"They're not scared of you. They're scared of what you represent to 'em... What you represent to them is freedom."
Counterculture. Hippies. Drugs. Sex. Rock and roll. Motorcycles. That isn't some kind of cliche wording to describe Easy Rider. Those words are literally what this film is about. The movie is basically a buddy road trip movie that rejects the conventional norms of Hollywood cinema, no real story, characters we don't know that much about, long periods of just riding on the highway, even longer periods of hippies having philosophical discussions while high. In many ways this is almost like one of those European art house, French New Wave type movies. It is somewhat fitting that the film is shot in this manner because it goes with the counterculture theme of the film and time period.
Two hippie bikers Wyatt and Billy smuggle drugs out of Mexico and go on a cross country trip on their bikes, eventually deciding to hit up Mardi Gras. It is very episodic in feel. No one thing directly leads to another; the film is just random chapters of their journey, little amusing anecdotes here and there. It's hard to really say anything about the two guys themselves to be honest. They're just a couple of hippies.
I really, really wish I was paying more attention to the film because I could tell it was pretty good. Sometimes it is easy to start doing other things during these kind of movies because you feel like you won't be missing much, when in fact you miss a lot of it since Easy Rider is all about mood and feel. I've been trying really hard during this stretch to give the movies my full attention but it can be pretty difficult at times especially when you have other things on your mind. So because of that I don't really have a lot to add to this film. I feel really bad for not giving this movie a more fair chance, but I did like what I saw, though I suppose if I really liked it I would have paid more attention. Sorry for the really crappy write-up.
Grade: B
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