Tom Lulic - Easy Rider
The main theme or notion expressed in this film, or at least a prominent one, is counterculture. The relationship seen between Wyatt, Billy, George and the native southerners they encountered on their trip is a valid representation of a clash of cultures. Just like the hippies vs. the establishment, the three voyagers were displaced from their free and timeless environment and experienced the traditionalism of the south. As the trio draws attention from the locals at a restaurant and suffer verbal abuse, it is interesting to see that such an intimidating group of men, including a local police officer would be so threatened by a harmless group of grass smoking journeymen. The scene depicts a nationwide rapport between countercultures and the already established, conservative types of America. Just like black and white and Lennon and Nixon, the violence, turmoil and fear seen in the film is attributed to this lack of connection between opposing groups. As Sarah Thornton states in a reading for this week, “Subculture ideologies are a means by which youth imagine their own and other social groups, assert their distinctive character and affirm that they are not anonymous members of an undifferentiated mass” (Thornton, pg 2). Violence seemingly is not a prominent ideology of this subculture, if at all. Therefore, due to the fact that these locals beat these men in their sleep and ultimately killed one of them, the violence is seen to be rather lopsided. So perhaps the film was stating that this violence and hatred is akin to “the other guys” and a product of their lack of understanding. Instead of violence being accredited to the fact that the opposing groups are unconnected in their ways, maybe it is just because the threatened group of locals just have immoral values and have no other way to resolve any differences seen between them and any outsiders. And perhaps this behavior is a symbolic depiction of many clashes throughout the current society.