Watching the film Easy Rider after many years (I'd say at least 20 years), I was reminded of an America that was and is now long gone. Coming out in 1969, the film represented the optimism of the 60s era of peace and love but also hinted at the jarring changes of the 70s to come.
Captain America in biker form Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and hippie freak Billy (Dennis Hopper) start the movie not even in America. They make a drug deal in Mexico the old fashioned way, and then they roar back across the border (see the trailer below) into California to take to the roads of America on a drug fueled journey that is a different take on the ultimate road trip.
As they move across country, they get the disapproving glares of supposedly regular American people, but there is more to their story than just being part of the generation of peace and love. Yes, they do go with the flow and prefer the woods to motel rooms which they can afford because of their drug dealings.
A sale of the top notch cocaine they scored in Mexico to a wealthy customer (Phil Spector of all people) means they have a lot of cash to fuel their wild ride. They head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with no motive except to have the party of their lives.
Despite Wyatt's Captain America helmet and ride, he is not even a shadow the of the comic book character but rather an alternative personality. He embodies what America allows him to be but is no saint but hardly a sinner. While Billy has no pretensions at all other than to live for the moment and enjoy all the freedoms America affords him, he is the ultimate sidekick to the less than American hero with no agenda.
Along the way from California to New Orleans they pick up George Hanson (a young Jack Nicholson) who had been part of the establishment as a lawyer, but now he wants to get on the road and see life from their perspective. The idea of being anti-establishment seems like dramatic irony since Wyatt and Billy have dealt with the wealthy in order to sell their drugs to the highest bidder.
The film is also directed by Hopper, and he makes the viewer part of the freewheeling ride across the country. With seemingly no restrictions or rules to follow, Wyatt and Billy appear to be born to be wild as the opening credits suggest to the soundtrack of Steppenwolf's song. This fantasy of unrestricted freedom comes with many benefits, but there also has to be a price to be paid for living so high in the sky and forgetting to look down.
I highly recommend the film as a slice of American culture from the late 1960s, but also it is currently significant because the excess depicted in the film can still be attractive today despite all of its dangers.
You can watch it in various places, but the best rental price seems to be Amazon.
Please watch the opening credits of the film below.
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