Thelma & Louise Review

Messages: It is important to take control of your own life and determine your own destiny (though the method Thelma and Louise choose is not recommended). At the same time, you must take responsibility for your actions. Women and girls do not have to accept being victimized, nor should they put up with tyrannical or predatory male behavior. Males should be held accountable for any misogynistic or paternalistic conduct.

Role models: Over the three-day odyssey portrayed in this film, both Thelma and Louise are transformed from easy targets of male oppression and/or neglect to mistresses of their own fate. They triumph over their victimhood and learn the value of friendship, independence and an indestructible spirit. That said, they engage in lots of illegal and other questionable behavior along the way. With one exception (a sympathetic law enforcement officer), the men are characterized as bullying, exploitive, ignorant, ruthless and/or dishonest.

Violence: A violent attempted rape sequence in which one of the two heroines is hit hard, mauled and has her clothes ripped. A fatal point blank shooting. A gun pulled on a police officer, he's forced into the trunk of his car. Lead characters blow up a tanker truck. Numerous car chases, crashes, explosions, and a dramatic suicide.

Sex: A sex scene between two consenting adults includes partial rear nudity, kissing, foreplay, and some brief glimpses of sexual activity. Other scenes contain some kissing and embracing between lovers.

Language: Continuous swearing throughout the film. Countless uses of: “f--k" (in many forms), "c--k,” "s--t," “a--hole,” "suck my d--k,” "Goddamn," “Jesus Christ" as an exclamation, “hell,” "bitches,” and more.

Consumerism: Logos for Coca Cola, Thunderbird, Texaco, Chevron, Union Oil, Ryder trucks.

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Alcoholic beverages are consumed throughout, including while operating vehicles, and to excess upon numerous occasions. Drunken behavior gets the heroines in trouble early in the film, and they continue drinking as their plight intensifies. Louise is a non-stop smoker. Other characters, including Thelma, smoke frequently as well.