The Treasure of the Sierra Madre vs Thelma & Louise

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Dobbs is introduced as a likable underdog, and his hardship wins your sympathy. The film then uses that sympathy against you. By the time Dobbs is capable of murder, you have already sided with him. That makes the change more disturbing than if he had been a villain from the start.

Thelma & Louise

Thelma starts as a timid housewife who is too nervous to ask her husband for a weekend away, so she leaves him a note. By the end of the trip she is the one making plans. After J.D. steals Louise's savings, Thelma takes charge and robs a store herself. Louise, who began the trip in control, becomes the one who is shaken.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Dobbs' paranoia grows in steps. First it is reasonable, then excessive, then murderous. Each step is caused by the one before it, so his mental breakdown feels like it had to happen. I feel like the gold never really corrupts Dobbs. It removes the conditions that used to keep the worst parts of his character hidden.

Thelma & Louise

Each choice costs the women more. Louise shoots Harlan in a fit of rage, so they run. The store robbery makes them wanted for armed theft. Then they lock a state trooper in his trunk and blow up a fuel tanker. After the first mistake, every way out looks worse than the one before.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

The Sierra Madre mountains are where the gold comes from, and they are also where the film tests the men's morals. Every climb toward the mine takes the men further down into their worst selves. The landscape doesn't care about their greed and isn't changed by their destruction. The mountains outlast all of them.

Thelma & Louise

The story is set on a route from Arkansas to the Grand Canyon, though most of it was shot in California and Utah. Open desert, red rock and long straight roads give the trip a mythic feel. The canyon at the end works like a final test, and the women face it on their own terms. This is one way to read it.