[Crazy Flower at the End]: The blooming of feminism

Karina 2021-11-14 08:01:26

Speaking of Ridley Scott's classic "Thelma & Louise" (Thelma & Louise, hereinafter referred to as "The End"), many fans may first think of using "road movies" or "feminism" This vocabulary sums it up. Indeed, as a typical Road Movies (Road Movies), this "The End" released in 1991 is undoubtedly one of the blooming strange flowers, but if we want to talk about its most unique place, "feminism" The term (Feminism) has surpassed the movie genre (Genre) itself. In this female film featuring Thelma and Louise as the heroines, we can see that all male characters appearing before and after are actually "subordinate" and also cover many sociological meanings. This is like the footnotes on each page of those obscure academic works: the existence of each character in "The Last" is a symbol of the status of women and many social phenomena at that time.

The appearance of Louise and Thelma

I remember that at the beginning of the film, when the two heroines appeared on stage, it can be said that almost every shot that flashed was trying to show the social status of women at the time: Louise was a single woman who worked as a waitress in an ordinary small restaurant. ; Thelma is an ordinary housewife. When Louise called, she was busy cleaning the table and preparing breakfast and coffee for her husband. At this time, the first major male character in the film, Darryl, appeared. As soon as he appeared, he immediately did the following to his wife Thelma: First, he was disgusted by Thelma shouting at him; second, he was simply I don't care if Thelma prepares dinner for him; third, it makes Thelma, who actively wanted to tell him about the trip, finally gave up this idea; the last one, he also showed off his profession to her, that is, the area manager. As a result, we can see that after "treating as usual" with his wife, Darryl fell on all fours while going to pick up the car. This may be a small "prank" by the director Scott deliberately against the patriarchal society.

At the same time, while the above shots are presented, we can also see several nuanced shots of Louise and Thelma. For example, Louise, who is constantly smoking in the restaurant, does not forget to tidy up the sink before leaving home. Another example is Thelma carefully took every precautionary item (including the pistol) before going out alone for the first time. These scenes showing women’s carefulness are in sharp contrast to Thelma’s husband’s previous behavior, but they are still covered by the patriarchal society; even though Thelma was very proud in the car to tell Louise that she had not told her husband about the trip, The next line still reflects the social status of women who were shackled by housework at the time—"I left him a note, and I even left him dinner in the microwave."

The dead Harlan

After Louise and Thelma arrived at a bar called "Silver Bullet" on the way, the second major male character in the film appeared. Maybe after a little attention, we will find that when Detective Hal asked the waitress of the restaurant, through the short description of the waitress, we can understand that the deceased Harlan was a man who often tried to play with women and was violent. And this It symbolizes one of the most common problems for women in the patriarchal society, namely, sexual harassment and sexual violence.

Just as Harlan tried to rape Thelma, Louise’s timely arrival stopped this behavior; just as Louise and Thelma were about to turn around and leave, Harlan’s insult (representing discrimination against women) aroused Louise’s anger, so Angrily, Louise killed Harlan with a single shot. Here, we must also explain the background of the heroine Louise: Louise had also been raped earlier, and the man who raped her was shot to death by the latter because of Louise's panic and anger. The Harlan who appeared in the film was actually the second person Louise killed. Because of this, the detective named Hal will quickly track down Louise's car from the computer records. Hal can be said to be the only man in the film who really understands Louise (here represents all women). Regarding this point, I think we will talk about it later.

JD and Jimmy

Just as Louise and Thelma escape, two male characters who are important to Louise and Thelma alternately appear. If we do a little calculation, we will see that the director and the screenwriter consciously made the two characters interlaced at the same time, and this was done three times: for the first time, Louise called his ex-boyfriend Jimmy to borrow money. , Jimmy readily agreed and informed his location, and then JD showed up; the second time, Thelma begged Louise to load the JD he met again, and then ran into Jimmy, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, at the destination Louise; the third time, While Louise and Jimmy were talking next door, JD came to Thelma's room again. At this time, we can see that Louise was arguing with Jimmy; after Thelma accepted JD's overnight request, the director Scott began to describe the "one new and the old" sex in the two rooms. Many movie fans may think that this is an attempt to express men’s satisfaction and respect for women’s sexuality. In fact, this is not the case. This is precisely a reflection of the general situation in today’s society where the sex between women and men is objectified, exploited, and even deceived. And this is exactly the "real intention" of the two individual characters, JD and Jimmy.

Through the dialogue between the characters in the film, it is not difficult to see that Jimmy is very eager to reconcile with Louise-this is actually an annotation of men's strong possession of women, and JD is also eager to meet Thelma-this is actually right A kind of deception of female sex (the purpose is Jimmy's money). Perhaps it is because Jimmy also has a serious tendency to violence, coupled with the painful experience of Louise being raped, the latter has refused to start a new life with Jimmy again, and thelma saw Louise helpless after being defrauded of money by JD. She shed tears, and she started to be smart herself. After using the method JD told her, Thelma succeeded in stealing the required amount from a convenience store at gunpoint, which was unexpected by Louise. This move by Thelma represents a catharsis of women's patriarchal oppression-women can enjoy equal wages with men. Although Thelma obtained money through illegal activities, at the same time, we also know that JD is also a thief, who makes a living by cheating and robbery. In this way, Thelma (female) behaves like JD (male). Equality now; Thelma (female) also proved to JD (male) his abilities.

Thelma's husband Darryl

As for Thelma's husband Darryl-this neurotic man who never forgot to give Thelma his anger every morning when he left-finally he shed tears and regretted it. I remember that in the middle of the film, the director and screenwriter seemed to have deliberately arranged a humorous dialogue between Darryl and Hal, in order to satirize the male oppression of women: Just when Hal asked Darryl to kindly ask Thelma about the situation, Darryl’s kind "Hello" made Thelma hang up the phone and see through the situation, leaving only Hal dumbfounded; but Hal can only tell Hal with helplessness: "I...I just give She said hello..."

Detective Hal

I still remember earlier that I mentioned that Hal is the only male character (perhaps more Louise) who truly understands and sympathizes with Louise and Thelma in the entire film. As a police detective whose duty is to investigate the truth, the symbolic meaning of Hal's existence is precisely to represent the justice and conscience of the law and judicial system as well as the society, and this is the focus of the controversy in The Last. Many commentators questioned Scott’s feminist road film because in their opinion, the law is above all else; even though Louise and Thelma were oppressed and even abused by many male characters in the film But this is not enough to constitute a legal and social pardon for his sins. At least, Louise also killed two men in a row. This seems to be mocked and dismissed by the director Scott with the seemingly beautiful "jump" at the end.

Indeed, from the perspective of performance alone, Scott may have some faults; perhaps according to the words of many male filmmakers, the behavior of Louise and Thelma in the film is indeed "crazy and inhumane", but I think This is not enough to make us obliterate its rational value in this way. What's more, those opponents also misunderstood the director's intentions for some expressions!

Let's start with Detective Hal. At the end of the film, in addition to the above-mentioned scene that left a deep impression on the audience, if we are still impressed, the scene of Detective Hal chasing in the dust alone with his back to the audience must be very touching. Just when the other policemen were ready to pull the trigger and shoot two crazy heroines, Hal's shout became the most true emotional expression in the entire "The Last" - "They have been bullied for so many years!" (How many times has she got to be fucked over!) Indeed, women's rights should be protected by the law and all sectors of society. Here, the intention of the director and screenwriter is not to try to allow the law to tolerate or even forgive the sins of Louise and Thelma (individuals), but that the whole society will eventually change its mindset and realize the good expectation of equality between men and women. , And this is also the meaning of Louise and Thelma sailing off the cliff-a beautiful vision for the future.

It can be seen that Hal is very respectful of women in the middle film; when he asked the barmaid before, he was also very attentive, even if he saw the waitress who represented women gradually being "commodified" to himself In making teasing, Hal still upholds his duties and did not accept the invitation of the former, which is also out of a kind of respect and sympathy. It can be seen that the director did not attempt to vent the lack of law and the insufficient protection of women's rights. On the contrary, he respected and followed the law itself. And this is the meaning of this movie.


Regrettably, although "The End" showed the audience the beauty of women and the desire to achieve equality, Louise and Thelma eventually left us. Looking back at the whole film, from the beginning of Thelma's attachment to Louise in every possible way to the end she offered to "Let's keep going", we can see that Thelma has finally completed a growth that belongs to her. Thelma represents the innocence, liveliness, cuteness and wisdom of women, while Louise represents the maturity, strength, independence and unyielding of women. Thanks to the mutual help, understanding and support of Louise and Thelma, director Scott and screenwriter Callie Khouri praised women, moved the audience, and at the same time made people think deeply.

All in all, "The End of the Wild Flower" is indeed a good movie that deserves its name. Perhaps, when Louise and Thelma flew down the cliff with tears of happiness in their eyes; when Hal screamed and called for them impassionedly, it would be the attention and awakening of the whole society in exchange.

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Extended Reading

Thelma & Louise quotes

  • Louise: Tell him you're having a wonderful time and you'll be home tomorrow night.

    Thelma: Will I be?

    Louise: I don't know. I won't.

  • Louise: [Thelma is about to toss an empty bottle out of the car] Thelma, don't you litter.