Central to the debate is the question of whether the movie is the betrayal of feminism or its embodiment.  That is, does the film succeed in celebrating liberated females, or does it rather perpetuate male/female stereotypes and patterns of domination?  Interestingly, the movie’s iconic status is such that the differences continue to be argued in the wider culture.  A cartoon on a Dilbert calendar, for example, has Dogbert tweaking Tina, “What do you think of the movie, Thelma and Louise?”  Only for Tina to answer, “I know what you’re trying to say, you think all women are bad drivers.  That’s really the point of the movie, isn’t it?”  Or in Newsweek in 1998, American Greetings ran a full page ad for their cards which had the large bi-line: “This is the card THELMA got from LOUISE before they headed out on the road.”  The accompanying greeting card cover pictures a “Betty Crocker-like” woman saying, “Men are always whining about how we’re suffocating them.”  When you open the card, her comment continues: “Personally, I think if you can hear them whining, you’re not pressing hard enough on the pillow.”  The card is signed : “Men may come and go but friends are forever!  Louise”

Now ten years later, we as viewers have the chance to see Thelma and Louise once again. Is it destined to land on the same discard pile as Private Benjamin and Working Girl, movies that attempted to portray women as equal to men, but which now seem dated and sexist.  Or does this riff on a road movie transcend its original time and place, offering a fable of redemption for both women and men – an American Dream, if you like.  The new line of Thunderbirds that have come out this year might offer some clue.

essay by Rob Johnston
discussion follows screening featuring panelists Jim Friedrich, Laura Kaiser Pare, Kathleen Dowdey