Thelma & Louise/Steel Magnolias

The film Thelma and Louise is meant to convey many messages to audience. Besides feminism and friendship (which will be dealt with later), the film also shows the “efforts of the two central

Another message that the film conveys is the power of a deadly weapon, whether or not the possessor intends to use it. This is not only the power that it gives one person over another, but also the power that it has in changing the mentality of the possessor. It is unlikely that Louise would have been so rash in confronting Harlan, the rapist, had she not had a gun in her hands. Most likely, she would not have reacted so violently to the “Suck my cock” comment if the confrontation were a bare-fisted fight. Possessing the gun gave Louise power over the scum. Thelma would not have robbed the store without a weapon, nor would she have confronted the police officer. The women would probably not have flagged the truck driver over had they not had the guns to protect themselves from him. This theme in the movie successfully communicates to the audience that power changes a person’s mentality and behavior.

In both films, the women have to make decisions that may jeopardize their lives and rely on the support from their friends to help them through the time of trial. In Steel Magnolias, Shelby is a young diabetic who longs for a child but the decision to have a baby may cost her life (Columbia Tristar, 1989). Going against her mother’s advice, she proceeds to bear and raise a son. This leads to a serious problem with Shelby’s kidney and she needs a transplant. While this surgery is simple enough for Shelby, it is extremely difficult, painful, and risky for the donor. M’Lynn quickly volunteers to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter, acting as the nurturing and self-sacrificing woman that she is (Rolling Stone, 1989). Louise, too, risks her life to save Thelma’s. When Thelma is being attacked by Harlan in the parking lot of a “roadside honky tonk” (MGM, 1991), Louise pulls a gun but, not knowing whether or not it is loaded or whether or not she has it in her to pull the trigger, she may also be attacked.

In Steel Magnolias, the men play similar roles, very minor parts. M’Lynn’s husband and Shelby’s father acts as an antagonist to Ouiser and sticks to the “guy aspect” of planning the wedding, which includes shooting into the trees to rid the yard of birds (Columbia Tristar, 1989). Shelby’s husband seems to be present for the sake of a warm body. His only significant scene is when he brings Shelby to the hospital after she has an attack (Ebert, 1989). Truvy’s husband is in a constant state of depression, which seems to be the complete opposite of her sunny outlook on life. The men in this movie are, for the most part, all “absent, depressed, or dead, leaving the tightly knit group of women…time to bond with one another” (Ebert, 1989).

Steel Magnolias is very typical in the female behavior. “This is a woman’s picture…the women in it cook and sew and mend and drive each other around town. They fight and make up and hug each other and cry. The get their hair done. And when tragedy strikes and there is a death in their little group, they have the strength to grieve and the character to smile through the tears” (Ebert, 1989). This is a perfect example of feminism being a woman completely comfortable with herself and not apologizing for the way she lives her life (Humm, 1997). The women in this movie spend more than their fair share of time gossiping, as every good Southern woman should do. Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s immortal line, “If you have something bad to say about somebody…sit down right here beside me!” is used perfectly in the movie (Ebert, 1989). Thelma and Louise includes anything but typical female behavior. The two friends experience an attempted rape, a shooting, and a murder, a one night stand, two robberies, disrespecting authority (the policeman), a huge explosion, and their adventurous deaths over a cliff. Despite all of this, Thelma and Louise remain polite througho

Some topics in this essay:
Thelma Louise, Steel Magnolias, Columbia Tristar, Thelma’s Thelma, Random House, Shirley MacLaine, Rolling Stone, Clairee Ouiser, Texas Thelma, Beauty Parlor, thelma louise, steel magnolias, rolling stone, ebert 1989, sturken 2000, rolling stone 1991, stone 1991, humm 1997, tristar 1989, columbia tristar, imdb 1991, columbia tristar 1989, ability live independently, treatment ability live, equal treatment ability,