Melissa Colbert-Easy Rider
The movie Easy Rider uncovers the life of the hippie counterculture during the 1960’s. The main characters, Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper), travel across the country and along the way they find many people who share their alternative ideals as well as those who want them dead because of what they stand for. Even though the hippie counterculture, according to Miller, was all about peace and love, it seems that in the movie, both Wyatt and Billy have a difficult time finding either, being unable to find peace in a world that did not accept them. Throughout the movie, we see the hatred that those in society had towards those in the hippie counterculture. In fact, Wyatt, Billy, and their fellow hippie friend George, end up being brutally attacked by townspeople in the middle of the night because they were seen as a threat. This discrimination is similar to that of minorities during this time. Although hippies had more political freedoms, both groups were treated horribly and experienced violence and even death as a result of their differences from what was considered “mainstream� and “acceptable�.
One other point I found interesting was that in the movie there was such an emphasis placed on money. It almost seemed as if Wyatt and Billy were going against the beliefs of their counterculture by placing so much importance on something materialistic. At the end of the movie, Billy tells Wyatt that “they did it� and gives praise to their achievement and hope for the future. Wyatt replies to Billy’s comment by saying “We blew it�. According to Donald Costello, these words are, “clear in [their] meaning; and they are a warning for a counterculture that can't really be counter if it accepts the values of the dominant culture into which it enslaves itself� (1972). At that moment, Wyatt felt that he and Billy had lost sight of what they believed in and had placed too much emphasis on what society considered to be a measure of success. By pointing this out, he expresses urgency to those in the hippie subculture to be aware of their actions and the society that they live in.