Thelma & Louise
Two women hit the road, refuse to come back, and drive off the cliff together — the canonical female 'we're not going back' duo.
Origin
Ridley Scott's 1991 film, written by Callie Khouri. A waitress and a housewife set off for a weekend trip; one of them shoots a man assaulting the other in a parking lot, and the two become fugitives. They refuse to surrender and, in the famous final shot, drive their convertible off the rim of the Grand Canyon. The film became a touchstone of feminist film criticism and a permanent shorthand for women choosing flight over capture.
Modern usage
'Doing a Thelma & Louise' = a deliberate, mutual exit — quitting a job together, ending a friendship dramatically, walking out of an institution rather than negotiating. Less crime-flavored than [[bonnie-and-clyde]]; more about agency and refusal.
In the wild
The two co-founders did a Thelma & Louise — quit on the same day, took half the team with them.— tech press
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