Thelma and Louise: A Freudian Analysis

The movie entitled Thelma and Louise is about the adventure of two best friends who seek a pleasant vacation, but get nothing other than a disastrous one. During the journey, they came across a nightclub, where someone suffered a terrible fate. As they run away from the police to avoid being sent to jail, they face all sorts of obstacles that come between them and Mexico. By applying a Freudian analysis to the story, we can personify the characters to the different psychic zones. According to Freud there were three psychic zones to be distinguished, the id, the superego and the ego. Any person may have a harmonious balance of all three, while some may express more of one than the others.

To begin with, the psychic zone referred to as the Id is known to be entirely unconscious. The Id consists of the impulsive part of a personality structure that holds the basic drives such as food, sex and aggressiveness. In the movie Thelma and Louise, we can see that his, Harlan the man who tried to rape Thelma, primary concern that evening was to satisfy his sexual desire. He, too, displayed a massive amount of aggressiveness, through his extensive use of bad language, when he said to Thelma: “Never fucking hit me. You fucking bitch.”, but then repetitively hits ever even though he promised not hurt her. Therefore, the Id is regulated by the pleasure principle. Another example of a fulfilling a basic need would be when the character J.D steals the money that Louise left on the night table in the hotel room where they were staying. That was after fooling Thelma with his charm and engaging in a steamy sexual intercourse with her. By stealing that money, he would be ensured of having food and a place to stay because before Thelma and Louise gave him a ride, he had to rob convenience stores in order to get money. For that reason, it is acknowledged that J.D only takes into account his contentment when he runs off with the money that Louise had saved up to move to Mexico.

Now, the psychic zone referred to as the Ego is regulated by the reality principle. It is both partially unconscious and conscious at the same time. Rationality and common sense account for governing the psyche as well as the primary psychic drives. It is the mediator between the id and the super-ego. Furthermore, the Ego employs defense mechanisms when id behavior clashes with reality and societal morals and norms. In the movie, Louise is depicted as a strong and aggressive person. She pulled out the gun Thelma gave her in order to protect her from