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A review by kellyhager
Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge by Becky Aikman
5.0
I first saw Thelma & Louise when I was 12 or so. I remember renting it the first weekend it was available (at my local Blockbuster--this was back in the days when one did such things), and I didn't know much about it. But I liked Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon (I had already seen The Fly and Bull Durham; my parents were very liberal about what I watched), and I loved the movie immediately.
I don't think I could have articulated why then, but now I realize that I love the fact that--while there are guys in the movie and some of them are good or great guys and some of them are complete jerks--the movie is about their friendship. It was probably the first movie I had ever seen (and there haven't been that many since, either) where the guys were in the background and the women were centerstage. It felt like a bit of a revelation, and it still does.
I like to think of myself as a Louise (in fact, one of my mantras was stolen from her---the unsympathetic but no less true "You get what you settle for") but I'm probably slightly more of a Thelma. I can be scattered and I may not be the best person around in a crisis. Honestly, though, I'd be incredibly proud to be either of them.
But that all doesn't matter. If you love Thelma & Louise (or movies in general), you need this book. It's so well-written and thorough and I feel like I love the movie even more now. And, of course, it's always great when people are passionate about the same things I'm passionate about--and people were so passionate about this, and still are--even decades later.
Highly recommended.
I don't think I could have articulated why then, but now I realize that I love the fact that--while there are guys in the movie and some of them are good or great guys and some of them are complete jerks--the movie is about their friendship. It was probably the first movie I had ever seen (and there haven't been that many since, either) where the guys were in the background and the women were centerstage. It felt like a bit of a revelation, and it still does.
I like to think of myself as a Louise (in fact, one of my mantras was stolen from her---the unsympathetic but no less true "You get what you settle for") but I'm probably slightly more of a Thelma. I can be scattered and I may not be the best person around in a crisis. Honestly, though, I'd be incredibly proud to be either of them.
But that all doesn't matter. If you love Thelma & Louise (or movies in general), you need this book. It's so well-written and thorough and I feel like I love the movie even more now. And, of course, it's always great when people are passionate about the same things I'm passionate about--and people were so passionate about this, and still are--even decades later.
Highly recommended.