Thankfully, The American Film Institute has given us a valuable guide to viewing the "great" movies; Unfortunately, to do this, it involves watching movies like Easy Rider. I originally saw this movie back in 2000 when I was seventeen, then I thought the movie was boring and unenjoyable. After discussing it with my video production teacher I came to the conclusion that the movie was simply too advanced for my taste. Now, eight years later, after giving the movie another try, I have concluded that it is not only unejoyable but it is unwatchable.
The only way anyone could possible enjoy this movie is if they saw it in theaters back in 1969. But, its important to note, the film is not bad because it is dated; It is bad because there is no plot, no characters, no nothing...It is just two drug dealers riding motorcycles through the desert while stoned. All the events that take place in the 93 minutes of the film seem irrelevant.
In fact, the only meaningful part of the film, is Jack Nicholson (who joins halfway through) diauloge with Billy:
George Hanson: You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it.
Billy: Man, everybody got chicken, that's what happened. 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.
George Hanson: They're not scared of you. They're scared of what you represent to 'em.
Billy: Hey, man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut.
George Hanson: Oh, no. What you represent to them is freedom.
Billy: What the hell is wrong with freedom? That's what it's all about.
George Hanson: Oh, yeah, that's right. That's what's it's all about, all right. 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.
Billy: Well, it don't make 'em runnin' scared.
George Hanson: No, it makes 'em dangerous. Buh, neh! Neh! Neh! Neh! Swamp!
This paranoid style of thinking is prevalent throughout the film. All of the characters are either on the side of the free (ie. good) or the reactionaries (ie. nearly everyone else). The problem with this is not only does it make for uninteresting cinema, but it also plays into the fact that the film is so dated; when Hopper (who acts and directs the film) shows us a hippie commune that is presumably the "ideal" lifestyle , it looks absolutely ridicules to anyone who who is not on a hallucinogenic drug. In contrast to this, the villians are cardboard cutouts of every redneck stereotype imaginable. They prevent Captain America and Billy from staying at motels and throw them in jail for "parading without a license". When the bikers visit a roadside cafe, they are mocked and driven out by the square good ole boys; while it is hard to sympathize with them, how could any objective person really feel anything for Captain America and Hopper? Days before, they had just sold cocaine and used the profits to finance their trip to Mardi Gras. And, moments before being mocked, the riders openly flirt with underage girls. Although the rednecks are supposed to be bad for their prejudice against long hair- are they wrong? Do the bikers have any redeeming qualities? And, would you feel comfortable with your daughter bringing one of them home for dinner?
Easy Riders glorifies an abstract notion of "freedom" that is largely undesirable for anyone who who values sobriety. As a film, it has some beautiful scenery, and as a period piece it has some interesting qualities; but, like the late-sixties, the film is should be forgotten as a whimsical and ridicules moment in time.
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