Thelma & Louise vs 1492: Conquest of Paradise

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.

1492: Conquest of Paradise

The first meeting with the island people is friendly. On the second trip, the men Columbus left behind turn out to be dead. Later the natives are forced to mine for gold, and the nobleman Moxica cuts off a man's hand when he finds none. Each step makes the next one harder to undo, until the island is at war.

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.

1492: Conquest of Paradise

Columbus begins as an outsider with a dream who needs ships. He ends as a forgotten old man, with credit for the discovery going to Amerigo Vespucci. In between, he governs the colony and is accused of nepotism. One reading is that the dream that made him likable is the thing that ruins him.

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.

1492: Conquest of Paradise

After 9 weeks of open ocean, the mist clears and the crew sees the lush vegetation and sandy beaches of Guanahani. The New World scenes were shot on Costa Rica's Pacific coast, where about 10 sets were built on real beaches. The land looks like a paradise, which makes what follows feel like a fall.