On the beginning of the road journey with Louise, we see that Thelma is reverted to a teenager, "How much longer is it gonna be? I'm hungry!? she doesn't think of the consequences of what will happen if they stop, unlike Louise, who knows it's dangerous to travel on the road when it's dark. Thelma is also too reliant on strangers, and believe that they are harmless as long as they talk nicely. "Louise here is mad because her boyfriend wont call her while he's out on the road'to Harlan, who eventually attempts to rape her that night, and Thelma tells Louise "that wasn't very nice?when she got rid of Harlan, seeing noting no signs of danger ahead of her. She goes into a panic when Louise shot Harlan, and shouts repetitively "You Shot Him!?as if nobody would hear her. She can not take any responsibility, this can be seen when she doesn't think it's her fault that the Harlan was shot. She bought many tiny bottles of alcohol, which she could have bought much cheaper for just one big one, we can see that she doesn't take into mind the situation that she doesn't have a lot of money to waste. .
But as the film progresses, Thelma becomes more and more street-wise, as she starts to learn from Louise and her experiences. After DJ takes all the money that Louise has saved and depends on to get to Mexico, Louise becomes the one in charge, and has a drastic character change, because now she knows that it was her fault for leaving the money on the table with DJ who is a thief, when Louise has repeatedly told he to guard the money. She takes full control after that, while Louise becomes stoned half the time. As Thelma knows that she was the one responsible for losing the money, she takes her "best she can do?initiative in robs the shop, the way JD taught her. When they were pulled over by the Nazi police, who in facts acts a bit like Darryl, her brain spins much faster than Louise's. She acts like a typical girl who is trying to get herself off from a police speeding charge because she's a pretty girl.
