Easy Rider

A film about two heroin dealers who take the

profits from their last sale and motorcycle

across America, looking for meaning to their

lives, to a background sound track of

contemporary rock-music hitsà..the filmà.captured

the imagination of young audiences who identified

the cyclersÆ rootlessness and alienation from

American society with their own (Sklar 302).

The two cyclers represent the drop-out philosophy of many young people of their generation, a philosophy based on rejection of the materialism and paranoia in American society, anti-Vietnam War protests, drug use, the hippie life style of ôfreedomö expressed in long hair and unconventional (sometimes outrageous) clothing. In commenting on the period in which the film is set, film historian Jack C. Ellis states that:

young people in large numbers disassociated themselves from what they regarded as their parentsÆ too exclusive concern with material accumulation; lack of honesty and decency in dealing with each otherà.(young people) signaled their solidarity by letting their hair grow,à. (and) refusal to assume the expected roles of wage earners. (382).

The movie, however, is not about the generation gap, but the

. . .
omorrow, it gives you a whole new way of looking at lifeö to which George replies, ôWell, I sure could use a little of that.ö Billy and Wyatt drive to California in their old, white panel truck, sell the drugs to their buyer at LAX, and receive the moneyùtheir ôgrub stakeö-- that will finance their road trip. With a quick cut, the audience understands that the truck has been sold and two chopper-type motorcycles bought. Wyatt glances at the time on his wristwatch, then takes it off and throws it away, and the freedom journey begins. The motorcycles represent the freedom of the open road, and HopperÆs use of American flags as design represents the characters search for the American Dream before it was distorted by a materialistic, greedy, narrow society that prized status and money over freedom and self-expression. The insignia of Captain America is sewn on the back of WyattÆs jacket, all over the helmets of Wyatt and Billy, and the handle bars of their motorcycles are red and white stripes, blue fields and white stars. The use of the flag to decorate their bikes is not meant to be sacrilegious but to emphasize their journey as a search for the America that ôused to be a helluva good country. I canÆt understand whatÆs gone wron
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1480
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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