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Essay: How does the feminist film theory apply to “Thelma and Louise”? (Analyse the film critically, with elucidated examples, consistently using subject terminology correctly)
According to definition, feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”. Feminism is the concept that has often turned into social movements, and ideologies that fight for the social, political and economic rights for women and for equality among men and women. When applied to cinema, feminist film theory is a theoretical film criticism through the lens of feminism; and there are a large number of ways to approach the analysis of a film and its theoretical underpinnings through feminism.
There are several different aspects of feminist film theory such as the male gaze, the female voice, the bechdel test, technologies of gender and the monstrous female. However, I will be focusing upon the former four, and exploring in depth, the aspects of the male gaze and how Thelma and Louise redefined the concept of the female gaze. I chose this film as my case-study, due to the its very controversial connections to feminism. And I also wanted to analyse how Callie Khouri, the writer of the film subverts the conventions of the buddy-cop subgenre.
“Thelma & Louise exemplifies American feminist film theory’s attention to the critique of patriarchy; positive images of women, the role of women in production, and issues of gender and genre” (Elyce Rae Helford). Although, star Geena Davis, did admit to not liking the pressures she felt of representing all women, arguing that a film with women as the star cast, did not make the film a feminist one. Writer Callie Khouri, also stated that a feminist film is different from a film about feminism; instead, the writer counters by saying that Thelma and Louise is about “outlaws”, not “feminists”. Despite this, the film does seem to incorporate several aspects of the American Feminist film theory such as a female authorship, as it has been written through the point of view of a woman; female friendship, which is one of the strongest and most apparent themes in the film; exploration of gender and genre; and the resistance to romantic closure, seeing as both Davis and Sarandon’s characters end up cutting ties with their significant others. Additionally, the film explores the female gaze, presenting JD, played by Brad Pitt, as the objectified and sexualised duplicitous cowboy and hustler, with a honey-mouthed southern charm. His character seems to offer the audience a temporal distraction from the plot, giving the script and Thelma, the uplifting energy needs in order to provide some of the film’s most “light relief” scenes. He is also used as a symbol, much like the other men in the film, to signify and strength of bond between the two female protagonists. The men in this film are part of the side cast; this is unconventional as it is traditionally women in films of this genre that fulfill the roles of minor characters that, may help the protagonist along, but not have much significance to the audience. For example, Thelma’s husband is very controlling of her, and their relationship seems to resemble more that of a father and his daughter, than that of married couple: “He never lets me do one goddamn thing that’s any fun. All he wants me to do is hang around the house the whole time while he’s doing, God only knows, what”, even Louise asks her, “Is he your husband or your father?”. This shows the extent of Thelma’s submissive behaviour towards her husband, and others. The only way Thelma is able to go on the road trip is through leaving Daryl a note and escaping. Furthermore, Thelma’s infantile nature is emphasized further as she seems to share a mother-daughter bond with Louise, who consistently uses imperative language with Thelma, telling her to “sit down!”, “put a lid on it!”, “come on, Thelma!”. Thelma looks up to Louise like a child would, acting like their parents: “Hi, I’m Louise”. Her passive nature is prevalent throughout the film, as she becomes the passive passenger in Louise’s car during the entire road trip; and her child-like innocence and naivety is emphasized in the way she packs her bags in a haphazard manner, and trust Harlan to be just nice guy. Thelma, at the beginning of the film is very much the “ideal Woman”, according to the concept of the Technologies of Gender; she is beautiful with blonde curls, isn’t too focused on her career, but instead on her husband and domestic lifestyle, her makeup is flawless and she looks young and thin. However, as we progress through the film, we see how the men exploit her. Since she is a representation of the Woman, according to Freudian theory, which links to Psychoanalytic Feminism in cinema. This Freudian theory can also present in the relationship between Thelma and her husband Daryl, who is too childish to have children, and yet treats his wife as a child, trying to control everything about her. However, we see this film usurp the Freudian element in their relationship, when Thelma leaves him and decides to go on a road trip, that seems to end with the notion that Thelma will never look back upon her husband, now that she has truly been liberated. Progressing through her journey, literal and metaphorical, we see Thelma break out of her submissive and scared shell, when she robs a store, appearing to have transformed into a more assertive, fearless, determined and controlled version of herself, we see more of this transformation again when Thelma holds the police officer at gunpoint, no longer scared of the weapon (“Oh Louise? Will you take care of this gun? … I just don’t know how to use it. Will you take care of it?”), and again in the end, when she proposes that Louise and her drive off the cliff, so that the adventure never ends and they can “keep goin’”. Not only does her character change on the inside, but the difference is apparent in the way she dresses: wearing a pure white dress with perfect makeup, at the start of the film, which later changes into a black T-shirt with baggy jeans, and Thelma without any makeup, and with a messy bun.
The second half of the infamous duo, Louise, comes across as a foil to Thelma’s character: she is a woman who has a career, and is an assertive woman who doesn’t need permission of guidance from a man in her life. Her independence is also symbolized through her car: a 1966 convertible Thunderbird, which is significant of the “feminine imaginative investment in car culture, and in the road movie, that both the history of film production and film theory suggested women could not have” (Acher 36). By owning such a prominent and stylish car, Louise connotes her independence from a patriarchal society. The character of Louise also subverts the traditional representation of women through her need for control in her life: shown through the cleanliness and organisation in her home, even her appearance looks put together, in contrast to Thelma. However, when she learns that all the money has been stolen she breaks down in tears and loses control; and from this point onwards she becomes more submissive and passive, and now it is Thelma who is leading Louise: “Louise, shoot the radio!”. Although while she seem to portray the modern woman, Louise, has character traits that represent the gender roles of the bad woman.
The film, Thelma and Louise, aligns with a number of genres such as crime, adventure and drama, all of which are traditionally associated with men. Thelma and Louise is essentially a film approaches the theme of law and justice through a female lens. The audience is left to question, “how guilty is Louise?”. Despite punishing a rapist by shooting him in the heart, Louise is still a criminal by the legal system that sees Harlan’s murder as more punishable than Thelma’s attempted rape. And while the duo seems to be running from the law, they are also running away from the patriarchal, legal justice system, which they know won’t protect them: “they would’ve made it out like I wanted it”. While there are elements of comedy and romance in the film, it is not a rom-com. It is instead, a film about intense friendships, tragic endings, and liberation; the liberation of two women from a patriarchal society, who both take authority and control of their lives and their freedom, away from the oppressive male figures in their lives.
Another convention of the feminist film theory this film adheres to is the Bechdel test, which it seems to pass with flying colours. The bechdel test is a way of "a way of evaluating whether or not a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women [with character names], these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man." The test is now used as a measurement of how fairly women are represented in the media. In Thelma and Louise, the story fulfils the the Bechdel test as it showcases a strong representation of female friendship, which has a powerful connection to feminism and the feminist theory. An example of this is the conversation between the Louise and Thelma, wherein they a lot about how their lives have changed. [CLIP] They also have several other conversations involving men, but their conversations don’t revolve around men, instead they focus on their own lives, which just happen to have men in them. [CLIP]
This film establishes a feminist narrative structure as the frame story of Thelma and Louise introduces a narrative in which both women shapes their own lives. This is another convention of the buddy cop subgenre this film subverts quite effectively is Todorov’s narrative structure. Although, the film does seem to adhere to the structure upto a certain point, as we see the attempted rape of Thelma and the shooting of Harlan disrupt the equilibrium in Thelma and Louise’s lives, followed by them recognizing the problem, and trying to repair it by escaping to Mexico, before it’s too late. However, at this point the plot takes a turn and subverts Todorov’s theory, by creating other disruptions, showcasing Thelma and Louise’s futile attempts at restoring a new equilibrium. And the ending certainly adds to the subversion as there is no repair of the disruption, instead both protagonists take their lives into their own two hands and decide to keep their freedom by driving off the cliff, so there is no restoration or return to a new equilibrium. Hence, not only does this film subvert the narrative by not following Todorov’s traditional structure, but it also features two female protagonists at the centre of the entire plot. As is illustrated by the title of the film, “Thelma and Louise”. Most films with pairs of names such as “Romeo and Juliet”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, Lady and The Tramp”, suggest a romance of some sort; or they imply an adventurous duo, such as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “Batman and Robin”, “Bill and Ted”, etc. Most buddy cop films also tend to have a two word title with 5 or less syllables: “Lethal Weapon”, “Central intelligence” and “Cop Out”. Hence, this film gives a nod to all those films about outlaws, weather they be a heterosexual couple in love in Venice, or a powerful multi-billionaire who fights crime at night with his infamous sidekick. Thelma and Louise is a story about two outlaws, and they just happen to be women; and since films of this genre are often associated with men, it raises enigma codes among the audience and builds tension throughout the film, which keeps us engaged.
In conclusion I’d like to address the infamous ending showcasing Thelma and Louise driving off a cliff has been a topic of controversy and speculation for much time. Writer Callie Khouri even felt so strongly about the ending that she had Ridley Scott sign a contract stating that the ending of would not change during the making of the film. For Khouri, it was important to see the car freeze in mid-air, adding emphasis to Thelma’s dialogue, “let’s keep goin’”. The audience never sees the duo stop, even though tragedy is implied since it would be very unlikely for Thelma and Louise to have survived the fall. However, this also leaves the audience with a final focus on the life of these women and not their deaths; they are frozen in time, forever embedded into the minds of the viewer timelessly representing a new wave of feminism embedded in mainstream cinema.
According to definition, feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”. Feminism is the concept that has often turned into social movements, and ideologies that fight for the social, political and economic rights for women and for equality among men and women. When applied to cinema, feminist film theory is a theoretical film criticism through the lens of feminism; and there are a large number of ways to approach the analysis of a film and its theoretical underpinnings through feminism.
There are several different aspects of feminist film theory such as the male gaze, the female voice, the bechdel test, technologies of gender and the monstrous female. However, I will be focusing upon the former four, and exploring in depth, the aspects of the male gaze and how Thelma and Louise redefined the concept of the female gaze. I chose this film as my case-study, due to the its very controversial connections to feminism. And I also wanted to analyse how Callie Khouri, the writer of the film subverts the conventions of the buddy-cop subgenre.
“Thelma & Louise exemplifies American feminist film theory’s attention to the critique of patriarchy; positive images of women, the role of women in production, and issues of gender and genre” (Elyce Rae Helford). Although, star Geena Davis, did admit to not liking the pressures she felt of representing all women, arguing that a film with women as the star cast, did not make the film a feminist one. Writer Callie Khouri, also stated that a feminist film is different from a film about feminism; instead, the writer counters by saying that Thelma and Louise is about “outlaws”, not “feminists”. Despite this, the film does seem to incorporate several aspects of the American Feminist film theory such as a female authorship, as it has been written through the point of view of a woman; female friendship, which is one of the strongest and most apparent themes in the film; exploration of gender and genre; and the resistance to romantic closure, seeing as both Davis and Sarandon’s characters end up cutting ties with their significant others. Additionally, the film explores the female gaze, presenting JD, played by Brad Pitt, as the objectified and sexualised duplicitous cowboy and hustler, with a honey-mouthed southern charm. His character seems to offer the audience a temporal distraction from the plot, giving the script and Thelma, the uplifting energy needs in order to provide some of the film’s most “light relief” scenes. He is also used as a symbol, much like the other men in the film, to signify and strength of bond between the two female protagonists. The men in this film are part of the side cast; this is unconventional as it is traditionally women in films of this genre that fulfill the roles of minor characters that, may help the protagonist along, but not have much significance to the audience. For example, Thelma’s husband is very controlling of her, and their relationship seems to resemble more that of a father and his daughter, than that of married couple: “He never lets me do one goddamn thing that’s any fun. All he wants me to do is hang around the house the whole time while he’s doing, God only knows, what”, even Louise asks her, “Is he your husband or your father?”. This shows the extent of Thelma’s submissive behaviour towards her husband, and others. The only way Thelma is able to go on the road trip is through leaving Daryl a note and escaping. Furthermore, Thelma’s infantile nature is emphasized further as she seems to share a mother-daughter bond with Louise, who consistently uses imperative language with Thelma, telling her to “sit down!”, “put a lid on it!”, “come on, Thelma!”. Thelma looks up to Louise like a child would, acting like their parents: “Hi, I’m Louise”. Her passive nature is prevalent throughout the film, as she becomes the passive passenger in Louise’s car during the entire road trip; and her child-like innocence and naivety is emphasized in the way she packs her bags in a haphazard manner, and trust Harlan to be just nice guy. Thelma, at the beginning of the film is very much the “ideal Woman”, according to the concept of the Technologies of Gender; she is beautiful with blonde curls, isn’t too focused on her career, but instead on her husband and domestic lifestyle, her makeup is flawless and she looks young and thin. However, as we progress through the film, we see how the men exploit her. Since she is a representation of the Woman, according to Freudian theory, which links to Psychoanalytic Feminism in cinema. This Freudian theory can also present in the relationship between Thelma and her husband Daryl, who is too childish to have children, and yet treats his wife as a child, trying to control everything about her. However, we see this film usurp the Freudian element in their relationship, when Thelma leaves him and decides to go on a road trip, that seems to end with the notion that Thelma will never look back upon her husband, now that she has truly been liberated. Progressing through her journey, literal and metaphorical, we see Thelma break out of her submissive and scared shell, when she robs a store, appearing to have transformed into a more assertive, fearless, determined and controlled version of herself, we see more of this transformation again when Thelma holds the police officer at gunpoint, no longer scared of the weapon (“Oh Louise? Will you take care of this gun? … I just don’t know how to use it. Will you take care of it?”), and again in the end, when she proposes that Louise and her drive off the cliff, so that the adventure never ends and they can “keep goin’”. Not only does her character change on the inside, but the difference is apparent in the way she dresses: wearing a pure white dress with perfect makeup, at the start of the film, which later changes into a black T-shirt with baggy jeans, and Thelma without any makeup, and with a messy bun.
The second half of the infamous duo, Louise, comes across as a foil to Thelma’s character: she is a woman who has a career, and is an assertive woman who doesn’t need permission of guidance from a man in her life. Her independence is also symbolized through her car: a 1966 convertible Thunderbird, which is significant of the “feminine imaginative investment in car culture, and in the road movie, that both the history of film production and film theory suggested women could not have” (Acher 36). By owning such a prominent and stylish car, Louise connotes her independence from a patriarchal society. The character of Louise also subverts the traditional representation of women through her need for control in her life: shown through the cleanliness and organisation in her home, even her appearance looks put together, in contrast to Thelma. However, when she learns that all the money has been stolen she breaks down in tears and loses control; and from this point onwards she becomes more submissive and passive, and now it is Thelma who is leading Louise: “Louise, shoot the radio!”. Although while she seem to portray the modern woman, Louise, has character traits that represent the gender roles of the bad woman.
The film, Thelma and Louise, aligns with a number of genres such as crime, adventure and drama, all of which are traditionally associated with men. Thelma and Louise is essentially a film approaches the theme of law and justice through a female lens. The audience is left to question, “how guilty is Louise?”. Despite punishing a rapist by shooting him in the heart, Louise is still a criminal by the legal system that sees Harlan’s murder as more punishable than Thelma’s attempted rape. And while the duo seems to be running from the law, they are also running away from the patriarchal, legal justice system, which they know won’t protect them: “they would’ve made it out like I wanted it”. While there are elements of comedy and romance in the film, it is not a rom-com. It is instead, a film about intense friendships, tragic endings, and liberation; the liberation of two women from a patriarchal society, who both take authority and control of their lives and their freedom, away from the oppressive male figures in their lives.
Another convention of the feminist film theory this film adheres to is the Bechdel test, which it seems to pass with flying colours. The bechdel test is a way of "a way of evaluating whether or not a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women [with character names], these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man." The test is now used as a measurement of how fairly women are represented in the media. In Thelma and Louise, the story fulfils the the Bechdel test as it showcases a strong representation of female friendship, which has a powerful connection to feminism and the feminist theory. An example of this is the conversation between the Louise and Thelma, wherein they a lot about how their lives have changed. [CLIP] They also have several other conversations involving men, but their conversations don’t revolve around men, instead they focus on their own lives, which just happen to have men in them. [CLIP]
This film establishes a feminist narrative structure as the frame story of Thelma and Louise introduces a narrative in which both women shapes their own lives. This is another convention of the buddy cop subgenre this film subverts quite effectively is Todorov’s narrative structure. Although, the film does seem to adhere to the structure upto a certain point, as we see the attempted rape of Thelma and the shooting of Harlan disrupt the equilibrium in Thelma and Louise’s lives, followed by them recognizing the problem, and trying to repair it by escaping to Mexico, before it’s too late. However, at this point the plot takes a turn and subverts Todorov’s theory, by creating other disruptions, showcasing Thelma and Louise’s futile attempts at restoring a new equilibrium. And the ending certainly adds to the subversion as there is no repair of the disruption, instead both protagonists take their lives into their own two hands and decide to keep their freedom by driving off the cliff, so there is no restoration or return to a new equilibrium. Hence, not only does this film subvert the narrative by not following Todorov’s traditional structure, but it also features two female protagonists at the centre of the entire plot. As is illustrated by the title of the film, “Thelma and Louise”. Most films with pairs of names such as “Romeo and Juliet”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, Lady and The Tramp”, suggest a romance of some sort; or they imply an adventurous duo, such as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “Batman and Robin”, “Bill and Ted”, etc. Most buddy cop films also tend to have a two word title with 5 or less syllables: “Lethal Weapon”, “Central intelligence” and “Cop Out”. Hence, this film gives a nod to all those films about outlaws, weather they be a heterosexual couple in love in Venice, or a powerful multi-billionaire who fights crime at night with his infamous sidekick. Thelma and Louise is a story about two outlaws, and they just happen to be women; and since films of this genre are often associated with men, it raises enigma codes among the audience and builds tension throughout the film, which keeps us engaged.
In conclusion I’d like to address the infamous ending showcasing Thelma and Louise driving off a cliff has been a topic of controversy and speculation for much time. Writer Callie Khouri even felt so strongly about the ending that she had Ridley Scott sign a contract stating that the ending of would not change during the making of the film. For Khouri, it was important to see the car freeze in mid-air, adding emphasis to Thelma’s dialogue, “let’s keep goin’”. The audience never sees the duo stop, even though tragedy is implied since it would be very unlikely for Thelma and Louise to have survived the fall. However, this also leaves the audience with a final focus on the life of these women and not their deaths; they are frozen in time, forever embedded into the minds of the viewer timelessly representing a new wave of feminism embedded in mainstream cinema.