In the intricate tapestry of existence, Man either reconciles the paradox of boundless freedom to unfurl the essence of his being or he faces his mortality

We mold our lives as we live them. However, some individuals fail to grasp the significance of their existence within their lifetime. Some people are fated to perceive their life as a meaningless haze - a sequence of fleeting moments of joy, suffering, and chaotic movements. In the 1969 film "Easy Rider," a generation's struggle with existential nihilism takes center stage. Produced during a time of profound cultural and political transformation, "Easy Rider" struck a chord with a generation grappling with their own identity. The Baby Boomers, as portrayed in "The Graduate" and "American Graffiti," endeavored to comprehend the world they were born into and the ongoing metamorphoses surrounding them. In "Easy Rider," the identity of a directionless American youth is delicately examined with refined cinematography and visual aesthetics to convey the disillusionment of an absurd, conflicted, and purposeless world.

While "Easy Rider" may be easily dismissed as a dull or disturbing film - and it certainly won't appeal to everyone - it is more appropriately described as a lengthy poem. The film revolves around two men, Wyatt and Billy, embarking on a delivery journey to Louisiana. Despite its apparent simplicity, there lies a subtle undercurrent that signifies the aimlessness of their lives. Billy remains constantly cautious, seeking to complete the delivery while taking minimal risks, whereas Wyatt exhibits a friendlier and more trusting nature towards his fellow man than he should. The film skillfully depicts America's awe-inspiring and majestic landscape, which serves as a scenic backdrop as the characters' journey unfolds. The American landscape conveys the duo's connection with nature - their earthly essence - and their own and America's alleged spirit of freedom and liberty.

However, the sense of liberty embodied by Billy and Wyatt has faded away, both in the past and present. The film is acutely aware of this and effectively communicates this message. The duo faces societal exclusion - evident through their denial of lodging at a motel, the ridicule they endure as they journey through America, and the brutal assault they endure for being outsiders in a small Louisiana town. When they seek a place to rest, they often find solace in the remnants of the Old West or the wilderness. Their time amidst the crumbling, rusted, and decaying ruins of the West carries underlying themes of loss, destruction, and a bygone era. Wyatt and Billy, as they seek solace and rejuvenation in these ruins, become intertwined with them; the film subtly suggests that they, too, are remnants of a forgotten time. As free individuals, they find themselves unwelcome in the world around them.

During their brief stay at a commune, Billy and Wyatt find themselves in the company of a substantial crowd, which is a rarity in the film. While en route to Louisiana, they encounter a hitchhiker whom they transport to the commune, where they catch a glimpse of individuals striving to forge their path in the wilderness. However, it becomes apparent that the commune is struggling, with its residents possessing little knowledge about the land; they futilely attempt to cultivate crops in sandy soil. Due to their meager agricultural yield, the commune heavily relies on handouts for sustenance. Symbolically, the commune represents the yearning of young men and women to establish an alternative world and society distinct from the one they left behind. Yet, it also reveals their profound ignorance regarding the necessary means to achieve this vision. They find themselves trapped in a dilemma - either they perish while attempting something new, lacking the expertise to succeed, or they return to the world they abandoned, becoming mere cogs in a machine that suppresses their spirits. Regrettably, the lack of experience among the commune's members likely led to the realization of the latter outcome.

After their peculiar and seemingly purposeless pool frolicking with two women from the commune, the duo departs from the small commune and coincidentally finds themselves caught in a small-town parade. As they ride their motorcycles, they follow behind the parade participants (playfully taking part), only to be unexpectedly intercepted by the local police. To their astonishment, they are bizarrely charged with "parading without a permit" and promptly thrown into jail. During their time behind bars, they encounter a young lawyer named George, who's affiliated with the ACLU. Having landed himself in jail once again after a night of excessive drinking, George possesses evident privileges, connections, and wealth that enable him to avoid his consequence's actions. Leveraging his resources, he manages to secure the release of Wyatt and Billy. Intrigued by their destination, George decides to accompany the duo on their journey to Louisiana for Mardi Gras, enticed by the opportunity to spend time in a highly esteemed brothel.

As a supporting character, George acts a conduit for the audience to grasp the film's visual poetics. With minimal plot and dialogue, each scene beckoned me to seek meaning and substance - a deliberate artistic choice made by the filmmaker. After encountering disdain from the local men and garnering attention from their women in a small town, possibly in Louisiana or the broader Southern region, the trio opts to depart rather than spend the night. While by a small campfire, George verbalizes the film's overarching message. As previously mentioned, Wyatt and Billy personify the essence of freedom, with their distinctly long or uncut hair and motorcycles. "Easy Rider" conveys the sentiment that the Baby Boomer generation, particularly during the 1960s, felt the freedom they'd been promised had perished. Society would not tolerate truly liberated individuals; everyone had to conform, become a cog in the machine, and fall in line. George solidifies the absurdity of the world through which Wyatt and Billy journey. Despite America's frequent portrayal as the "land of the free" through its expansive open spaces, wildlife, and the patriotic national motto, it hesitates to embrace freedom's essence. Instead, its people despise the free and untamed individual as a savage beast, a relic from a bygone era that must be subdued or eradicated. Poetically, as they sleep, the trio's inability to find acceptance in America becomes evident; they endure a merciless beating, and tragically, George loses his life.

Wyatt and Billy are deeply affected by George's murder, yet they persevere. Fulfilling George's wish, they ritualistically visit the New Orleans brothel he had mentioned, where they encounter two prostitutes named Mary and Karen. Feeling uneasy about the situation, Billy suggests that they explore New Orleans together during the Mardi Gras festivities. It seems that Wyatt desires to blend in with the crowd. The others agree, and they embark on their journey for the night. In what can be considered the film's most unsettling scene, the four of them decide to take LSD while in a cemetery. The spiritual and psychological struggles of Billy, Wyatt, Karen, and Mary are illustrated disturbingly in this cemetery scene. Amidst a disorienting mix of noise and incoherent statements, recurring themes emerge. The women grapple with their sense of physical identity, while the men wrestle with their relationships with the women and society. In one of the film's more lyrical moments, the group finds themselves squeezed between two mausoleums. This visual signifies the pressure America is placing upon them, depriving them of the freedom to thrive as free-spirited individuals. Consequently, they are compelled to confront their mortality.

After their time with Mary and Karen, Wyatt and Billy depart from New Orleans to resume their journey. On the eve of the film's climax, the two reflect on their trip thus far. Billy eagerly discusses his plans to buy a house in Florida with the money they've earned, while Wyatt appears deeply troubled. Wyatt's repeated utterance of the line, "We blew it," to Billy remains enigmatic. Eventually, they drift off to sleep. The following morning, as the two men ride their motorcycles along a rural road, a pickup truck pulls up beside Billy. A repulsive man insults Billy about his hair and shoots at him with a shotgun, resulting in Billy crashing his motorcycle. Wyatt swiftly turns back and reaches Billy, now covered in blood. Reverently, Wyatt places his iconic American flag jacket over Billy's lifeless body, vowing to seek help while Billy expresses his desire for vengeance against their assailants. Continuing his journey down the road, one of the men fires another shot, causing Wyatt to be thrown from his vehicle as his motorcycle is engulfed in flames.

As embodiments of freedom, Billy and Wyatt seek a place within an America that rejects them. They rebel against a system that enforces conformity, symbolized by their unconventional long hair. However, their journey lacks purpose. As young men, they find themselves trapped in a world of hedonistic pleasures, aimless wanderings, and quiet nights. They harbor dreams of attaining wealth or at least enough to settle down and embark on a meaningful pursuit, but their lives appear devoid of significance generally. The quest for meaning becomes apparent when they visit the brothel. While observing the artwork and architecture, Wyatt comes across a sign that reads: "Death only closes a man’s reputation and determines it as good or bad."  Although Wyatt and Billy's lives may appear meaningless, their true worth and quality are determined by the legacy they leave behind after departing from this world. While these men yearn for freedom as portrayed in the film, their concept of freedom is unbounded and without restraint. Without boundaries, they are doomed to confront their mortal nature with despair. While the society they abandoned may have been demanding and conformist, the alternative Billy and Wyatt present is disheartening and futile. Like the commune they visit, no genuine life can arise from the endeavors of Wyatt and Billy.

Wyatt and Billy embody the enigmatic and primal realm when viewed through a traditionalist lens. They are earthly men who resonate with nature and the vast landscapes of America. Their unbridled spirit, symbolized by the motorcycle, Wyatt's jacket, and galloping, wild horses across expansive plains, portrays a restless identity; a pleasure-seeking, hedonistic identity that finds solace only in the embrace of nature's mysterious depths or amidst decaying ruins reclaimed by nature's forces. In a somewhat propagandistic manner, the film portrays those who oppose Wyatt and Billy in an unflattering light. The men who scorn them for their unconventional appearance, expel them from town, and ultimately bring about their demise are far from aesthetically pleasing. The film's creators purposefully depict their killers as repulsively unattractive, underscoring the horror of their fate and the tragic nature of their existence.

Nevertheless, the inherent void that plagues these men, the aspect they are fleeing from above all else, is a profound absence of responsibility and discipline. The film's aimlessness, occasionally resulting in dullness, reflects Billy's and Wyatt's lack of direction and purpose. However, we must regard their purposelessness as a consequence of their choices. While we may feel sympathy for the duo, they bear a certain level of accountability for their suffering, unlike many other tragic figures. Tragic heroes are forced into circumstances that seal their fate generally, typically due to some inherent flaw in their character or the quality of their birth. Although Wyatt and Billy possess such a flaw -- they are free-spirited individuals in a seemingly oppressive world -- they also possess the freedom to lead lives that promote their well-being. If we argue that they were incapable of living a virtuous life and instead were predetermined to live a life devoid of meaning or goodness, then we cannot say they were truly free. If they are supposed to epitomize the spirit of freedom, they fall short in conveying such a notion. At best, Wyatt and Billy embody a spirit of licentiousness and rebellion rather than genuine freedom; they mistake the former two for the latter, becoming slaves to their desires and meeting their ultimate demise. By shirking self-discipline and personal responsibility, Billy and Wyatt were destined for a futile and purposeless fate.

I've noticed a recurring theme in films from the Baby Boomer generation: a struggle with identity. The Boomers grappled with understanding their identity, societal impact, and how society influenced them. Their purposelessness is often concealed with psychedelics, drugs, women, and various indulgences. While "The Graduate" explores one man's triumph over the entanglements created by these darker and alluring forces, films like "Animal House," "American Graffiti," and particularly "Easy Rider" depicts how the principalities of temptation and seduction overpower the main characters, with a few exceptions such as Curtis and Steve in "American Graffiti." "Easy Rider" marks itself as a film that vividly portrays the consequences of men abandoning their traditions, societal obligations, and duties for hedonistic pleasures and licentious freedom. While it can be emotionally impactful when viewed from a specific perspective, above all, "Easy Rider" is a stark reminder for men today not to forsake responsibility in pursuit of purposeless indulgence.

If a man's worth is measured by the fullness of his life, it becomes evident that Wyatt and Billy's life choices and actions lacked virtue, implying they were not good individuals. Dismissing their deaths as meaningless would undermine the profound significance of their life's outcome. Their tragic demise holds a deep and poignant meaning that shouldn't be overlooked. It symbolizes the culmination of two men, whom I genuinely empathize with, who willingly embraced a life characterized by fleeting pleasures, instant gratification, and a juvenile pursuit of thrills, instead of embracing a path that would foster their personal growth and fulfillment. The tragic irony of Wyatt and Billy's story lies in their failure to recognize the promising opportunities for a good life presented early in the film. When seeking help for their broken bikes at the nearby ranch, they encountered a man who had chosen to settle down with his wife, raise a loving family, and build something meaningful for himself. While Wyatt acknowledges the merits of such a lifestyle, he tragically fails to realize that such a life was tangible not merely an ideal. Instead, he stubbornly adheres to his plan of delivering the goods to Louisiana, oblivious to the meaningful possibilities that lie before him. The truth is that Wyatt and Billy always had the opportunity to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives, but they consciously chose to forego it for immediate gratification and short-lived thrills.