"We blew it!"
As stated by David Laderman in his work Driving Vision,
“It is the end of the road; it is the end of being on the road; and it is the end of wanting to be on the road”(Laderman 77). This observation fully encapsulates the final statement “We blew it” by Wyatt in Easy Rider by stating the end and being defeated. This powerful declaration symbolizes and states how both Wyatt and Billy were unable to glorify the counter-culture declaration by them by taking to the road and living a lifestyle opposite of what America stood for in the 1960s. From the beginning of the film, we are given the images of how these two men embark on the land to not only discover America, but to start the life they have always wanted to. The image of the two of them at the beginning of the film, getting on their bikes, Wyatt throwing away the symbolism of time and constraint set by society through the watch, and riding away together begins the overall emphasis of counter-culture by going against how most in society and America live. This beginning is also enhanced by the rock song “Born to be Wild” by having the image of them on their new life adventure together in connection with the words of the song, to enhance the overall connection of living and going against the norm. Throughout the movie they live their new life they way they have always wanted to, continuing to stat how they finally are able to do things according to how they have wanted. The life of freedom, drugs, women, and the overall ambition of not having to answer to anyone. The two men however are challenged various times by catching up with society and its conservative values along the way, by being arrested, ridiculed, and attacked for living their lives they have been on the road. In the end, however, Wyatt realizes they were unable to live the life they wanted and the life they felt they belonged to wasn’t real, in addition to realizing the life they felt they belonged to wasn’t truly for them, is where Wyatt makes the statement and observation “we blew it!” Although the statement at the end of the film “we blew it!” is never fully understood or elaborated due to the sudden end of the all-American road trip by society Wyatt and Billy were getting away from, there are many interpretations to be made about what can be deemed the most profound words spoken within the film Easy Rider.