Thelma & Louise are two friends from Arkansas who go on a fishing trip into the mountains. On their way there, they make a nighttime stop at a roadside bar. Thelma is picked up by a womanizing stranger named Harlan (played by Timothy Carhart). After drinking and dancing, the two leave the bar and go out to the parking lot to get some air. Feeling better, Thelma attempts to return to the bar.
Harlan: Wait a minute. Where do you think you're going, huh?
Thelma: I'm going back inside.
Harlan: Oh, no, no. (Harlan starts grabbing and touching her.)
Thelma: Harlan.
Harlan: What?
Thelma: Hey, quit it. Stop it. Stop it.
Harlan: Thelma. Listen to me. I'm not gonna hurt you, OK? I just wanna kiss you. All right?
Thelma: No. No.
Harlan: Come on. (He kisses her.) God damn, you are gorgeous.
Thelma: All right. Let me go now. I mean, I'm married. Come on.
Harlan: That's OK, I'm married, too.
Thelma: I don't feel good. I've been sick.
Harlan: Listen to me. I said I'm not going to hurt you. OK? Relax. (He continues his unwanted advances towards her.)
Thelma: Harlan, stop it. Please. I mean it. Wait. Don't. Louise is gonna wonder where I am.
Harlan: Fuck Louise. (She slaps him to ward him off.) Don't ever fucking hit me, fucking bitch.
Thelma: Please, Harlan. Don't hurt me, Harlan, please.
Harlan: Shut up. Shut the fuck up. You hear me? (He attempts to rape her. Suddenly, Louise arrives at the parking lot.)
Louise: Let her go.
Harlan: Get the fuck out of here.
Louise: (She puts a gun to his head.) You let her go, you fucking asshole, or I'm gonna splatter your ugly face all over this nice car.
Harlan: (He lets her go.) All right. Hey, just calm down. We were just having a little fun, that's all.
Louise: Looks like you got a real fucked up idea of fun. In the future, when a woman's crying like that, she isn't having any fun. (The two women head back toward the bar, perhaps for Thelma to get cleaned up, perhaps to call the police to get justice for Thelma. But Harlan can't keep his mouth shut.)
Harlan: Bitch! I should have gone ahead and fucked her.
Louise: What did you say?
Harlan: You can suck my [expletive deleted].
Full of rage, Louise shoots Harlan dead with one bullet to the heart. She became his judge, jury and executioner. Louise then decides, for both her and Thelma, that the best policy would be to flee the scene in their car. She believes the police will treat what happened as nothing more than a simple homicide. This is 1991, not 2018. Did she do the right thing?
First, Louise's decision eventually leads to the police engaging in a multi-state pursuit of the two fugitives, climaxing in the death of both women.
Second, Louise's decision makes Thelma, who was not directly involved in the shooting, an accomplice. By turning herself into the police, Louise could have saved Thelma from criminal prosecution.
Third, Thelma & Louise could have told the police (a lie) that Louise shot Harlan in the act of attempting to rape Thelma. There seems to have been plenty of physical evidence to prove Harlan's guilt of that crime.
Or fourth, Thelma & Louise could have told the truth as to what happened. An extenuating circumstance is that Louise was a rape victim years before and the behavior of Harlan triggered an emotional response that may have been uncontrollable (see 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder). This may have given her a lighter sentence or perhaps none at all with the right judge and jury.
The bottom line is that Louise's decision to flee was the worst choice. What do you think?
Louise: What did you say?
Harlan: You can suck my [expletive deleted].
Full of rage, Louise shoots Harlan dead with one bullet to the heart. She became his judge, jury and executioner. Louise then decides, for both her and Thelma, that the best policy would be to flee the scene in their car. She believes the police will treat what happened as nothing more than a simple homicide. This is 1991, not 2018. Did she do the right thing?
First, Louise's decision eventually leads to the police engaging in a multi-state pursuit of the two fugitives, climaxing in the death of both women.
Second, Louise's decision makes Thelma, who was not directly involved in the shooting, an accomplice. By turning herself into the police, Louise could have saved Thelma from criminal prosecution.
Third, Thelma & Louise could have told the police (a lie) that Louise shot Harlan in the act of attempting to rape Thelma. There seems to have been plenty of physical evidence to prove Harlan's guilt of that crime.
Or fourth, Thelma & Louise could have told the truth as to what happened. An extenuating circumstance is that Louise was a rape victim years before and the behavior of Harlan triggered an emotional response that may have been uncontrollable (see 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder). This may have given her a lighter sentence or perhaps none at all with the right judge and jury.
The bottom line is that Louise's decision to flee was the worst choice. What do you think?
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