The Personal Blog Of
Boston Motorcycle Lawyer

Easy Rider 40 Years Later
November 19, 2009

I consider myself to be an avid biker and I enjoy all things motorcycle related. Until recently, I have not seen one the most famous biker movies of all.

Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper, is a story about two freedom seeking bikers who decide to ride from Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras after completing a major drug deal. Wyatt (Captain America) played by Peter Fonda and Billy (Billy the Kid) played by Hopper go on this ride in search of the freedom that there newly acquired wealth should bring them. Along the way they encounter George Hanson, a drunken lawyer memorably portrayed by Jack Nicholson, who joins them for a portion of the journey.

The movie is filled with the hallmarks of the late 1960s. Hippie culture was prominent in the film as well as copious amounts of drug use. The drug use, including alcohol, represents the freedom and enlightenment of a psychedelic trip and the enslavement of alcohol use; America’s drug of choice. Drug use by Wyatt and Billy was a mechanism for gaining understanding of their environment and George’s boozing was his way of escaping from it.

The three characters represented three very separate ideals. Wyatt was on a search for a place where he can fit into the late 1960s landscape. This trip was a search for a home. Billy shunned everyone and was concerned only with his ideas and opinions. George represented the ineptitude of the wealthy intellectual. Oddly, all three characters met with a similar fate.

The movie, like most modern movies, uses music to set tone and emotion and it does it quite well. As the pair set off on their journey on their custom choppers, the Steppenwolf song ‘Born to be Wild’ gets the movie started on the right foot. The movie is not long on dialogue but it is very long the beautiful American landscape the pair encounters on their motorcycle road trip.

Ultimately, the three characters were destined to the same fate because they had not accepted themselves and therefore, had no destination where they could be accepted. Wyatt’s discarding of his watch on the opening scene was symbolic of their time running out, not of his aversion of accountability.

The theme that I found most prominent is that freedom is a state of mind, not a destination.

If you haven’t seen it, check it out for yourself. Easy Rider can be viewed via Netflix, Hulu.com, or at your local Blockbuster.