Sunday, September 11, 2005

movies 'n stuff


We watched the movie Thelma & Louise last night. That's gotta be one of my all-time favourites.
That and Gone with the Wind, of course.

It's funny and sassy and poignant all at the same time (Thelma & Louise, I mean) and I just love that they would rather drive off over the edge of the Grand Canyon at full speed, hand in hand, than be captured by the police and have their freedom taken away.

It's great to watch women just doing what needs to be done, not like the silly girls who do stupid things in most movies.
HE: "You stay here while I go see what the problem is."
SHE: "Okay, if you say so."
He gets out of the car to investigate, she follows when he doesn't know it, and ends up getting shot / kidnapped / dead.
D-oh!

Personally, if I were in a potentially life-threatening situation and the man I was with told me to stay put, I would do it. In fact it's entirely possible I would lock all the doors, gun the engine and get the hell out of there!
Okay, maybe not. I mean, you don't necessarily know that you're in a potentially life-threatening situation and in real-life you don't have the scary music in the background to warn you. Plus, being left alone in the dark is not really something you want either. Hm, I think I just justified the actions of the stupid women in the movies. Yech!

OK, so on to "Gone With The Wind". (Let me just mention here that the book and the movie are equally excellent.)
Scarlett O'Hara is actually a really annoying woman and if I knew her in real-life, she and I would probably not be best mates. However, in the story she is yet another shining example of a woman who does whatever is necessary to ensure her survival, and get what she wants. You have to admire that.

So you might think there's a theme here: Terri is a feminist and all that jazz.

Well, maybe, but I also adore the Lord of the Rings trilogy and yes, I have read the book too. Not too much feminism in there. Just pure fantasy and adventure, with huge battles between good and evil, and a handsome king and a beautiful fairy-man (I'm sure you'll all agree that Orlando Bloom should always have his hair long and blonde). If there's a feminist message in there somewhere that I've missed, please feel free to enlighten me!

So why am I telling you all this?
I have no idea. I felt like writing and this is what came out.
I just really enjoyed the movie last night.
One of the scenes that stands out in my mind is the two women on the open road in their car, singing their heads off and having a whale of a time. It reminds me of a holiday that I took with my sister to Cyprus, when we hired a car and were driving through the countryside, singing along at the top of our voices to "Pretty Woman" on the radio, windows open and our hair blowing in the wind... hell, we could have been Thelma & Louise (I bags being Geena Davis!) - just without the whole, you know, shooting-the-would-be-rapist and robbing-a-convenience-store thing. And we didn't blow up any trucks either. And then of course there was the absence of Brad Pitt.

But apart from that, it was exactly the same :-)

5 comments:

anne said...

Funny, I watched Gone with the wind again a couple of weeks ago. Clark Gable/Rhett Butler. Phwoar.
(the rest of you can have Brad Pitt)

ChittyChittyBangBang! said...

I've also not seen Gone With The Wind and do not intend to watch it any time soon. Recntly I watched a programme on tv and it was voted the favourite movie of all time. Meant absolutely nothing to me.:)

kyknoord said...

The feminist message in LOTR is simple: "You boys go out and crack your heads together. Have fun."
[rcncpmth - racoon capture methods]

Terri said...

Anne: I agree. Rhett Butler is the ultimate romantic hero.
Undr: LOL! Porkys, hahaha!
Chitty: See you just need to open ur mind a little... get in touch with ur feminine side ;-)
KN: Thanx 4 the enlightenment. U gonna post more on that racoon-capturing thing? Never know when that might come in useful.

Ben O. said...

Yep - I'm 100 percent dude and I love "Thelma and Louise". I guess it doesn't hurt that Susan is way hot.

Hard to believe that was Brad Pitt's big break in the movies. So young and so innocent.

Ben O.