On May 24, 1991, “Thelma and Louise” was released in movie theaters. The genre-busting film centers around two best friends, Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon), who set off on a road trip that turns into a high-stakes getaway drive through the American Southwest. Directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, “Thelma & Louise” earned $45 million at the box office. In addition to its commercial success, the film also earned critical acclaim, with six Academy Award nominations. Davis and Sarandon were both nominated for Best Actress and Khouri took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Twenty-seven years later, “Thelma & Louise” is still considered a landmark feminist film, certainly worth revisiting in the age of #MeToo.
Both looking for a temporary escape from their humdrum lives in Arkansas, Louise Sawyer and Thelma Dickinson set out for a girls weekend in the mountains. Louise is a ditzy housewife married to control freak Darryl, while Thelma is a tough-as-nails waitress in an on-again-off-again relationship with her musician boyfriend, Jimmy. As they head to their getaway destination, Thelma and Louise take a pit stop at a bar. Thelma flirts with a stranger, Harlan, who then attempts to rape her in the parking lot. Louise ends up shooting Thelma’s assailant and the two best friends spend the rest of the film trying to escape the authorities. By the film’s conclusion, Thelma and Louise are cornered by the police. With Louise’s 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible at the precipice of the Grand Canyon, the two fugitives decide to “keep going.”
“Thelma & Louise” is an exploration of both the power and the limitations of the female experience in the United States. Khouri’s groundbreaking screenplay puts women at the wheel of the typically male “buddy road trip” trope. Although the male characters are important (including Brad Pitt in his steamy breakthrough role as J.D., Louise’s hot one-night-stand) to the plot, the film’s main focus is the strength of female friendship. Despite the power they get from one another, Thelma and Louise still can’t fully shake the confines of society, leading to their fateful decision at the film’s conclusion.
As women around the world are saying #MeToo and #TimesUp, Sarandon and Davis were the perfect symbolic duo to appear at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards. As the crowd applauded, Davis joked, “Susan, they love that we fixed everything.” Sarandon responded, “Um, yeah, I don’t think we fixed quite everything, actually, it’s been 25 years… But, tonight, we have all of these women standing up for each other and the men, too.”