For my Media Communication in Society class, we were assigned a Media Literacy Reflection Paper in which we were to choose a media text and analyze it using the three media literacy skills - analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. We were then supposed to talk about potential effects and influences of our media text on individuals and society.
Introduction
Over the years, there has been much discussion regarding the portrayal of women in film. Feminist film theory argues that women are seen through a male-dominated gaze that objectifies them and ultimately affects the way women are seen and treated in society. In the 1991 film Thelma & Louise, however, director Ridley Scott plays with these traditional representations of women by turning the gaze of the camera into one that is female-dominated, thus allowing for the viewer to see women and men through a different lens and, through this, promoting the empowerment of women. In this paper, I will explore how Thelma & Louise relates to the three media literacy skills – analysis, interpretation, and evaluation – and also discuss the effects that women’s representation in film has on our society
PART 1: Media Literacy Skills
Analysis
There is much to say about the way women are presented in Thelma & Louise. The film starts with the two lead characters – Thelma, a housewife whose husband is verbally abusive, thus rendering her submissive in their relationship; and Louise, a waitress whose attitude is far more advantageous – leaving for what they plan to be a fun weekend vacation. But after Thelma has a traumatizing encounter with a sexual predator at a bar, resulting in Louise shooting and killing the man, the two become outlaws on the run.
The first thing to point out is that throughout the film, the story’s other characters are constantly underestimating Thelma and Louise and implying that they could not possibly be behind, for example, something like a murder, due to the fact that they are women. Later on in the film, when it becomes clear that they are guilty, the other characters’ reactions turn from denial to a state of mild shock as they realize that women are in fact behind these criminal acts. An example of this is when a waitress at the bar where the murder took place is being questioned by a cop. She says that there is no way Thelma and Louise could have killed the man because “Neither of those two was the murderin’ type” (Thelma & Louise, 1991). Another example is when Louise’s boyfriend Jimmy accuses Louise of cheating on him when she refuses to tell him what is going on. Instead of assuming that it is something more serious, the first thing that jumps to his mind is that his girlfriend has not been faithful. He does say, “What, did you kill someone?” (Thelma & Louise, 1991), but his tone indicates that he is merely listing off a worst-case scenario and does not actually think that Louise could have done something so extreme. These examples show that Thelma and Louise are greatly underestimated because of their sex.
Another point to make is that all of the male characters in Thelma & Louise are portrayed in a negative light. There is Daryl, Thelma’s husband, who is verbally and emotionally abusive towards his wife; the sexual predator from the bar; J.D., a young, attractive outlaw that Thelma gets physically intimate with right before he steals all of their money; Jimmy, who is one of the more morally sound men in the film but who still acts in a way that shows his ignorance regarding his girlfriend’s capabilities; and lastly the cops (of course all male), who are in pursuit of the two women outlaws. None of these men are portrayed in a very positive way, which furthers the point that the film is making a statement about how men and women are traditionally viewed in film. What Thelma & Louise does is switch the gaze of the camera from a male-dominated one to one that shows women as the dominant sex. It twists the perspective by showing – in a way that is heavily dramatized to ensure that the message is fully realized – the men as incapable and dumb, and the women as strong, independent, and – most of all – free from the constraints that society has placed upon them.
Interpretation
So how do we go about interpreting all of this? As I mentioned before, the film seems to be reversing the traditional portrayals of the sexes that we are used to seeing in Hollywood films. Instead of the male characters being the ones to move the story forward, we see two women taking over and making the story their own. The last scene of the film ties this idea together perfectly – with the cops surrounding their car on one side and the abyss of the Grand Canyon on the other, the two women decide that they are not going to turn themselves in, and instead choose to drive off the cliff into the unknown. The scene ends with a shot of the car frozen in mid-air, as the two women finally reach freedom from the male hegemony that the men in this film are meant to represent. This is one of the most powerful and meaningful shots of the film, as it ties together nicely the ideas of escape and freedom from a male-dominant society.
Evaluation
Lastly, we must look at what this film is evoking and make a judgment call: Is the film’s message good, bad, or somewhere in between? In the case of Thelma & Louise, I would argue that this portrayal of women is incredibly empowering; but more importantly, I think that the way it portrays the different sexes calls out generalizations made about men and women – not just in film, but in our society as well – and allows for the viewer to be exposed to this sexism and see that there are other ways of doing things, and other ways to depict the different sexes – particularly women – so that they are seen as equal and capable of the same accomplishments.
PART 2: Media Influences/Effects
Now that we have talked about how Thelma & Louise ties in with the three media literacy skills, we can discuss the influences and effects that it has had on our society in comparison to the messages that traditional Hollywood films send when it comes to representation of the sexes. In Laura Mulvey’s famous essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), which has come to be known as a foundation for feminist film theory, the author introduces the idea of the “male gaze” – the tendency of the camera to project a male perspective as a result of the male hegemony in Hollywood – and uses psychoanalysis to explain how the objectification of women on screen negatively affects its viewers. She argues that seeing women as objects on screen results in women being treated as objects in real life, and instead of viewing women as people, society sees them as things to be looked at – things that are expected to be visually pleasing. She also talks about how “pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly” (p. 62). She goes on to talk about how “the split between spectacle and narrative supports the man’s role as the active one of forwarding the story, making things happen” (p. 63).
Going from there, we can see that Thelma & Louise challenges these ideas. In a journal article entitled “‘Chick Flicks’ as Feminist Texts: The Appropriation of the Male Gaze in Thelma & Louise” (2000), Brenda Cooper, an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication and Director of Women’s Studies at Utah State University, analyzes the film as a feminist text and makes several arguments about the influences it has had on our society. She uses quotes from film scholar Patricia Mellencamp, saying, “[She] was not surprised that Thelma & Louise ‘struck a social chord,’ explaining that depicting women ‘[e]scaping the trap of “happily ever after” and all that “once upon a time”’ frees women spectators from the ‘expectations and limitations’ of the fairy tale women are ‘taught to make of our lives…’” (p. 278). She later references Lisa Hogeland, an Assistant Professor of English and Women’s Studies at the University of Cincinnati, saying, “…[she] argued that the film’s appeal for women resides in its similarity to the consciousness-raising narratives evident in women’s novels during the 1970s, which strived to ‘name the unnameable’ and contained the ‘political burden of speaking the realities of women’s lives’, particularly in terms of women’s resentment over the inequities inherent in a patriarchal society” (p. 279).
From all of this, it seems safe to assume that the entire point of Thelma & Louise is to challenge the idea of the male gaze by creating an equally-as-warped “female gaze,” and through the use of this gaze, call attention to the problematic representation of women in mainstream media.
References
Cooper, B. (2000). "Chick Flicks" as Feminist Texts: The Appropriation of the Male Gaze in Thelma & Louise. 23(3), 277-306. Retrieved December 8, 2014, from Academic Search Complete.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 6-18.
Scott, R. (Director). Thelma & Louise [Motion picture]. (1991). United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Introduction
Over the years, there has been much discussion regarding the portrayal of women in film. Feminist film theory argues that women are seen through a male-dominated gaze that objectifies them and ultimately affects the way women are seen and treated in society. In the 1991 film Thelma & Louise, however, director Ridley Scott plays with these traditional representations of women by turning the gaze of the camera into one that is female-dominated, thus allowing for the viewer to see women and men through a different lens and, through this, promoting the empowerment of women. In this paper, I will explore how Thelma & Louise relates to the three media literacy skills – analysis, interpretation, and evaluation – and also discuss the effects that women’s representation in film has on our society
PART 1: Media Literacy Skills
Analysis
There is much to say about the way women are presented in Thelma & Louise. The film starts with the two lead characters – Thelma, a housewife whose husband is verbally abusive, thus rendering her submissive in their relationship; and Louise, a waitress whose attitude is far more advantageous – leaving for what they plan to be a fun weekend vacation. But after Thelma has a traumatizing encounter with a sexual predator at a bar, resulting in Louise shooting and killing the man, the two become outlaws on the run.
The first thing to point out is that throughout the film, the story’s other characters are constantly underestimating Thelma and Louise and implying that they could not possibly be behind, for example, something like a murder, due to the fact that they are women. Later on in the film, when it becomes clear that they are guilty, the other characters’ reactions turn from denial to a state of mild shock as they realize that women are in fact behind these criminal acts. An example of this is when a waitress at the bar where the murder took place is being questioned by a cop. She says that there is no way Thelma and Louise could have killed the man because “Neither of those two was the murderin’ type” (Thelma & Louise, 1991). Another example is when Louise’s boyfriend Jimmy accuses Louise of cheating on him when she refuses to tell him what is going on. Instead of assuming that it is something more serious, the first thing that jumps to his mind is that his girlfriend has not been faithful. He does say, “What, did you kill someone?” (Thelma & Louise, 1991), but his tone indicates that he is merely listing off a worst-case scenario and does not actually think that Louise could have done something so extreme. These examples show that Thelma and Louise are greatly underestimated because of their sex.
Another point to make is that all of the male characters in Thelma & Louise are portrayed in a negative light. There is Daryl, Thelma’s husband, who is verbally and emotionally abusive towards his wife; the sexual predator from the bar; J.D., a young, attractive outlaw that Thelma gets physically intimate with right before he steals all of their money; Jimmy, who is one of the more morally sound men in the film but who still acts in a way that shows his ignorance regarding his girlfriend’s capabilities; and lastly the cops (of course all male), who are in pursuit of the two women outlaws. None of these men are portrayed in a very positive way, which furthers the point that the film is making a statement about how men and women are traditionally viewed in film. What Thelma & Louise does is switch the gaze of the camera from a male-dominated one to one that shows women as the dominant sex. It twists the perspective by showing – in a way that is heavily dramatized to ensure that the message is fully realized – the men as incapable and dumb, and the women as strong, independent, and – most of all – free from the constraints that society has placed upon them.
Interpretation
So how do we go about interpreting all of this? As I mentioned before, the film seems to be reversing the traditional portrayals of the sexes that we are used to seeing in Hollywood films. Instead of the male characters being the ones to move the story forward, we see two women taking over and making the story their own. The last scene of the film ties this idea together perfectly – with the cops surrounding their car on one side and the abyss of the Grand Canyon on the other, the two women decide that they are not going to turn themselves in, and instead choose to drive off the cliff into the unknown. The scene ends with a shot of the car frozen in mid-air, as the two women finally reach freedom from the male hegemony that the men in this film are meant to represent. This is one of the most powerful and meaningful shots of the film, as it ties together nicely the ideas of escape and freedom from a male-dominant society.
Evaluation
Lastly, we must look at what this film is evoking and make a judgment call: Is the film’s message good, bad, or somewhere in between? In the case of Thelma & Louise, I would argue that this portrayal of women is incredibly empowering; but more importantly, I think that the way it portrays the different sexes calls out generalizations made about men and women – not just in film, but in our society as well – and allows for the viewer to be exposed to this sexism and see that there are other ways of doing things, and other ways to depict the different sexes – particularly women – so that they are seen as equal and capable of the same accomplishments.
PART 2: Media Influences/Effects
Now that we have talked about how Thelma & Louise ties in with the three media literacy skills, we can discuss the influences and effects that it has had on our society in comparison to the messages that traditional Hollywood films send when it comes to representation of the sexes. In Laura Mulvey’s famous essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), which has come to be known as a foundation for feminist film theory, the author introduces the idea of the “male gaze” – the tendency of the camera to project a male perspective as a result of the male hegemony in Hollywood – and uses psychoanalysis to explain how the objectification of women on screen negatively affects its viewers. She argues that seeing women as objects on screen results in women being treated as objects in real life, and instead of viewing women as people, society sees them as things to be looked at – things that are expected to be visually pleasing. She also talks about how “pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly” (p. 62). She goes on to talk about how “the split between spectacle and narrative supports the man’s role as the active one of forwarding the story, making things happen” (p. 63).
Going from there, we can see that Thelma & Louise challenges these ideas. In a journal article entitled “‘Chick Flicks’ as Feminist Texts: The Appropriation of the Male Gaze in Thelma & Louise” (2000), Brenda Cooper, an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication and Director of Women’s Studies at Utah State University, analyzes the film as a feminist text and makes several arguments about the influences it has had on our society. She uses quotes from film scholar Patricia Mellencamp, saying, “[She] was not surprised that Thelma & Louise ‘struck a social chord,’ explaining that depicting women ‘[e]scaping the trap of “happily ever after” and all that “once upon a time”’ frees women spectators from the ‘expectations and limitations’ of the fairy tale women are ‘taught to make of our lives…’” (p. 278). She later references Lisa Hogeland, an Assistant Professor of English and Women’s Studies at the University of Cincinnati, saying, “…[she] argued that the film’s appeal for women resides in its similarity to the consciousness-raising narratives evident in women’s novels during the 1970s, which strived to ‘name the unnameable’ and contained the ‘political burden of speaking the realities of women’s lives’, particularly in terms of women’s resentment over the inequities inherent in a patriarchal society” (p. 279).
From all of this, it seems safe to assume that the entire point of Thelma & Louise is to challenge the idea of the male gaze by creating an equally-as-warped “female gaze,” and through the use of this gaze, call attention to the problematic representation of women in mainstream media.
References
Cooper, B. (2000). "Chick Flicks" as Feminist Texts: The Appropriation of the Male Gaze in Thelma & Louise. 23(3), 277-306. Retrieved December 8, 2014, from Academic Search Complete.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 6-18.
Scott, R. (Director). Thelma & Louise [Motion picture]. (1991). United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.