Easy Rider (1969): Death to Non-Conformity

The year’s 1969, the world (most specifically America) is going though drastic changes. The hippie “free love” movement is coming to an end, leading the country down more of a conformist path. With such events as The Manson Murders and The Moon Landing, America and the world as a whole were heading away from the non conformist ways the hippie movement was pushing for throughout most of the 1960s. Easy Rider shows off this shift pretty well. The characters are trying to keep the idea of freedom and free love alive as they travel to Mardi Gras. The scene in the diner shows off the dynamic pretty well. The three men go in to get a bite, and get more than they asked for. The fellow patrons send judging stares and remarks their way, showing society’s views on the freedom movement during the end of the era commonly known as the “Swingin 60s”. Jack Nicholson’s character brings up the fact that people are not scared of the person, but the idea as they talk after the diner scene. The members against the freedom movement during 1969 where not scared of the person themselves, they were scared of the idea that they saw as pure anarchy. The idea of people living in freedom and doing whatever the hell they wanted scared many people. After the Kennedy assassination in 1968, people in America were looking to be protected. They didn’t feel safe in the country, and some saw the freedom movement as a breach of safety. At the end of the film, the two leads are killed by men in a truck. This shows people hesitant of the changes and trying to kill off the idea of “the freedom movement”. The country was looking for a new approach to life and saw the hippies as if they were destroying that safety with their ideals. In 1969, the country was drastically changing and closing their minds to the idea of the freedom movement. Another example of a film that covers the drastic change in America during 1969 is “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”. Tarantino beautifully paints the change of pace through the way Dicaprio saw hippies and the dying acting career that both Dicaprio and Bitt felt throughout the film’s duration. The world was changing and Rick Dalton was not ready for it. Rick Dalton in “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” is exactly like the guys in the restaurant. He saw the hippies as a dramatic change to his conservative ways he was used to. Easy Rider definitely showed off the times and how they were drastically changing during the year of 1969. That’s why the film won many awards and was well respected during audiences. Easy Rider brought light to both sides of the drastic changes during 1969 in America, and people related to it.