Thelma And Louise Feminism Analysis

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Thelma & Louise’s wide appeal among women spectators is due to the use of the female gaze. The female gaze is presented from a female perspective and reflects female attitudes. It is often used because of the creators gender or because it is aimed at a female audience. The female gaze uses mockery as a device to illustrate the sexism of the male gaze. Stereotyping, depicting men as spectacles, and celebrating female friendships are the ways that Thelma & Louise utilizes mockery. This mockery opens the audience’s eyes to the idea of feminism. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon play Thelma and Louise, two working-class friends who together have planned a weekend getaway from the men in their lives. Though the road trip starts out as a good time, the pair eventually finds themselves at a bar. After a tipsy Thelma ends up in the parking lot of the bar with a would-be rapist that Louise shoots, the two decide that they have no choice but to go on the run. The pair is pursued by a police officer sympathetic toward their plight. He chases them to the Grand Canyon, where the women make a fateful decision about their lives. Thelma & Louise resists patriarchal construction by representing the female gaze and because of this representation the film is often viewed as anti-male. Thelma & Louise goes against mainstream …show more content…

Thelma and Darryl do not have any children because “he says he’s not ready yet. He says he’s still too much of a kid himself. He kinda prides himself on being infantile” (Thelma and Louise). Thelma explains that Louise and Darryl do not get along and this is because of the way he treats Thelma. Louise knows that “he’s a pig” (Thelma and Louise). Viewers see in the first scene that Thelma has to ask permission to go on a trip with Louise. Because she is frightened of his reaction, she can not ask. Later on in the movie, when Thelma calls Darryl, he continues to patronize her over the

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