![]() ![]() Their moderate success would prove influential when major studios began to make their own rebellious/psychedelic-infused movies, but accusations of inauthenticity leveled against the people behind them hindered their achievements. While this was occurring, Peter Fonda was gaining a reputation as a leading figure in the counterculture movement, thanks to his starring roles in various Roger Corman films like The Wild Angels and The Trip, just two of the innumerable low-budget films hoping to entice the audience that tentpole films had turned away. Films like Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate helped to kickstart the change that would result in New Hollywood (the dominant method of filmmaking in the 1970s, characterized by a more liberal use of taboo subjects and a greater emphasis on directors), but such seismic changes do not happen overnight. For context, the 1960s was not a good decade for Hollywood, with studios beginning to realize that the ridged and producer-driven style that had served them so well in the past had little appeal to a more cynical and free-spirited audience that was quickly becoming their main demographic. The central part of Easy Rider’s appeal came from its outsider sensibilities, both in the way it was made and the film itself. Easy Rider captured the mood of its era so flawlessly that viewing it today feels akin to sifting through a time capsule from a bygone age - a result that makes it a fascinating film to return to. Wyatt and Billy are not people to think ahead - they’re outlaws who live for the moment, and what starts as a simple trek across 2,000 miles of untamed land becomes a platform with which to explore this crucial period of American history. ![]() What they’ll do with themselves afterwards never crosses their minds, nor do they have much of a plan about getting there beyond driving east and hoping for the best. Their destination is the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. With their spirits high and their pockets loaded, they set off to the tune of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild," a song that so perfectly embodies their personalities it feels like it was written specifically for them. They’ve just finished smuggling cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles and earned themselves a large sum of cash in the process. Our first encounter with them says it all. They spend their days riding through the American South on a pair of trusted Harley-Davidson choppers, oblivious to the troubles of the modern world. It’s amidst this backdrop that we’re introduced to Wyatt ( Peter Fonda) and Billy ( Dennis Hopper), the freewheeling motorcyclists at the heart of Easy Rider. What started with the promise of a new golden age ended with a nation in turmoil, and as the sun set one last time on the decade that JFK had once dubbed as the “New Frontier," few mourned its passing. But dreams are easier dreamt than realized, and the decade’s final years were besmudged by upheaval and unrest, brought on by an escalating war in Vietnam and the assassination of many of its great leaders. Kennedy leading the charge, it seemed they were going to get everything they wanted. ![]() The increasingly counterculture youth - spurred on by musicians like Bob Dylan and filmmakers like Arthur Penn - sought to upheave centuries-old notions they deemed unfit for a modernizing world, and with the charismatic John F. It was a time of great social reform, with campaigns such as the civil rights movement and second-wave feminism finally achieving the legislative and cultural victories they had been searching for. It was released in 1969, the final year in one of the most important decades for American culture. There aren’t many films that encapsulate an era as perfectly as Easy Rider. ![]()
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