When it comes to female empowerment films, this 1991 crime drama/road adventure directed by Ridley Scott stands above the rest. The story focuses on best friends Thelma (Geena Davis) a housewife and Louise (Susan Sarandon) a waitress. After planning a weekend getaway in the mountains the two pals pack their things and take off. They stop at a country music bar where a man starts hitting on Thelma but the partying takes a dark turn when he tries to rape her in the parking lot. Luckily she’s saved by Louise who has brought a gun along. When Louise is insulted by the rapist, she shoots him in a moment of temporary insanity. We later learn this is due to her own rape years earlier. This leads them to go on the run as they try to figure out what to do next. Louise decides to take off for Mexico, but the circumstances get more desperate when their only money supply is robbed by a charming hitchhiker (Brad Pitt). What makes this movie so great is how it really takes the women from victims to anti-heroes/modern outlaws. It’s about them breaking free from their lives which have turned both into slaves and the theme of fighting back against oppression. Anyone who watches the film (male or female) can appreciate it.
Louise (Susan Sarandon) and Thelma (Geena Davis) take aim at a trucker’s rig.
