Geena Davis. Susan Sarandon. Brad Pitt. Dancing, sex, robbery, blowing up big rig trucks with misogynistic drivers. It’s sexy, it’s the early-90s, Harvey Keitel is there to get justice — there’s literally nothing else an audience could want. In 2016,Thelma & Louisewas preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural significance (perThe Guardian).
WhenThelma & Louisewas released in 1991, it was a huge box office success, appealing to adventure enthusiasts as well as fans ofdirector Ridley Scott(Alien,Blade Runner) and actors Geena Davis (Thelma) and Susan Sarandon (Louise). Though the movie falls under several genres (action, adventure, comedy), it’s no stretch for queer audiences who are used to reading subtext in pop culture to see the non-heteronormative, ever-growing freedom these women, written by Acadamy Award-winning Callie Khouri, give to themselves and each other. From their rapidly shifting clothing styles to taking the ultimate leap together, here’s whyThelma and Louiseis a queer allegory.
Subverts Traditional Gender/Relationship Roles
Thelma and Louise decide to go on a girls' trip under the guise of simply getting away for a while, but it’s clear to audiences that Louise is trying to get her friend away from her misogynistic, demanding husband Darryl (Christopher McDonald in his breakout role), and trying to avoid her own mysterious obligations at the same time. In her first act of rebellion, Thelma decides not to tell Darryl she’s leaving, which gives her an enormous thrill (“Oho, he’s gonna sh*t.") Louise humors her friend, hugely supportive of anything that involves getting her away from a man who is a clear representation of a patriarchy that’s overbearing and cruel, but too bumbling and frankly stupid to follow through on its many threats.
By the end of the film, the two have taken out a man who represents the legitimately evil, more vile side of the patriarchy, expressed their deepest carnal desires with the gorgeous specimen that is ayoung Brad Pitteager to prove his acting chops, antagonized and robbed countless people, and evaded capture even as the police cars swarm. The queerness seeps in at every turn, from defying their predefined gender roles to exploring their sexuality in more ways than one.
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Outfits: From Costumes to clothing
When theThelma & Louiseopens, Louise is working in a restaurant wearing a classic waitress in a diner outfit, complete with a frilly apron and clip-in headpiece. Thelma is wearing a floral number that swishes around her legs as she flits around her home doing her housewifely duties. At the end of their long journey, the two have traded in their traditional dress for denim jeans and jackets, T-shirts stolen from victims of their various shenanigans (some with, admittedly, wildly unfortunate decals), and dirt streaked across their previously clean faces and through their previously perfectly coiffed hair. While their appearances get less and less flawless throughout, they get more and more beautiful, glowing from within as they swap convention for comfort, in arguably the queerest fashion they could: denim on co-opted T-shirts on bandanas on cowboy hats.
Their Relationship Is Ever-Changing
It’s clear from the first conversation that Thelma and Louise are the best of friends with a deep, abiding connection. They’re both in unfulfilling relationships with men who are mediocre at best, complete garbage at worst. As is the case in anybuddy adventure movie, audiences are treated to these characters growing closer, their bond strengthening. They come a long way from the beginning of the movie, with Louise making disparaging remarks about Thelma’s partners, and Thelma excitedly pursuing any men who aren’t her husband and give her the time of day.
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By the end, the pair has realized that they’ve been able to get through all the chaos that life his thrown at them (and, admittedly, that they’ve partially brought upon themselves) because they’ve been doing it together. Spoiler alert: at the end of the film, the two grasp hands, sharean unscripted kisson the lips, and drive straight into the Grand Canyon to escape the law on their tail. While it’s not explicitly capital-G Gay, it’s certainly blurring the lines of their relationship at the very least and introducing a romantic element that they’ve been unknowingly nurturing throughout their journey.
Since its premiere,Thelma & Louisehas been lauded for its cultural significance, depicting two women living their lives exclusively for themselves and each other — no one else. Queer audiences are more than familiar with reading between the lines to find hidden (or, in some cases, not-so-hidden) signals in pop culture. In the case ofThelma & Louise,it doesn’t take much reading to see the queerness running throughout Callie Khouri’s masterpiece.
