A Post-Colonial Thelma and Louise
A parched desert landscape and a singular straight road heads onward to the red hills beyond. A path that seems to lead temptingly toward freedom and adventure. This backdrop has been chosen carefully by director Ridley Scott for his 1991 Road Movie Thelma and Louise . He understands well the allure that America’s Western landscape offers up to an audience’ eye. This film takes a U turn from traditional tales of this genre and features two heroines, not heroes, on their own journey of discovery and, as it turns out, sacrifice. It is the landscape of this film and all it seems to hold in its deep valleys, towering stone monuments and swathes of endless desert that I want to focus on. How is it that this dramatic yet barren panorama successfully captured the hearts and minds of generations of Hollywood fans? The historical concept of ‘frontierism’ seems particularly apt for this film and its seductive landscape. It is defined by the Victorian historian Frederick Jackson Turner