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Thelma destroys Louise's life and chance at true happiness

posted 9 years ago by MrAleisterCrowley
23 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen this film in years, and I happened to see it again the other evening as my wife started watching it (I am not trying to assert my manliness -- I simply would not have watched it of my own accord). I remember how this film was discussed in popular and academic culture and praised for being a feminist film, a feminist take on the road story, a feminist "revenge tale," etc. As I am an academic myself I remember that this film was often discussed at conferences and seemed to be considered a defiant response to "the patriarchy." As it has been many years since I last watched this film, I noticed details that I don't think I noticed when I saw the film initially. The idea that the film is a straightforward feminist tale seems, well, too simple.

Thelma may be Louise's best friend but for all the talk about evil men in the film, Thelma is the single most destructive force in Lousie's life. Basically Thelma's actions cause every negative incident in the film, which leads to the dire situation at the end of the film, when Louise feels that she has no way out except for a suicide drive off a cliff. Here are the problems that Thelma (who for most of the film behaves like a reckless child) causes:

1. Thelma is running very late when Louise arrives to pick her up; this forces the women to leave later than Louise expected. If they had left on time they would have driven straight through to the cabin.

2. Thelma brings the loaded gun, and instead of dealing with the gun herself, she asks Louise to take care of it. Of course this puts Louise in the role of rescuer later. Thelma should have held on to the gun herself and protected herself.

3. Thelma asks to stop at the trucker/cowboy dance spot, and then she makes a series of bad decisions despite repeated warnings from Louise. Thelma's idiotic and dangerous behavior (trusting the obviously creepy, aggressive cowboy when Louise has already asked her to stop dancing and drinking so they can leave) puts Louise in the worst position of all. Louise of course pulls the trigger of her own accord, after the women are out of danger, so Louise makes serious mistakes herself.

4. Thelma allows the money to be stolen. Louise is more desperate than Thelma, and she works at a waitressing job to support herself. The five thousand dollars means everything to her but not that much to Thelma. Her behavior is again reckless and cavalier. Thelma allows Brad Pitt to destroy Louise's plans by stupidly leaving the money with the admitted thief Pitt, and she also tells Pitt where they are going so Louise feels that she no longer has any options. And of course Louise has already told Thelma repeatedly that Pitt is bad news.

[–] gsc1828 8 years ago

I disagree. It was because of Thelma's actions that they got into trouble, but merely out of chance. When someone is robbed during the night would you say it's their fault for going out at night? The action of going out itself is not means for getting robbed. I can't believe you would blame Thelma for being late, would you also blame Louise for going to bar A instead of bar B, where none of this would take place?

None of Thelma's actions warrants the events that followed. Woman are frequently seen to be at fault for wanting to have fun, so of course you would say she was stupid for being open, sweet and for wanting to have a good time. You cannot predict if someone is a rapist or not, her behaviour wasn't necessarily dangerous, it is commonplace to go out at night and dance with strangers.

But, even with your analysis, the film is still a feminist film. Why would you not think so? Because Thelma was sheltered? I'm pretty sure Louise knew that.

[–] Synthia7 8 years ago

Well, I do think Thelma and Louise remains an anti-patriarchy feminist tale.
Thelma is not deliberately or consciously evil or destructive to Louise like the film suggests some men are to women.

Thelma, IMO, represents the lack of development and worldliness that happens when a woman is oppressed and her growth is stunted. She is naive, impressionable, gullible, and dumb in many many ways that become a liability.

But Louise is the older, wiser woman who is dedicated to teaching Thelma and helping her grow, and that's definitely a feminist message in that relationship.. the growth and evolution of Thelma. The film may even suggest that Louise used to be like Thelma and had to learn to act on her instincts and bravado after the defining Texas incident of her past.

So, I don't think the writers were trying to suggest Thelma was a negative force in Louise's life but an unevolved woman who needed a mentor and to develop her personal power. And that is what happens.

[–] mizzdimplzz 8 years ago

This is exactly Thelma's role in this movie and what she represents..It's very poetic...how funny is it that the OP couldn't help but to find a way to blame everything on one of the female leads

[–] TheFabulousThomasJ 8 years ago

You raised some very good points save for one, MrAleisterCrowley: if I were Louise I would not have left the $6,700 with Thelma.

 No freaking way!!!

 Thelma couldn't be trusted at that point to me; I would have taken that money with me.

 That's a major plothole for me, as it turns out.



What once were vices are now habits. 

[–] vestdennis 8 years ago

The OP is 100% dead on. I felt sorry for Louise becausr Thelma's repeated moronic decisions cost them in more ways than cash. But it's only a movie. Even though it might be considered a "feminist" movie I always enjoy it. And while I disagree with Susan Sarandon's politics she is one sexy momma!

[–] paramitch 7 years ago

Your post is really interesting, but at its heart, it blames Thelma for things outside of her control. Most especially, the inciting incident -- her attempted rape. Nothing can ever make that okay and it's not fair to blame Thelma for what happens.

Thelma does NOTHING to deserve what kicks off the story -- she has some drinks and dances with a guy. That's it. So the victim-blaming of your original post troubles me because Thelma does absolutely nothing to deserve rape or attempted rape, and that is the point of the film.

Thelma & Louise isn't about being a woman, so much as what it feels like to be a woman in a tough world. To be abused, ogled, harassed, beaten, etc.

Thelma isn't bright, and yes, the part about Louise's money will always bug me (because it's illogical and a plot contrivance for Louise to hand HER OWN MONEY to Thelma saying "Now you guard this money."

However, ultimately, I think your post doesn't give enough credit to Thelma as an abused wife. The whole point of the film is Thelma's coming of age. She starts the film as a childish woman who looks to her abusive husband like a strict father, and to Louise as a mother figure.

By the end, Thelma & Louise are equals. Thelma is no longer childish, but strong and formidable and has come into herself. She has even become a real support to Louise.

I think it's a truly great film, myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

[–] JaysonT 7 years ago

Thelma made a lot of unwise decisions, but so did Louise. The biggest being that she killed the would-be rapist, which set the ball rolling for the rest of the film. Louise could have walked away and ignored Harlin's remarks, but rage took over. Thelma was a victim at this point. A woman who had been with her husband since high school, and had never been on a trip before. The fact that her first glimpse with another man turned into evilness unlike she had ever experienced would truly stir a lot up in anyone.

Louise also is the one who decides to pick up JD (Pitt). Sure, Thelma pleads. But Louise is the owner of the car. She took JD to Oklahoma City, and therefore he was there to get to Thelma's hotel room.

Louise also decided to leave the money with Thelma. It was HER money. If you know your friend is a little flakey, would you leave your $6500 life-savings with them? That was Louise's decision. Because she, like Thelma, got a little distracted when men were around. In this case, Louise had to deal with Jimmy. So her mind wasn't really there. And Thelma was lusting after JD- and trust me, ANYONE would be a little distracted with a shirtless Brad Pitt in their bedroom.

Louise keeps calling the police, and knows the phones are tapped. The only reason they get tracked down in the first place is because the Louise character (for whatever reason) feels she needs to check in with the detectives, only to NOT comply when they ask her what happened. This was probably the strangest part of the script to me. In Louise's last conversation with Harvey Keitel, Thelma is the one who puts an end to the phone call. Because she knows it's time they hit the road.

And lastly, it is Louise who decides to drive off the cliff. She's in the driver's seat- so SHE makes the decision of whether they should give up. Was it a dumb decision? Many would call what these women did to be noble. They had nowhere to go and Thelma poetically suggests they keep "going". Something the earlier Thelma would have been too scared to tackle.

The great thing about the script is that it shows two flawed women who are still strong, courageous adults who help each other out the best they can in the situation they find themselves in. Thelma was a little reckless to rob the store, but she knew Louise needed the money. That's a true Ride-or-Die buddy. Thelma also rescues Louise from the cop who is about to take her in. No it wasn't the wisest move, but at that point who cares? They were fugitives.

[–] liscarkat (16621) 5 years ago

These "strong, courageous adults" are stupid criminals. Good riddance, but some poor suckers had to clean up the mess at the bottom of the canyon.

[–] laurieann74 (97) 4 years ago

I couldn't stand Thelma. She reminds me of a cousin of mine: a utter moron. Louise wasn't much better. She let Thelma talk her into stopping at that dance hall. She also didn't call the police when it happened. That was idiotic in/of itself.

[–] BigMom (1944) 4 years ago

I want to know your cousin if she is like Thelma she is awesome

[–] Sonicmozart (4) 4 years ago

You are right... but wrong at the same time. The movie very clearly shows you how it is Thelma's fault on the surface, but in the end these actions leading to horrible conclussions because of men. It's a story not meant to be taken literally.

I don't intend to write an essay here, but Louise was very much on board from the very beginning because the only escape from her life was Thelma. You see her putting her boyfriend's photo down at the begining. She was not happy. Whatever happened in Texas (I assume was her father or grandfather raping her) was horrible enough to mark her for life. Again, she was on board the whole thing from the begining, she needed to be liberated.

[–] Ace_Spade (9370) 4 months ago

I disagree.

1. If they were on time, I think Louise would have been more likely to stop, not less.

2. Bringing the gun was unwise, except for the fact that they needed it. Thelma wouldn't have been able to pull the gun without the jerkoff at the truck stop taking it off of her. It was actually lucky that Louise had it.

3. Thelma was unwise at the truck stop, but make no mistake: it's 100% Wayland's fault. He's the one who attempts to rape Thelma. It's his crime. He does the time.

4. Okay, yes, this was a series of dumb moves by Louise. Although, as far as the money goes, I think she basically just was euphoric and forgot it was even there, at least on a practical level. Still dumb.

Of course, a lot of what happens to these women happens before the movie even starts. Thelma would be more worldly, savvy, and careful if she hadn't been cowed into her submissive role by her domineering husband. His clear emotional abuse has left her without ability, and spurs her to make bad decisions. She's been stifled her whole life, so she acts out and snaps like a rubber band. Louise had an extremely bad experience in Texas. She's got a lot of pent-up anger that she lets out later on at the truck stop.

Basically, these two got walked on their whole lives, caught very few breaks, and finally just realised that if civilization wasn't going to look after them, they'd flip it off and do whatever the heck they wanted to. I think Harvey Keitel's character realised this, at least on a gut level, and knew that they weren't really evil people at their core levels. That doesn't mean it's okay to commit crimes, but it does mean that I'm not going to out-and-out blame Thelma.

Least of all for what happened at the truck stop.