Released: 1969

Dir. Dennis Hopper

First-time viewing reaction

              I’ve seen bits and pieces of Easy Rider over the years, heard lots about it, I know how it ends, but I’ve never seen the whole movie in order to feel the full impact of one of the most influential films of its generation. I stumbled across Easy Rider on the CTV app, and decided to give it a go. It was quite an uncomfortable journey.

              After a very successful drug deal, Wyatt(Peter Fonda) and Billy(Dennis Hopper) are on their way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and are in no particular hurry to get there, looking for adventure or whatever comes their way. Preferably as stoned as possible. You wouldn’t think it at first, but I found Wyatt and Billy to be a pretty missed matched pair. Billy is quite unlikable, and my opinion of him never really improved during the course of the trip. Wyatt, on the other hand I seemed to understand and to relate to better, the voice of reason and curiosity, but he remained distant and enigmatic.

              It isn’t long before they pick up a hitchhiker, and it’s at this point I start to feel uncomfortable. The trio seems awkward with one another, not very communicative. Billy is paranoid, Wyatt is very cool, and the hitchhiker is quiet, but pays for the gas. The hitchhiker invites Wyatt and Billy to his commune, and when they arrive, I pretty much wanted to leave. Although most of the commune are carefree and friendly, especially the women, most of the men are suspicious of the strangers. The hitchhiker I found to be very ungrateful for the favour Wyatt and Billy have done for him, eying them with contempt, as do some of the other men. You never feel welcome in the commune, which I found contradictory to what I thought hippy communes were all about. Wyatt and Billy are not the cops, nor are they any threat. I couldn’t wait to get out.

              Finally, Wyatt and Billy end up in jail for parading without a license, where they meet George(Jack Nicholson), a lawyer with a drinking problem. George helps them with their legal woes, and Wyatt and Billy talk him into coming with them to New Orleans. George is awesome. I could listen to this guy talk for hours. He counters the two distinct personalities of Wyatt and Billy, as well as keeping them out of trouble.

              Wyatt, Billy and George come to a southern diner where they have a potentially ugly encounter with the locals. The sequence is just as uncomfortable as the hippy commune, but for completely different reasons. In one of the diner’s booths is a group of teenage girls who think the bikers are really cool and want to talk to them, but they don’t have the nerve. Maybe because in the next booth are a group of racist, homophobic, pieces of white trash, one of them being a cop. The group of racist, homophobic, pieces of white trash, spew insults at our heroes. The whole thing is unsettling, as from one booth you’re getting how exciting the girls find the men, and from the other booth, hatred, and denigration towards anyone who is different. Two demographics at odds with each other. Again, I couldn’t wait to leave the diner.

              George, coolly talks them out of the diner without incident, the girls following, acting as an unintentional buffer from the racist, homophobic, pieces of white trash. Only to have George suffer a horrible fate later that night.

              It’s this uneasiness that permeates throughout the entire film. Billy seems to be always angry, ultimately Wyatt appears to become more and more indifferent, especially after Georges’ death. There isn’t really anything free or easy about this trip, and I really don’t know why I’m along for the ride, other than to get to Mardi Gras. I don’t think it’s just me, because it just felt so obvious that this really isn’t a fun trip. So to speak.

              On the other hand, Easy Rider is about an extremely turbulent and violent period in US history, where no one really came through unscathed. Although, there is a lot of room for personal interpretation, can the film be viewed outside of its historical context? I would have to say yes.

If you’ve been watching the news over the past few years, you may have noticed a lot of talk about “freedom”, and if we truly live in a free society. I don’t really know the answer to that but let’s look at Easy Rider. The hippy commune just wants to be left alone and exist in peace with as little as possible contact or reliance, with the outside world. Personally, I think their idea of living is doomed to failure, as the seeds of suspicion have already been planted. The racist, homophobic, pieces of white trash are all about freedom, provided it only applies to them. Of course, this breeds hatred and violence, which is prominently on display. And Wyatt and Billy, who just want to roam the country, for the most part not wanting to hurt anybody, maybe disturb a little shit, but overall enjoy the ride without restriction. Can any of this apply today? Perhaps that’s my takeaway from the journey of Easy Rider, it offers different points of view, perhaps in an extremely abstract way, that are indeed still relevant and worthy of discussion.               Seems like my trip to Mardi Gras, despite being and uneasy ride, was worth the trip.