Contradicting the MAN

Jack Gustafson


Outside of the way that television and Hollywood has spoofed, and will spoof, the end of Thelma and Louise, we must understand that the film itself is still relevant, even outside of the “gender wars”. Not much has changed since the early Nineties, at least in terms of how a rape victim would be treated by the law in that similar situation; most people would say, “she was asking for it”. This is a shame, but I highly doubt that attitudes towards this will change anytime soon.
The way that the film took off after the shooting of the racist may be over-the-top, but we must not see this film as realistic, but as highly representational. What Thelma and Louise represents is an overthrow of the system of male-authority. The best example of this is when the two women put the police officer in the trunk of his own car. What makes this notable is the way the power system changes so suddenly. At first, the cop (a man) is about to thwart their attempt for freedom, but they turn the table on him. They take his gun, his belt, and his ammunition, essentially emasculating the officer, leaving him a crying mess. While the officer is crying about his wife and kids, Thelma and Louise act in an authoritarian manner. This role-reversal is still relevant today in the arts.

The film may be dated---nineties fashion and Brad Pitt being a good actor—but we mustn’t see this as an indicator for us to think that these issues have been resolved. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, we see the same issues played with in an even more representational fashion. This dystopian novel shows what happens under a purely male-driven authority system with a heavy Christian influence. Although religion does not explicitly play a huge role in Thelma and Louise, the residual effects of Christianity are given. Thelma’s relationship with her husband is evidence of this, and I am sure that her husband would not object to living in Gilead. Her husband expected her to be completely subservient to his wishes, and as much as she breaks that mold, the film says something about the consequences. Thelma and Louise rejects the traditional male society through the actions of the characters, but at the same time reaffirms the society. The ending shows that there is no hope for women like Thelma and Louise, they are destined to fail within our society’s structure.