How Dennis Hopper’s ‘Easy Rider’ defined an era
There’s a scene in Easy Rider where Jack Nicholson’s character George and Dennis Hopper’s Billy discuss freedom by the campfire. “Hey, we can’t even get into, like, a second-rate hotel, I mean, a second-rate motel, you dig? They think we’re gonna cut their throat or somethin’. They’re scared, man,” Billy complains. In response, George explains, “They’re not scared of you. They’re scared of what you represent to ’em.”
The meaning of freedom lies at the heart of 1969’s Easy Rider, defined by open roads that offer endless possibilities to those who drive through. Yet, ultimately, freedom is futile in a country divided, and Hopper and Peter Fonda’s hippie motorcycle riders come to represent the end of a once-hopeful era, a dying decade.
George continues his speech on freedom by saying, “But talkin’ about it and bein’ it, that’s two different things. I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, ’cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ’em.”
This conversation is the centrepiece of Easy Rider, defining the entire film’s sentiment. George is right. At the movie’s end, Billy and Wyatt (Fonda) are shot dead by two rednecks driving by, for no reason other than being outsiders, for posing a threat to their conceptions of freedom. In the beginning, Wyatt and Billy possess true freedom. With money from a drug deal stashed away in their bikes, they hit the road, with liberation reflected in their tight leathers, Wyatt’s American flag-decorated jacket and long, unruly hair. Billy is a cowboy-esque figure whose motorcycle acts as his horse, trawling the open deserted roads with the sensibility of a lone ranger – albeit one accompanied by his best pal.
The two disregard convention and sleep under the stars, pick up a hitchhiker, take drugs, flirt with women and simply ride. Together, they represent the kind of freedom that came with the 1960s, a rich era of counterculture where young people rebelled against the traditional, stale attitudes carried over from wartime.
New music, fashion, drug-taking habits and ideas allowed people to feel free, yet, Easy Rider depicts the futility of hippie idealism and freedom. Through everything, Hopper reminds us of the pointlessness of chasing your own form of the American dream when the country is so restless and divided. Wyatt and Billy represent something that many others can only dream of having. They’re not tied down to jobs or one location; as long as they have their motorcycles, they’re free.
But, the truth is, this freedom and search for unification can only be briefly achieved under the sharp hold of America’s many widespread problems: racism, misogyny, homophobia, war, financial instability and class division, to name just a few. Hopper reminds us of this throughout, such as when the pair pick up a hippie hitchhiker who points out that dead Native Americans are buried under the land they temporarily take respite on.
Released at the very end of the decade, Easy Rider signalled the demise of a once fruitful period. The Manson family hadn’t yet committed their infamous Tate-LaBianca murders, but their presence loomed over Los Angeles, and drug-fuelled crimes were only increasing. Hippie idealism wasn’t as potent anymore, and Easy Rider perfectly encapsulated the destruction of dreams; the mask cracks to reveal America in ruins.
Near the end of the film, paranoia takes over, and Wyatt and Billy experience an intense acid trip with two prostitutes. Their psychedelic visions are reflected in choppy, chaotic editing, which pulls the audience into their hallucinogenic state. Prayers are recited, Wyatt cries on the statue of an angel, the women, one naked, become incredibly distressed, and clips from the parade all merge together to form a terrifying collage that foreshadows Wyatt and Billy’s sudden deaths.
Easy Rider was a significant entry into the New Hollywood canon, alongside Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. These films stood in stark contrast to the shininess of Hollywood, instead depicting destruction, paranoia, death and hopelessness. Just as Bonnie and Clyde are shot dead, so are Wyatt and Billy, signalling an end to promise and freedom.
