The 1969 movie entitled Easy Rider was really famous at the time. Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and a young Jack Nicholson starred in it. At the time it was viewed as earth shaking, maybe even revolutionary. It was the first movie which openly discussed and advocated smoking marijuana and long hair on men, and the perils of the not so bright, closed minded southern red necks.
The story is about two small time drug dealers who ride their motorcycles across America. Along the way they have various adventures including experiencing the good and the bad of a commune, being thrown in a red neck jail, and eventually getting gunned down by a dumb ass southern good-ole-boy.
I saw the movie back when it was fresh, and now forty one years later I just finished it again. I had forgotten that in some ways it was a musical. But not with Broadway singers, rather the popular druggie music of the time along with scenic shots of their trip across the southwest.
Some books and movies age very well. Others not so well. I am surprised at how amateurish this movie seems now. Most of the things we thought we believed in back then have not panned out well. Actually we were just a bunch of mostly lazy stoners. Our thoughts about peace, equality of the races and sexes, and saving the environment certainly have not played out well at all. The forces of evil have won over – solidly won. You might say that the rich, closed minded, red neck bastards kicked our asses.
LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider
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