The Strong Female Protagonist In Run Lola Run

Run Lola Run is asking the question of how much control people have over their lives. The movie tries to trick us into thinking that we have a lot of free will, but really we might not have control over everything. For example, she caused her father’s business partner to get into a car crash, which didn’t happen in the other timelines. It appears that Lola and Manni are able to control time in a way, or decide what happens in the world around them.

Lola seems to be controlling time around her when she screams, like at the casino she screamed to win roulette. These things might suggest that Lola and Manni have free will while everything else is a chain reaction from their actions. But there are parts in the movie that would suggest that this is not completely true.

Looking at Run Lola Run from the feminist lens, you see how strong Lola is meant to be.

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This story is essentially a fairytale with the gender roles reversed, Lola being the hero and Manni being the damsel in distress. Each timeline in Run Lola Run have different views on feminism and female and male relations. In the first round Lola and Manni have to find 100,000 dollars in 20 minutes. Lola decides to ask her dad for the money because she can’t think of any way else to get the money besides relying on men for the money, which symbolizes power. In the second round she goes to the bank later to not interrupt the conversation with her dad and his mistress, showing free will, but it still ends with a fight.

When she leaves the bank she is teased by the security guard. She takes his gun and robs the bank. This event shows free will and female power at the same time. She gets away with the robbery because the police mistake her for an innocent girl. Her getting away with it shows how men underestimate women in this film. In the last round Lola won the money needed in a Casino and Manni got the money back from the homeless man that originally took it. At the end they stand in the middle of the street in success, Manni getting the money for the mob and Lola has a lot of money they can keep. In the end they both win showing equality between the two genders.

This movie also incorporates the marxist lense. The whole basis of the movie is the importance of money and how it can change people's lives. Lola and Manni go on deadly, painful, and stressful situations all for money. Social class stands out as a theme for this movie when Lola tries to ask her wealthy dad for help, and he throws her out. That later caused her to rob the bank as a last resort. The choices these characters make is all for money and the chance to move up in social class. Both Manni and Lola die trying to get this money, showing how important and dire the situation really is.

What I've gathered from this film is that the smallest events can have enormous consequences. All throughout the movie the smallest things change everything in that reality. In the first round, Lola bumps into a woman, causing her to become an alcoholic and lose custody of her kid. In the second round, Lola barely touches her, and she wins the lottery. The third time, Lola doesn't touch her, and she joins the church and leaves her family. This shows the importance of the little things in life.