Appealing only to my own taste, I hated this movie. Directed by Dennis Hopper, it started off all “born to be wild”, two guys score big on a coke deal, throw away their watches, and set out into the horizon on motorcycles for an adventure with only their American flag and faux western fringe leather coats on their backs. They take what comes to them: hitchhikers, free gas, meals from a hippie commune, etc. They “live it up” on their way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Although Dennis Hopper plays an absolute drug-addled loser, whose capacity for speech tends to halt after repeating back others’ words. The film thrived off of stereotypes: “hippies”, “hicks”, and “pigs”.

The duo end up in jail for “parading without a permit”, however they meet such hostility from many a small town along their adventure. In jail they pick up an alcoholic Jack Nicholson joins them on their journey in hopes of reaching a specific whorehouse in New Orleans. This small hope is never attained, however, as Jack Nicholson’s character is beaten to death when a mob attacks the three while they sleep. In New Orleans they visit the whorehouse in his honor, spend all night out frolicking, take acid, have a bad trip in a cemetery, then leave. Shortly after they are gunned down for no apparent reason by two Floridians in a truck.

The landscapes throughout the film are moving, and Dennis Hopper no doubt had some underlying message about freedom vs. conformity and the intolerance that goes along with this clash in mind. The performance, however, left a lot to be desired. Jack Nicholson’s character, before his untimely death, made a speech about how people are scared of what is free, and that makes them dangerous. They want to subdue it. But can this be the only glimpse of meaning the audience gains from the movie without feeling dissatisfied? Perhaps in 1969 this was a revolutionary film. It was indeed influential. Easy Rider was the first film to deploy a rock n’ roll soundtrack instead of a traditional score, and was also the first independently financed film to be distributed by a major studio (Columbia). Apparently Hopper’s paranoia and violence during the filming were serious liabilities, and the idea that a movie might emerge from all their efforts was often in doubt.

Perhaps the disillusionment of the 1960’s generation as the era comes to a close, or the change from America the Beautiful to America the Intolerant might appeal to a different sort of audience. Perhaps Peter Fonda’s summation of their adventure “we blew it” applied to something more: the film. Regardless, it is irrefutable that the film was highly influential and employed many firsts that changed cinema from then on. Can you dig it?

Tags: classic rock, dennis hopper, easy rider, jack nicholson, Kaye Breeman, peter fonda

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