the voice of feminine freedom and equality, the first hammer to shake the foundations of the patriarchy. And the film industry, which is above all commercial, has always been part of the world of men, where women lag so far behind that still today women are under the control of a minority.

A new kind of film

Thelma and Louise,  a film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khour, tells the story of two women. The actors are Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. Living in 1991 and the North American film industry is at its peak, but films often do not feature female protagonists.

Thelma and Louise  broke this tradition, broke the rules and made us cry out loud, broke this bubble of submission and made us take the reins,  to be masters of our own decisions and destinies – or really a lady. A real women’s  road movie  that stands out from the crowd.

The main characters

Most people are familiar with this film, but if you haven’t seen it yet, we now want to mention that the following things will reveal the plot of the film.

One of the most surprising things about this film is the development of the protagonists. Both are from the southern states of the United States, a completely patriarchal world where the roles of women are at home. Their friendship acts as an engine that makes them embark on this special adventure. They’re really different, but they have a strong bond of friendship, and there are changes in their mentality and in themselves as they progress on the endless highways of the United States.

• Thelma is a 30-year-old woman, sadly tired of Darryl, the perfect macho man  who believes he can manage his wife, his clothes and money. He is the head of the house that brings economic value, while Thelman should take care of the house and serve Darryl. This is how he has always been taught, he has been led to believe that the purpose of his life is marriage, and although he is tired of Darryl, he has never set his buttons against each other.
• Louise works as a waitress and has an unstable relationship with a musician named Jimmy. Jimmy is a man who is never home and he never seems to commit. Louise is much more determined than Thelma, who in turn is more blue-eyed.

Together, Thelma and Louise decide to run away from their routines for the weekend,  they decide to rent themselves a house far from the city, and thus they break away from the world to which they have descended. Louise is much more aware of the reality around them, but Thelma is still quite submissive and innocent.

The journey suddenly takes a radical turn when they face the most cruel situation for a woman, the most bitter form of male domination: rape, something that Louis is already familiar with and that makes her act in the most unexpected way possible.

From now on, their journey will be different. Indeed, the journey that began for relaxation turns into a journey of self-awareness, as  they wage a war of women living under the pressures of the world of men. The landscapes will not be idyllic for long, and their clothes will not be “model clothes,” nor will they be “models”.

Thelma and Louise:  Encounter of the Patriarchate, Rebellion

What guarantees does a woman have if she has been raped? What awaits Thelma and Louisea, for they have killed the man in self-defense? Why live at all if you can’t live free? They know that if the police find them and they tell what has happened, no one will believe them and they would end up behind bars. Nor do they want to be victims, they want to be free, and they want to decide their future outside the patriarchal society around them.

And so these two subjugated women become fugitives, two rebels, but most of all friends. The loyalty and care between them transcends the boundaries of the big screen. Their friendship shows us a story that is different from other stories. Women are no longer competitors who compete for men. Now women are each other’s partners, the protagonists. At the same time, they are “villains,” if men had been placed in the position of protagonists. These women would have been on the long list of “evil boys”.

Tired of society, bored on the other hand, and above all, liberated,  Thelma and Louise begin a peculiar struggle against an unjust system. A system that condemns them, and if it doesn’t condemn them, it classifies them as victims, or something worse.

This is not about being a victim, this is about being in the midst of macho men’s views, and not just in the film, but also in the sense of what impact this film had on the film industry. This “no” reflects the reaction Callie Khouri got to hear over and over again (every time he tried to get his project into production).

We have all experienced the power of the patriarchy at some point, we may have been afraid to return home alone,  we may all have experienced unpleasant situations…  Thelma and Louise  tell from this woman’s perspective.

Everyone thought that after this film, things would change, that we would start to see more films where women are in a dominant position, taking on roles that were previously reserved exclusively for men; but in spite of all this public success, this change never took place.

Lasting inspiration

This car journey, persecution and, above all, an unforgettable leap into darkness, urges us to seek freedom,  to defy those in power and to decide our own future. The film industry has submitted to macho too many times, and it is dangerous that the film industry inspires us, motivates us, and all too often it tries to present reality.

Thelma and Louise  were an invitation to awaken, rebelling in a world where it seemed impossible. Friendship, disobedience, freedom, or death, these are the things  Thelma and Louise  urge. At its core is something that should never be lost.