Endings and Lanscapes
Thelma and Louise and Set it Off are road films in which women drive the cars. There are many parallels that run through the films. Many parallels can be made between their endings. In both, the women deiced to continue to run from the police even though they know they will die. Thelma and Louise drive into the canyon and Cleo and Frankie keep running until shot to the ground. White men trap the women in both films is another similarity. The authority running their lives is represented by white police officers who chase the women because of their law breaking actions. The women continue to run, even when trapped and face death, because they want freedom from their lives. They would rather die than return to their lives of working for degrading males. Cleo takes a masculinist step in telling Stoney and Frankie to get out of the car so Cleo can divert the police. Cleo’s character is the masculinized female making her different from her friends. If all were heterosexual they probably would have stuck together, like Thelma and Louise. The fences, tunnels, cars and cement that make up the landscapes that trap Cleo, Frankie, Tiesan and Stoney are different compared to the landscape of Thelma and Louise. Long highway and panoramic landscape shots embody Thelma and Louise. Occasionally parts of the city are seen in when Thelma and Louise enter the city to meet Jimmy. The motels, restaurants, and gas stations encompass the cityscape. The cement and fenced world of Set it Off are not seen in Thelma and Louise. The contrast of inner city to country makes me perpetuate the American view of American-Americans in the city and whites having the ability of reach the country if desired. This also creates a hierarchy between races which creates a class division. Thelma and Louise although not extremely wealthy have more money than Stoney and her friends. A major similarity between Thelma and Louise and Set it Off is that women will run even if it leads to death but, race, sexuality, and class separate them.