I'm amazed that lots of the negative reviews focus on the drugs. This movie does not promote drugs. Fonda portrays a self-absorbed, aloof thinking stoner; I knew several back in the 70's. But Hopper acts more like a tweaker than a pot smoker. The movie shows some of the aspects of life in the 60's, but like anything, it's limited in scope. We see a trip back east on motorcycles of two hippies who made money from drugs. Like a pleasing work of art, we get to view some good scenery in several of the types of desert in our southern states. We get to see an interracial couple with kids inviting the bikers to dinner. Then a hitchhiker takes us to a commune. I almost joined a commune in the 70's and even if this looked like a failure of human experiments, it was a beautiful one. As if people can't see that capitalism is STILL AN EXPERIMENT. And it's not in the greatest shape right now. Of course, to keep the movie watchable to the masses and acceptable to the promoters (who are mostly from the big cities on the coasts) we saw these guys get into trouble in little towns of the south. Just so people don't start to believe that this is the way of the entire south, redneck, prejudiced slime buckets exist everywhere on this planet. There is a town I won't name in Michigan that reminds me of that line from another movie, "you sure got a pretty mouth". Because of the close relations of people in small towns, if a couple, or a few total as*h*l** get into positions of power, the town can be unsafe to people from elsewhere. The movie does often require us to suspend our belief, but it was an experimental film. Generally, the movie shows the problems involved with 'so-called' freedom and escapist drugs. It shows what closed mindedness can cause some people to do. After seeing the movie when I was young, I was 10 when it was made, I believed until my adult years that long hair and a liberal attitude in the south would get you shot. Fortunately, on my business trips to Texas, Louisiana, etc., where I had some free time to explore, I discovered something completely different. Open-minded, thinking, caring people are everywhere and my own San Francisco Bay Area has plenty of rednecks. The movie is a good portrayal of types of people, scenery, and great music. And Hopper does act more like an amphetamine snorter. Hollywood never quite has the real world down. But then, Hollywood, and the people in the limelight there, are rarely in the real world.
Review of Easy Rider
