The Glory of Thelma & Louise
On a plane to South Africa of all places, watching Thelma and Louise, it suddenly feels perfect. Here I am, a 35-year-old single woman, who has left everything society told me to want behind. I’m on a quest for my own story, my own authentic adventure, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Many might think I’m crazy, but that’s not the real story. The truly remarkable thing is that Thelma and Louise are doing the exact same thing, decades before me — and this is a Hollywood movie! It shows me I’m not alone, not the first, and certainly not the last.
Everyone deserves to write their own story, but the challenge lies in creating something outside societal expectations. No one is born believing they’ll rebel against the norm, no one craves life’s difficulties. Yet, here we are, doing just that.
I may be a wild woman yearning for freedom, adventure, and the power to author my own story, but that’s not the only path. Some women find fulfillment in motherhood, spirituality, and nurturing — a story most readily understand. But I believe every woman possesses the spirit to write her own narrative, and have some fun along the way.
Thelma and Louise’s adventure takes a turn for the worse, which offers one perspective of a woman taking control of her destiny. But that’s just Hollywood. The real story is that everyone should be free to explore, learn through adventure, and discover their true selves and the story they yearn to write, regardless of societal constraints.
My favorite part, however, is how the men in the film hold no importance or provide any assistance to their stories. In fact, the men represent the very obstacles that prevent them from 1) living authentically and 2) finding themselves entangled in trouble while seeking self-preservation. It’s interesting how they ultimately pay the price for this. Luckily, death has a strange way of resolving these issues.
While I don’t have a death wish, I do crave freedom, independence, the ability to explore, and to write my own adventure without societal burdens. Perhaps I had to shed my old self, the one who cared about societal expectations, in order to achieve this. I believe that’s the essence of Thelma and Louise — letting go of the person society molded you into, allowing that part of yourself to die, and letting the real woman within be reborn as the full spirit you were always meant to be — no compromises.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
@laurenglasses
