Seeing the movie, Thelma and Louise, through the lens of issues of race and gender was very empowering. Watching Thelma develop her confidence and character as the movie progressed was entertaining and empowering. It was also great to see Louise make up her mind to stay and plan her escape.
I was kind of happy and sad about the final scene of this movie. Thelma and Louise did not want to be caught or killed by the hands of the law. It was great to see the ladies win, in a sense, when they jumped off the cliff at the end of the movie so they wouldn’t give in to the lawmen who cornered them. However, it was disappointing to learn that the way these characters won was by committing suicide. When carefully analyzed, the ending points to the limitations placed on female heroic characters and the generally accepted formula of dénouement in cinema.
It’s important for filmmakers to challenge the convention in cinema that ultimately allows the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose. This movie was loaded with resistance against the American legal system and stereotypical way of thinking. I think the ending deserved an atypical treatment by the filmmakers and writers in which the “bad guys” or girls in this case should have had one, and the “good guys” or cops should have lost.
When Thelma and Louise jumped off the cliff, the ultimate goal of defeating America’s messy system fell short. It would have been great to see the women achieve their goal by smartly making it to the border in just the right time so they don’t get caught by the police. A scene like this was found in the movie “Blue Streak,” in which the corrupt character played by Martin Lawrence finally wins against the law because he unexpectedly ends up just over the border where US law had no power to stop. prosecute him for his alleged crimes.
Another reason the nice guy convention should have been broken is to give viewers hope that Thelma and Louise’s legacy and spirit will continue. Life after the movie for the heroic female characters is totally diminished because the characters are no longer alive. Viewers cannot continue their disbelief suspended by the characters. Thus, viewers automatically know that there will be no continuation of the stories of these women. Using that convention in this case ultimately tells viewers that women being cornered and leading to legal trouble in America have two choices: turn themselves in and be prosecuted in a biased American court system, or end their lives. lives. However, by allowing a denouement in which the good girls are against the system, this movie could have sent a message to viewers that the plight of women in America is by no means limited, and that women can actually be just as powerful, if not more, than men.