Thelma and Louise gender representation

It is "the first movie I've ever seen which told the downright truth," says Mary Lucey, a lesbian activist in Los Angeles. This view appears stating the film as ‘’the damn right truth’’ obviously aims to coincide with the positive connotations of the film e.g. women can be are strong and powerful. The indication of the source however, would stipulate that this is the view of an extremist; as an activist Mary Lucey dedicates a lot of her time to this cause, fighting for positive representations of women. However, the representation of men in Thelma and Louise is largely negative, the male characters are represented as crooks and rapists (in actual fact the only seemingly good male character is the policeman). This seems the view of a very narrow minded, bias individual.

It is a "paean to transformative violence . . . An explicit fascist theme," writes social commentator John Leo, who went out prospecting for a column in U.S. News and World Report and discovered a mother lode of fool's gold. Again this appears to be a very one sided view. One that seems slightly patronising as it almost indicates corruption to those who watch it. Much like the German hypodermic needle theory, this implies an audience can be completely taken in by a harmless film. As for the ‘’explicit fascist theme’’ it is an extremely over exuberant take on the film, though what the women do is conventionally and ethically wrong, to say it has a fascist theme is rather a step too far.

 It is, according to Cathy Bell, a Houston environmental communications specialist who was once married to "a redneck control freak" and found the courage to dump him after a liberating weekend trip with a girlfriend, "like seeing my life.... The fact that Cathy Bell compares the film to her own life perhaps demonstrates some realism in the film. She states she was married to a redneck control freak much like the representation of Thelma’s husband but left him much like the film. Speaking of her past experiences, Cathy indicates happiness now she’s left her husband; representing power in women (a predominant theme in Thelma and Louise) the key to happiness.

Reaction to Thelma and Louise

Thelma and Louise depicts the story of two woman trapped in very different circumstances but almost of the same extremism. In the film the two characters appear to take on male characteristics as they become more independent and in control of their own lives. However, this freedom proceeds to breed corruption in the two characters as they go on a rampage robbing stores by use of weapons and violence; a complete contrast to their usual feminine dull lives. The film begins with a preview of both women’s lives. Thelma is a house wife and is depicted as nervous around her husband as he talks down to her. This is demonstrated by props such as a chocolate bar she continuously gets out of the fridge and then puts back again (obviously jumpy). Louise however appears much more independent as a waitress, working in her own right. Both of these situations are stereo-typical of women. The film overall broke through barriers in 1990, met by critical acclaim and criticism it went against the tradition of male characters in such circumstances; and cast women in role of violent ruthless characters.

Lighting in brighton rock

Lighting used in this particular film was a common effect used in films of the 1940’s. A time which was largely overpowered by gangster films and shady characters, had the perfect format for the effective use of character shaping lighting effects. Lighting of such films from the 1940’s has become iconic of the time.

The type and intensity of lighting used in Brighton rock, varies dependant on the character being portrayed. An example of this is the lighting used on protagonist pinkie. The lighting used on his character is hard lighting and fairly dark. This creates the effect of shadows which reflects his character as sinister. In addition to this the connotations of shadows signifies someone that has something to hide.

In stark contrast the lighting on female character rose is soft bright lighting. This dreamy sort of effect indicates a delicate fragile character, which correlates to the narrative: Rose is portrayed in the film as naive and under the control of Pinkie.

Another key use of lighting in Brighton rock is the contrast of the dark lighting surrounding pinkie, in comparison to unimportant characters on set and the lighting of the background itself. This use of lighting appears to make pinkie stand out from both the background and crowd; only emphasising the objective of his character and conveying perhaps a hidden agenda of his.