Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise

When Thelma & Louise hit theaters in 1991, it was praised as an exhilarating prototype of female empowerment and freedom. It was also condemned as an alarming specimen of toxic feminism and male-bashing. At that time, viewers responded to a national survey, sharing their visceral reactions to the film in letters and on audiotape. Twenty-five years later, the former researcher, now the filmmaker, tracked down some of the same viewers from around the country and invited them to share the myriad of meanings Thelma & Louise holds for them. They revisit the protagonists’ journey along with several cast and crew members from the original film. Director Jennifer Townsend poses this question to the film’s subjects and audiences alike: has anything changed in the past quarter-century in the way women are treated and perceived by the world? (Napa Valley Film Festival)