Thelma & Louise (1991)

Thelma & Louise, directed by Ridley Scott, is action packed from the opening credits to the end. Immediately, Thelma and Louise’s characters draw you in with welcoming Southern drawls and a pent up energy that needs a release. You grow increasingly attached to the girls as the movie progresses. This immediate and sustained link to the two protagonists keeps the viewers invested from the first minute to the last.

Thelma and Louise seek escape in a weekend vacation only to end up on the run from the law in a snowball effect as their crimes begin to add up. The chaos begins when Louise kills a man who attempted to rape Thelma. Thinking no one would believe it was self defense, they run. Thelma and Louise become a team, closer and more fiercely loyal than when they initially left. Thelma & Louise is the ultimate tale of friendship, loyalty, and love, as the two girls don’t blame each other and stick together without fail or so much as a moments doubt. They would do anything for each other, most obviously kill to protect the each other and their honor. Thelma decides to leave her life and her controlling husband behind to run away with Louise when Louise realizes she is wanted for murder. Thelma robs a convenient store after J.D., the charming cowboy hitchhiker and Thelma’s one night stand steals Louise’s life savings, and all she has to run away with. In the very last scene of the movie, surrounded by cops, Thelma and Louise make one last stab at freedom and drive the ’66 Thuderbird into the Grand Canyon. Before Louise hit the gas pedal, Thelma said that they should “keep going.” As the car takes flight over the canyon, the girls hold hands, one last demonstration of their friendship and loyalty.

Although their decisions were not always the best the devotion they show for each other is admirable and inspiring. Throughout my life I had heard the reference of two close friends to Thelma and Louise, but I had never understood the magnitude of that bond until watching the movie for myself. Such a close tie is enviable, and even though they both lose their lives for what transpires on their “vacation,” both women agree that they wouldn’t have changed a thing. A friendship like that is the most valuable thing of all.

By Tapley