I had seen
Easy Rider about 20 years ago for the first time. I remember being impressed
with the film and recently for some reason I wanted to watch the film again.
What I
mostly remembered from last time was the tragic ending and the shots of the
landscapes and the motorcycles. The story is about 2 men, Wyatt and Billy,
riding their motorcycle and living a lifestyle of cruising around the Southern
part of the United States. What struck me this time was that the story begins
with the men successfully closing a big drugs deal. I had completely forgotten
that part. They purchase a large quantity of cocaine in Latin America and then
resell that at a much higher price to a buyer in the States. Within successfully
striking this deal they have apparently won their freedom because now they have
enough money to live their cruising lifestyle for many years to come.
I thought
this was an interesting twist at the beginning of the film, because in a way
the movie is all about having the courage to be free and live a
lifestyle that is substantially different from the norms of society, but in
reality there is no actual solution offered in regards to ‘how’ to be free,
because indeed the main problem is that one need income in order to live. Hence,
one way to look at the beginning of the film is that they successfully bought
their freedom, but another way to look at it is that they actually sold their
integrity and did not actually create a real point of freedom that one can
learn from.
I
did enjoy the spirit of the film I must say and the sense of adventure
of just cruising and Wyatt and Billy just going where they feel like and
enjoying their bikes. There is an actual point of openness and peacefulness
within the film. It is basically approaching life as an experiment, which is
what it should be and not something that is set in stone through laws,
traditions and customs.
So, the
question then remains – how to be an Easy Rider? Do you have to close a drugs
deal or win the lottery? Because, despite all the creativity underpinning this
film, the answer to that question was not very creative. I would say, based on
my personal experience, that being an Easy Rider is based not on having won
some kind of lottery, but on who you are as a person. And here an ‘Easy Rider’
is not to be taken literally as is depicted in the film, but in a metaphorical
sense. Because one ingredient that made the film very compelling is Wyatt’s
attitude towards life. Had he not been as ‘calm’, ‘relaxed’, ‘grounded’, ‘open’
and ‘caring’ throughout the story, then the film would not have been such a
success.In a way he was like a
Siddhartha on a motorcycle.
So back to
the question how to practically be an Easy Rider in this world? I would say
that one Key is to walk with a certain ‘detachment’ in this world. It does not
matter then whether you have a motorcycle or not, or whether you have a lot of
money or not, or even on what kind of job you have. To walk with a certain
‘detachment’ would mean that you have a rather ‘practical’ relationship with
the things in your world without being ‘consumed’ by the things that you
require to be able to operate and function. Most people will require a job or
have to be self-employed in order to have any form of stability in their lives,
hence being ‘detached’ within that would mean that you express yourself within
your job in a manner that honours your best potential, but nonetheless you
would not allow your job to define ‘who you are’. You have a practical
relationship with it. You can then also have a practical relationship with
money. You know that you need it, but you don’t have to be consumed by it.
But wasn’t
Easy Rider also about being adventurous and bold in life? Yes, I would say so.
I personally have started experiencing adventurousness and boldness when I
started traveling in recent years. In the past I thought traveling to be an
unnecessary ‘luxury’. And with ‘traveling’ here I mean really going somewhere
for the sake of exploring a new place and experiencing things that I have not
seen or experienced before. What I like about this kind of traveling is that my
relationship with people changes – they are not ‘there’ as part of the
wallpaper, but actual people I can interact with, hang out with and learn from.
I would say that my relationship with people in general has changed. I used to
be very rigid and keeping people at bay, whereas now I more easily let someone
into my world and my reality. For me that is being adventurous, because in
moments I have to trust myself that it is ok to place my trust in this or that
person for a moment. I am sure there are many other ways of living the word
‘adventurousness’ – if you feel like sharing your own examples why not leave a
comment?
