Lelma and Thouise
Being an indoctrinated youth of the postmodern generation, it may seem quaint that my definition of feminism is pretty akin to the standards set forth by the suffragette movements, that being the necessity for social, political, and economic equality for men and women. While I can see the importance of mid 60's movement for sisterhood among all women, I think ultimately that is too impractical, insomuch as that it often offers openings for critics to deride feminism as male-bashing. Plus, I'm kind of a nihilist at heart.
Speaking of nihilism, Thelma & Louise eh?
I agree very much with Sturken's assessment that the end of film in the way that it "has the effect of both provoking sadness that these vital women are gone and of making them feel still alive" (75). By not showing them dying as their car careens off of the Grand Canyon (from certain vantages, a very feminine landmark), they are allowed to live via a metaphysical energy removed from the confines placed by the patriarchal powers that be. This ends up being a very powerful critique, showing the impossibility of their liberty in the world.
Indeed when applying the dynamic of mobility=life as used in other films we have watched, the men in the film are show primarily as stationary beings, stagnant and ineffectual. Phallic symbols (guns, and automobiles, namely) are re-appropriated to become means for Thelma & Louise to fight for their freedom from the stifling savage man's world.