Hollywood Utopia

The automobile, a conventional symbol of pleasure and escape, becomes a primary
constituent in the aesthetic make-up of the still image, recording and solidifying
the majesty of one of the great sublime natural spectacles of planet Earth. Rather
than demonstrating the consequences of such movement, which would result in a
wreck, a pollutant on the natural landscape like the motorcycles in Easy Rider, the
static image becomes a potent, albeit unsubtle icon and symbol of romantic human
endeavour in the struggle against oppression. ‘Nature’, at least metaphorically, has
been appropriated to validate this struggle and provide a more universal meaning
above and beyond the specifics of gender power politics.
Thus pure representation of idyllic nature and the creation of a ‘third space’ also
provides a powerful link which feeds off the roots of American transcendentalism,
using the metaphoric potency of the sublime as a motor for the primary utopian
impulse which needs an awesome natural eco-space for its fulfilment. Postmodern
spectators have at least potentially acquired the semiotic discursive capabilities of
both embracing and constructively decoding therapeutic natural signifiers such as
the Grand Canyon.
Harvey typifies an ideological critical consensus which positions space (and time)
as being defined by the forces of capitalism. Within ideological power structures
many factors clearly influence the human experience of space, especially ethnicity
and gender. Massey also correctly pinpoints how ‘different social groups have
varying experiences of space’ (Massey 1994: 61-2). Major influential crossdisciplinary
critics including Durkheim, Levi-Strauss (1963), Hall (1966),
Bourdieu (1977) and others all affirm ‘different societies produce qualitatively
different conceptions of space and time’ (Harvey 1996: 210). Nevertheless, recent
geographical and cultural exploration of spatial metaphors has tried not to become
transfixed by the polarising negativity of such ideological discourse. Edward Soja,
in a passionate evocation of a ‘third space’, attempts to anchor the postmodernity
project while eulogising Henri Lefebvre as the founding father in the study of
spatiality. Such space also provides a forum for ecological expression, particularly
when applied to excessive spatial closures of Thelma and Louise and other films in
this study.
While a reading of both Easy Rider and Thelma and Louise evokes a romanticised
‘adolescent’ exploration of the application of space and landscape to provide a
powerful metaphor for motivational, even transformational, praxis, Grand Canyon
presents a more ‘mature’ self-referential exposition of this phenomenon. By
implicating both gender and race (even class) and framed within a deep form of
ecological expression and understanding, Grand Canyon calls on contrasting
evocations of space and place.
3 Westerns, Landscapes and Road Movies 115