Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 11:53:12 -0400
Reply-to: sixties-l@jefferson.village.virginia.edu
From: J_Andrew@ACAD.FANDM.EDU (John Andrew)
To: Multiple recipients of list <sixties-l@jefferson.village.virginia.edu>
Subject: Re: Easy Rider
> Well, I uncovered my copy of Easy Rider (the movie) yesterday
>and popped it in the vcr for immediate viewing...I had a quick question(s)
>for list participants...
>
> 1. Your impression of the movie.
>
i thought the movie was part of the marketing of the 60s counterculture. it was pretty superficial and exploitative in its own way. it
carried no greater meaning as far as i was concerned.
coke and heroin dealers are still a plague.
marty
(2)
Sender: 00aoedmonds@bsuvc.bsu.edu
Subject: Re: Easy Rider
I've inadvertently deleted some of the __Easy Rider__ responses, so I apologize
if this is repetitious. I've always seen the film as essentially a comment
on drugs. The great journey is compromised from the beginning since it is
financed by a drug sale (which presumambly is hard stuff, not grass). Billy
and Captain America are sleezy dealers. Remember the anthem at the beginning:
"Goddamn the pusher man." John Andrews is right, I think, in that they
"blew" the search for freedom. But it was blown from the beginning. They
didn't deserve to get blown away. They should have spent a few years in a
Mexican jail, however.
Tony Edmonds
Ball State Univ.
(3)
Sender: Kent Manno <kmanno@gti.net>
Subject: Re: Easy Rider
>> 2. At the end of the movie when Peter Fonda says: "We blew it"
>> what exactly does he mean...? His life...their life...???
>>
>>Kent
>I always thought it referred to their effort to find "freedom" - and the
>film's use of many related symbols - drugs, the road, etc. - and, of
>course, they did not find freedom- BTW, my students (and I) love the Jack
>Nicholson character, not only because it's a young JN but because of the
>dialogue -
I would agree...they did not find freedom...This might be why Fonda
says "We blew it"
I too like the Nicholson character.
Kent
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Kent Manno
Chairman, Department of History
Delbarton School
Morristown, NJ
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