Easy Rider
As stated by Klinger, “this territory still promises freedom, diversity and tolerance.” Such a revelation was discovered when Wyatt and Billy were in the southwest. Yet, I believe that Wyatt’s statement ultimately shows that such a promise of freedom, diversity and tolerance is not nationwide as they discovered in the south. The viewer is able to see the transition of culture with each mile the two hippies make towards New Orleans. In the southwest, they are greeted and welcomed by a family and a youth commune. I believe their dinner with the farmer and his Mexican family truly touched Wyatt. It opened his eyes to the life that he wants and what life should truly be about. He is inspired by the man and his “nice set-up” by living off the land, with a family able to do his own business without interference. For Wyatt and Billy, this is their hope and dream. Wyatt’s statement shows his absolute exhaustion and anger with the culture and the mistreatment he receives. It is his discovery that he will never been accepted within such a culture upon his arrival in the South. After George’s murder, Wyatt puts his life into perspective and realizes that in fact, he did blow it. Billy and Wyatt are models of the counterculture and the South is American culture. They both are very optimistic and Wyatt’s statement shows the frustration that what he was searching for; freedom and national progress, was nonexistent and ultimately ended up murdering George, Billy and himself. Wyatt’s statement serves as “a lyric on behalf of paranoia, saying to the counter-culture: yes, you better fear those ignorant Southern fascist hard-hats.”
As stated by Klinger, “this particular film demonstrates the end of the frontier and the hopes it held for individual freedom and national progress.” I believe that they were both looking for acceptance and a reaction to their counter-cultural lifestyle. They did not find individual freedom and national progress through their traveling. They did find acceptance in many locations of the Southwest where they had stopped, but the further South they reached, the more resistance and unwelcoming responses they received. The scene at the youth commune exemplifies the acceptance I believe they were looking for, but unfortunately only found it within a small community in a remote location. The commune took them in, feeding them and welcoming them like family. Although they did not have much food, they openly without regret gave strangers food and offered them shelter. I think this experience opened Wyatt’s eyes to how the country should be, without judgment. As they traveled, they reached the conclusion that the hopes and dreams of the open road were gone and such was the tragic ending of the film with their deaths. Their quest is framed by white masculinities through their language and the way women are presented in the film. The two women at the youth commune were there only for a good time, but the audience is never able to see what kind of people they are. There are no meaningful conversations with the women or any conversations except mainly for responses to the men. A similar situation arises when the men are in New Orleans with the two prostitutes and they tell the woman “to shut up and take it” when questioning the acid that they were shown. As Klinger states, [that] “Criticism from the alternative and mainstream presses alike generally saw it as a spectacular document of its times that effectively represented the hippie ethos as well as the serious riffs between counter- and dominant cultures.”