Analysis of Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider

Analysis of Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider

The movie “Easy Rider” revolves around two bikers making a trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans, to attend Mardi Gras. The first scene in the film involves the two main characters selling a good amount of cocaine to a man in Rolls Royce. After the drug deal the bikers begin their journey to Mardi Gras, but not before one of them removes his watch and throws it on the ground. I found this indicative of his pursuit of freedom, because time serves only to constrain us. Once on the road you learn that their names are Wyatt and Billy, an obvious reference to Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid who are considered American legends, as well as outlaws. Wyatt rides a chopper with the stars and stripes on the gas tank and on his helmet while sporting the now cliché leather jacket. Billy is dressed up like a cowboy; he is wearing all tan leather with a wide brim hat. Also throughout the movie Billy refers to Wyatt as Captain America. All of these things serve to ingrain the belief that they embody the American dream which is to earn enough money to pursue your dream. It just so happens that their dream is freedom, the same belief that led to the creation of the United States.

The two of them go through a series of adventures, first stopping off at a motel where they're rejected, regardless of the glowing vacancy sign. They leave the motel and camp out in the wilderness. At a point, Wyatt's bike gets a flat, and they stop at a farm to fix it. It is at this point that the film makes a comparison of the bikers to cowboys.

As Wyatt is fixing his tire a man in the background is shoeing his horse. This is obviously making the point that Wyatt is the new version of the cowboy and his chopper is the new cowboy’s steed. During this scene there is an exchange between Wyatt and the were Wyatt tells the farmer how much he admires his farm because he built it with his own hands. This is the first time that you get an idea of Wyatt’s values.

As they continue their journey they pick up a hitchhiker. A discussion between the three of them reveals that the hiker was from a city, but he refuses to say which it was, as he believes that all of them are the same. This is an idea that was brought out in the 60s culture, that the idea of big business, which the city represented, was a way of losing one's identity. In this discussion about identity...

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...t and Billy take the prostitutes out on the streets for Mardi Gras, then to a cemetery for an acid trip.

After leaving the brothel Wyatt and Billy get into a conversation where Billy talks about how they've got the big money, how they're free. Wyatt disagrees, and says, "We blew it." There are several things that this can tie in to, and it mostly has to do with the fact that Wyatt really wasn't on this trip to make the money or to reach Florida really, for him it was a "Quest For Lost America". Wyatt realizes that they aren't free, and also realizes that the world that they live in will never allow them to be truly free because true freedom scares people. The line “We blew it” is a reference to Wyatt’s afterthought that he would have been truly happy if he had stayed on the commune. He realizes that he blew his chance for happiness.

Then the end of the movie comes when Wyatt and Billy are killed by rednecks in a truck. The killing of Wyatt and Billy makes them martyrs. After Billy is shot, Wyatt hops on his bike and ride right past the truck that shot Billy. He had to know that they would shoot him as well but he realized that death was the only way he could truly be free.