Representation of women in Thelma and Louise.

Analyse the representation of women in Thelma and Louise.

In 1975 Laura Mulvey introduced the ‘male gaze’ theory, in this theory she stated that in film and television women are objectified on screen as a result of men being behind the camera. The camera lingers on women’s curves or depicts them as being sexual; often the events that happen to women, the reactions are what a man would think.  In society women are stereotyped as being housewives and a less respected class than the men. Thelma and Louise was directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1991. This goes against Mulvey’s theory because Scott doesn't portray the women as fragile or sex objects instead he shows them as strong, independent women. Thelma and Louise reinforce this ideology to an extent however towards the end it contrasts it and flips the stereotype of women.

In the opening scene we see both Thelma and Louise’s current life which appears firstly as stereotypical, especially Thelma. We see Louise first; she works as a waitress in a local diner, because she is working and isn’t a stay at home housewife we know that she is independent. She first tells a group of boys not to smoke, proving that she is stern, however when we see her walk around to the back of the diner, we see her with a cigarette in hand. Ironic but also goes against the stereotype of women. This contrasts to when we see Thelma, she is in a white gown, the typical housewife, making her husband coffee, doing everything that is needed. However we discover that Thelma is passive when it comes to her husband as he is controlling, crude and manipulative – doesn't let her do anything and even tells Thelma not to yell for him.

When we see Thelma getting ready to leave for the journey she has her hair in curlers this implies that she could be old fashioned because we associate curlers with the 50’s/60’s even though this film was set in the 90’s, we also see her with all her clothes laid out across her room, most of these are dresses, skirts and frilly skirts. She has a large suitcase indicating she has a lot of clothes to take this therefore implies to the audience that she is girly. Louise on the other hand has he hair up which could imply that it’s formal but also that its quite masculine in a way as it’s all up out of the way which could look like a short hair cut compared to a girl if she had it long and flowing like Thelma. Also unlike Thelma she isn't seen in dresses, she tends to stick to dark jeans and a plain white shirt; this can be related to being masculine because men can be seen wearing the same outfit, it’s not a typical girly look. Louise goes against the stereotype because she isn't girly at all, she has a job so she isn't a housewife, she wears clothes that could be seen as unisex however Thelma is the typical stereotype, she wears the long dresses, a passive housewife and she has the long flowing hair.  

On the way out the girls pass a truck spraying water but they swerve and scream the truck presumably to avoid getting their hair wet thus a stereotypical trait as they want to stay presentable. Next we see Thelma and Louise stop in a bar for a refreshing drink. However whilst in the cowboy bar Thelma lets her hair down and she gets drunk, she begins to flirt with Harlan as he bought her a few drinks (to this response Louise blows smoke into his face to try say how she isn't interested in his offer) and so begins to dance with him however she is naive about trusting someone she hardly knows and agrees to follow him outside. Whilst Thelma is doing this Louise is in the toilet; in this scene all the women are crowded around the mirror fixing their hair or make up to check they look good again this indicates to the audience that women care about the way they look. Thelma is taken outside where she is sick, Harlan then slaps her, pushes her onto the bonnet of the car and slides his hands up her legs where Thelma is telling him to get off of her. He tries to rape her. This shows Thelma to be in a vulnerable position and she keeps trying to push him off of her, she is determined not to let him do it. Louise comes out just in time with a gun pointed at Harlan’s head, this represents power. She makes a stand for all women who have been attacked by shooting him in the chest after he makes foul remarks about the girls themselves. Louise is strong. As they flee the scene Thelma starts to panic at the fact they’ll be in trouble and she isn’t sure what to think however Louise knows what she needs to do right away, she is strong minded. Whilst parked we see Thelma with a split lip and a bloody nose however she has a hairbrush in hand sorting her hair out; this reinforces the fact that she still needs her hair to be presentable.

Through the majority of the film we see Thelma and Louise on the run, during this we see how their roles reverse. Thelma changes from being a good housewife to being more free/ wild; when she meets JD we see her let go of her old self. She becomes seductive towards JD and has sex with him. She loses the skirts and dresses for jeans and shirts; this can be seen as more masculine or represents how she has become stronger since the beginning. Louise reverses the stereotypical relationship as her boyfriend, Jimmy, is begging Louise to marry him and be with him however typically we would see the woman beg for the man to stay with her. After her steamy session with JD Thelma leaves him alone in the room with all her valuables and money to go meet Louise for breakfast, this shows even though she may have changed she is still very naive and trusting because she has only just met the boy and she trusts him with all her stuff. A bad mistake as when Louise finds out and rushes to the room she finds he stole everything they had. To this Louise shows her softer side and breaks down, she cries, she screams and is angry at Thelma, she then becomes quiet and weaker than to what she has been before. Thelma takes over Louise’s role and becomes stronger in order to support Louise, throughout the film we see Louise driving her car however now because Thelma has more power, as Louise is distraught over losing everything, we see Thelma begin to drive and come up with the next step in the plan. Using everything JD taught her on how to rob a store, she tries it herself. She uses the tactics to take all the money and some supplies from a store they pass on the road; as she runs to the car with the money she just jumps straight in, she doesn't open the door, and begins to drive off. Louise is shocked at what Thelma has done as its nothing like her personality at the start of the film as before she never even knew how to hold a gun.

A little bit later we see Thelma wearing a leather jacket/denim jacket and high waisted jeans, this tells us how she has more attitude now, more of a rough look than her girly dresses. Both she and Louise wear this. Also Thelma goes from having her hair down long and flowing to it being pinned up and messy much like Louise had it in the start of the film. As you go on you see how Thelma becomes more like Louise and how Louise becomes more like Thelma. Also when the girls get pulled over by a cop, Louise gets asked to go to talk to the officer and she isn't sure of what she is going to do although Thelma knows exactly what she wants to do about it. Again she uses the gun. She again points it to the officer and tells him to get out of the car, then she instructs Louise to shoot the police radio then get the officer into the trunk of the car; by her doing this we can see how she is more assertive and has more authority now, people listen to her.

At the end of the film we see the girls get surrounded by the police/FBI, together they make a mutual decision to carry on what they've been doing the whole time and decide not to stop having fun. Thelma describes it as the most fun she’s ever had which tells us why her role changed dramatically, because she let her hair down and was herself she wasn't being the wife her husband wanted her to be. Together they decide to drive off of the Grand Canyon to avoid spending the rest of their lives in jail. This could be seen as a brave, courageous thing to do and also that they’re strong willed and stubborn.

Overall, to start with Thelma fits the typical stereotype within society i.e. she is the typical housewife, pretty, wears gowns and skirts, hair in curlers etc. Whereas Louise goes against this i.e. she has hair tied up, high waisted jeans, shirts, jackets, smokes etc. However during the middle of the film the roles reverse, Thelma becomes the stronger character who knows what to do and Louise is the passive friend who is quiet. Then towards the end they’re both seen as strong, independent strong willed women, this goes against Mulvey’s theory as they are not depicted as sex objects and it also goes against stereotypes as they are not both passive housewives (Thelma isn't anymore).