Devin Guinnip March 20,2014
First Draft: Research Paper
In the film Thelma and Louise, the scene in which Thelma is almost raped is important because it reveals the mindset of society at that time. The scene leading up to Thelma’s almost rape is just as important as the almost rape. Thelma and Louise stop at a bar on their way to the mountains for their girl’s weekend. At the bar a local man named Harlan hits on the two women especially Thelma, and Louise just seems annoyed with him. He buys the women a round of drinks and as Thelma becomes intoxicated she begins to flirt and dance closely with Harlan. After some time Thelma begins to feel sick and hot, so Harlan takes her out into the parking lot for some fresh air. While in the parking lot Harlan forces himself upon Thelma but she refuses him and slaps him across the face. Harlan retaliates and hits her back and, then rips off her pants and attempts to rape her until Louise comes out. Harlan lets Thelma go after Louise pulls a gun on him, but he says “Bitch. I should have gone ahead and fucked her” which causes Louise to ask him to repeat himself. He then says, “I said suck my cock” and Louise pulls the trigger and shots him dead. This scene serves as the motivation for the future events of the rest of the film.
The dialogue after the attempted rape between Thelma and Louise shows the views of many people in the 1990-1980s on rape, which they women were at fault. After the two women flee the scene of the crime they discuss why they cannot go to the police:
THELMA. Shouldn’t we go to the cops? I mean, I think we should tell the police.
LOUISE. (snapping) Tell them what!? What, Thelma? What do you think we should tell them?
THELMA. I don’t know. We just tell ...
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...fute known assumptions about rape but this idea has persisted because it is easier to blame to victim. This can also been seen in anther statement made in the article “ the legal system has historically treated claims of rape with skepticism” (Flowe et al. 160). Women were supposedly known for claiming false accusations of rape and were; therefore, viewed as “promiscuous” and “inconsistent” (Flowe et al. 172). This deterred women from reporting their rape; also another deterrent was the process that they had to go to. Women had to publicly repeat intimate details of their story and sexual history to multiple people, undergo interrogations and be poked and prodded by doctors looking for evidence to support their claims. The system was not geared towards victims, but to protect perpetrators from false accusations.
As a result of the Women’s movement
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Louise is said to "not hear the story as many women have heard the same." Rather, she accepts it and goes to her room to be alone. Now the reader starts to see the world through Louise's eyes, a world full of new and pure life.
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As the term “rape culture” grows in popularity, it is imperative to break it down to understand what it actually means. According to a report by the Marshall University Women’s Center, “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture”. Rape culture is supplemented by the objectification of women’s bodies, glamorization of sexual violence, as well as many other saddening realities in society. A sad outcome of rape culture in todays society is that women are often seen as the one at fault in rape. Commonly excuses are immediately made for them men, such as blaming the girl for being too intoxicated, blaming the girl for the way she was dressed, or even blaming the girl for speaking out about it at all. A perfect example of rape culture in the media took place in Steubenville, Ohio. A 16-year-old girl, incapacitated by alcohol, was gang raped by two high school football players who then shared photos of the assault on their social networking sites and with their friends. Immediately, mainstream news and media began to blame the victim saying she should not have chosen to get so intoxicated in the first place. The two boys were given the minimum allowed sentence of 1 and 2 years. This court case caused an uproar and a
Thelma is in a semi-abusive relationship with her husband and Louise is working a dead-end job waiting tables. Both women are a bit older than the traditional ranges for a coming of age story. Perhaps it is for this reason that story has a less than optimistic ending. However, despite the unorthodox ending, the overall feeling of the film is upbeat. After they escape their boring lives for the open road and share in their fair share of adventures and failures, the two characters seem to be completely changed from the people shown in the dreary beginning. Their story seems to portray that road trips are not just for young adolescence and perhaps even young men, but that the American road trip and the experience that goes along with it is something that can be shared across the gender and age
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Now the audience start to realized that, she was acting like that for her, not only because Thelma is her best friend but because she was also a victim of that issue. For many years she had kept silence. There was a social and judicial stigma associated with the view of rape in the movie in the late 80’s. As seen in the movie, the authorities didn’t associate the crimes committed against these women as rape. The policemen was dismissed the situation as a formality in a higher type of criminal
Also, the film revealed women empowerment and how superior they can be compared to men. While demonstrating sexual objectification, empowerment, there was also sexual exploitation of the women, shown through the film. Throughout this essay, gender based issues that were associated with the film character will be demonstrated while connecting to the real world and popular culture.
At the beginning of the story, Josephine, Louise’s sister, attempts to break the news of her husband’s death to her “as gently as possible” so as to not cause heart failure (477). The main concern is that Louise will be so devastated over the loss of her husband, that it will cause a premature death, but a factor that many overlook or don’t expect is Louise’s sudden change of heart and her realization of all the freedom she will gain after Brently’s death.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “women secretly enjoy rape,” from a historical perspective, can lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Much stems back to the idea that women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men a...
She is marginalize from society by her partner and she has to live in the shadows of him. She is unbelievably happy when she found out about the death of her husband. She expresses her feelings of freedom in her room where she realize she will live by herself. This illustrates that Louise has been living in an inner-deep life disconnected form the outside world where only on her room away from family and friends she discovers her feelings. It is important to mention that even though Louise has a sister, she does not feel the trust to communicate her sentiments towards her. We discover a marginalization from family members and more surprising from a women, Louise’s sister. The narrator strictly described Louise’s outside world but vividly reveals what is in her mind. At the same time she feels guilty of her emotional state by recognizing that she loved Brently mallard sometimes, her husband. Louise contradict herself but this demonstrates her emotional feelings about her husband disregarding her marriage. The situation of this woman represents the unhappiness and disgraceful life that women had to suffer from their