THELMA AND LOUISE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THELMA AND LOUISE - Essay Example There are many things that can be taken from this memorable film, and the characters including how they are portrayed make the whole picture seamless. The issue of sexuality is the main foundation of the story. From the beginning we are introduced to the two main characters that represent different sides of the spectrum. We see Louise, a waitress, who is characterized as a modern woman who takes charge. She is confident in her job, smokes and drives a convertible muscle car nonetheless. She seems to live alone without a family despite her marrying age and all we know at first are passive references to a boyfriend. Then we see Thelma who perceptibly struggles in her day-to-day living with an abusive husband but without a child to care for. Thelma labors on the kitchen when Louise calls her about the out of town trip that she wants them to take. The latter was finally able to coerce her into going despite Darryl, her husband, unwilling to let her go based on his inherent proclivity to shelter her and prevent her from doing just about anything. The characters are shaped from the start of the film and their transformation is as interesting as it is revealing. Thelma’s changes were significant to the progression of the plot. To describe it in Louise’s own words, she had always been â€Å"sedated† from her life as a housewife and having to live with her husband. Prompted on Louise’s promise of fun on their road trip, Thelma’s loosening was taken to a whole new ground when they went to a bar which started the whole predicament. Having had too much to drink, Harlan, a too friendly guy took advantage and tried to rape her before Louise steps in to prevent his devious motive. Instigated by the arrogance of the man, Louise pulls the trigger and kills him. From here we watch as the two friends try to come up with a solution to evade their problems. Louise comes out as the problem solver as she had always been between the two of them, and struggles to pull herself together for both of them. She had been the stronger character up until J.D. shows up and steals their money which was their last remaining chance to get out for a clean break to Mexico. Suddenly, something changes on Thelma and she takes the foreground by robbing a convenience store with ease and composure. The criminal propensity is right within her all along and from â€Å"sedated† to â€Å"disturbed† she became just downright â€Å"crazy,† as Louise puts it. Thelma quips, â€Å"Oh man! You wouldn'ta believed it, it was like I was doing it all my life, nobody woulda believed it† (Thelma & Louise). The subdued housewife became the criminal mind who single-handedly robbed a store, thought of and carried out locking a policeman in the trunk of a police car. She had even deliberately thought it through by firing to create breathing holes, and was able to get comfortable with a gun she never wanted to handle in the first place and managed to blow up an entire truck. The repressed housewife, in a matter of days, let go of her morals and all the connotations of the abiding wife she had been expected to be. Louise is the other equally captivating character of the movie. The background of her story is the binding force behind her actions. What exactly happened in Texas

Contradictions and the Legitimacy of Law in Early American History Essay

Contradictions and the Legitimacy of Law in Early American History - Essay Example This indignity suffered by black slaves are shown here in an example of runaway slave advertisement: April 23, 1738. RAN away from the Subscriber in Lancaster County, the 17th Instant, a dark Mullatto Fellow, named Will: He is a lusty, well-set Fellow, aged about 42 years; he is pretty much Pock-fretten, and has a Lump on the hind Part of One of his Legs, near his Heel. He wore a Man's Cloth Jacket, a Pair of brown Cotton Breeches, and an Ozenbrig Shirt, he carried with him, a white Fustian Jacket, a lopping Ax, and a fiddle: He is a Carpenter, Sawyer, Shoemaker, and Cooper. Whoever will apprehend the said Slave, or give Intelligence so that he may be had again, shall be sufficiently rewarded, besides what the Law allows, paid by James Ball. Unfortunately for the escaped slave did not just enjoy the freedom from their oppression, the laws of the day also allowed for their capture. It had gotten to the point in the American slavery period that the slave owners convinced enough members of the senate and governing bodies to enact a new law that would have anyone who did not capture a slave when they had the opportunity to be charged with a fine of $1,000. Written into the United States Constitution, the Thirteenth Amendment makes involuntary servitude illegal under any US jurisdiction whether at the hands of the US government or in the private sphere, except as punishment for a crime: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." With this amendment written into the United States Constitution, Amendment XIII effectively abolished slavery and, with the exception of allowing punishments for crimes, prohibits involuntary servitude. The article states: Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. (United States Constitution Amendment XIII, 1869) President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was a prelude to the Thirteenth Amendment being written into the Constitution as the Emancipation Proclamation had only at the time applied to the slaves that were being held in areas of the country were in rebellion against the north, or what was known as the United States of that time during the time of Proclamation. In the areas that were controlled by the Union, or the south, the slaves were not freed until this amendment took effect. In the present day, the Supreme Court has ruled that the only situations where the Thirteenth Amendment cannot be applied as a violation is in the cases of mandatory military service and within methods used for involuntary servitude by convicted criminals in such instances of a "chain gang" unless they are ruled cruel and unusual punishment methods. The Thirteenth Amendment also prohibits specific performance as a judicial remedy for violations of contracts for personal services such as employment