Thelma and Louise is feminist, but it fails to properly portray feminism.
I do not pretend to fully understand feminism. There are warring factions within the group and tons of different opinions on it from groups outside. Blah blah blah.
I don't recall who said it, but someone in class mentioned that Thelma and Louise was only "second hand" feminism. While I can't know what this person truly meant, I interpret it the following way.
Thelma and Louise is trying to show feminism, it tries to show women taking a stand against a patriarchal culture, but it can never succeed in doing so. Not just because of its failings as a movie, but on a fundamental level, as it was partially produced and entirely directed by men. Men can be sympathetic to women and promote feminism all they want, but they can never understand what being a women is like, and could never perfectly explain the female experience. While any other attempt at portraying something people are invested in on screen could be forgiven for human mistakes, such an important issue that is so meaningful to HALF of the humans deserves at least a more accurate representation of their ideals. Especially if that representation is going to be one of if not the most popular ones in the next few decades.
So, I feel like Thelma and Louise fails at truly showing feminism. Thelma and Louise become careless and violent, making bad decision after bad decision as they supposedly become more and more independent. It is not a good sign that some people felt like it was trying to show what women are like without men, instead of what women could be like with overly patriarchal men.
However, while all that may make it a mediocre or poor example of feminism, it is still feminist. It is showing women being empowered not by their hatred of men, but by their refusal to accept oppression. And it doesn't become sexism (reverse sexism, feminazism, call it what you will), as it makes a point to show that they don't refuse to be oppressed just because they are women and they believe they are deserving or superior because of it.
No, Thelma and Louise are feminist icons because they take what they deserve as human beings. They go to far, yes, and one could argue in some Malcolm X-ian way that they had no choice, but the fact of the matter is that they were sick of being disregarded and they did something about it.
They tried and failed, just as this movie tried and failed to properly portray feminism. But it tried. And I doubt the few people who like women even less after seeing this outweigh the good this movie did by getting people taking. Second hand feminism is good enough for this male.
Overall, very interesting. I too can reason how the feminist qualities of the movie, if any, were indeed second hand; although, I reasoned (in my post) that the portrayal altogether fell short of properly representing feminism, if that were its objective to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI thought your Malcolm X reference a bit vague. Were you implying his "by any means necessary" approach? And what do you mean by, "Second hand feminism is good enough for this male"? Did you like the fact that the movie wasn't accurately or wholly feminist? -just some genuine questions that popped up in my head as I was reading.
That is what I meant by referencing Malcolm X, though rereading it now I feel like I misused his name and philosophy greatly. I mean that, even if it isn't a very good portrayal of feminism, I think it still did more good than bad for feminism. I didn't LIKE that it was inaccurate, I just felt its good qualities outweighed the bad. And considering how few movies even try, I'd say this early attempt deserves a bit of a free pass for its mistakes, though I too can't help but wish it was better.
DeleteYou brought up a really good point. For some people, Thelma and Louise could appear to be a movie of what women are like without control. The scene that comes to mind with your blog, would be the one where Thelma thinks she might be crazy and Louise says something like "you just never had the opportunity to express yourself." It just adds to the idea that women might actually be crazy and need to be controlled. Also, the scene where Thelma says shes letting her down. These are just a few moments in the film that I think unknowingly scream,"Hey, when we're not controlled by jerks, we shoot men, blow up semi's, and drive nice cars off cliffs!" For me, I know that's is not the message of the movie, but it is something to think about. Not everyone gets the same message.
ReplyDeleteI see where you are coming from but I do not think they become careless. You may see it as careless because you would not do any of the things that they chose to do however, to them they were having fun. Thelma and Louise knew that they were never going back so they chose to "live it up". It got to a point in the film where Thelma and Louise realized that they were either going to die or have to live in Mexico forever so they decided to forget about the male world and do as they please, regardless of the consequence. I think it is a form of feminism.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% that this film did a poor job of showcasing feminism to viewers. I also in my own post touched on the fact that this film was directed and produced by men, and it bears an almost heavy-handed signature of that. It is of paramount importance that people understand the difference between feminism and misandry, and this movie perpetuates the problematic idea that to overthrow a domineering and patriarchal society, women must kill and instill fear in men.
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