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Thelma and Louise Study Guide

Thelma and Louise (1991)

Released by: MGM

Historical context

Thelma and Louise partakes of many cinematic narrative traditions, but always with a twist. It derives from the tradition of the “buddy film,” of which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) is a classic example, except that most buddy films feature male companions. It belongs also to the tradition of the “road picture,” except that most road pictures involve either a man alone [Vanishing Point (1971)], two men [Easy Rider (1969)], or a man and a woman [It Happened One Night (1934)], but not two women. It also belongs to the category of the extended chase [The General (1927), Convoy (1978)], but, again, this type of film typically features male characters. It also owes much to a number of earlier films about fugitive couples [You Only Live Once (1937), Gun Crazy (1949), Bonnie and Clyde (1967)], except that the fugitive couple in earlier films of this type are not same-gender couples. What we have here, then, is a film that is rooted firmly in the cinematic past while simultaneously effecting a radical break with that past.

Narrative context

Which of the male characters in this film can be regarded as stereotypes? Which are more rounded characters? Why do you think Khouri chose to portray the various male characters as she did?

Thelma and Louise is often described as a “gender role reversal” film. There is, however, another kind of role reversal going on. In what sense can Thelma and Louise be said to reverse their roles with respect to each other? Trace the progress of this reversal through the course of the film.

Most of the film plays itself out as a journey, a road trip. In what way can this be regarded as a metaphor?

What is the significance of the fact that the journey entails crossing the desert?

What is the significance of the fact that the journey ends at the Grand Canyon?

Genre context

As noted above, this film flows from a number of genre traditions. Is it therefore a revisionist genre film, or is it sui generis (unique; belonging to no category)?

Rhetorical context

Over the course of the film, Thelma and Louise become outlaws. In what ways does the film examine the concept of being an outlaw?

In what way(s) does the film portray women’s roles in society?

Is this film anti-male?

Is this a “feminist film?”

In terms of the categories described by Giannetti in Understanding Movies, would you classify the rhetoric of Thelma and Louise as “neutral,” “implicit,” or “explicit?” (see pp. 428-430)