Easy Rider – Formalistic Editing and Meaning
Dennis Hopper injects many different cinematic styles; notably his use of editing and camera movement throughout the film resulting in the counter-culture flavored film Easy Rider. From the establishing shot of Wyatt tossing away his gold watch- literally tossing time away- to the cuts of him (Wyatt) and ‘the Kid’ about to depart cross-country on their Harley’s, he sets the theme of freedom in America and personal discovery. There is spacial continuity in several scenes such as the long shots when Wyatt is changing tires in the barn cut with the shots of the farmer changing the shoe on his horse, symbolizing the quest for freedom and a new frontier. Camera angles and lighting are used well to capture the feeling of freedom using telephoto lenses and dolly shots as seen in the bike/road scenes as they embark on their quest seeking a n . . .
In the film, the long hair, the wild clothes, the drug use, etc caused the discrimination of Wyatt and the Kid, not the drug use per se but the look they had, their mannerisms and what they represented- this went against the status quo. The cultural meaning, the ideological theme of Easy Rider was about freedom, rebellion and the 60’s counterculture. During the 60’s many people became dismayed with the Government, it rules and what it symbolized. The varying camera angles, quick cuts and zooms distort the scene in the graveyard to mimic an LSD trip. Liberty's become a whore and we're all taking an easy ride. He was seen as an outcast and would have been outcast save his prominent father. Young people tried to change society and rebel against the status quo. The only freedom, as Wyatt and the Kid show us, is through death. We can even look at the Nicholson-cast character of the drunken small town attorney. This scene symbolizes that using ‘hard’ drugs will lead to death. I think it had both symptomatic and implicit meaning. As we see the final arial shot of the road and the burning bike we know and realize that the carefree ideology the 60’s counterculture generation represented was gone. As Peter Fonda (producer of Easy Rider) was quoted as saying "That's what happened to America, man.
Common topics in this essay:
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