Peter Fonda’s 'Easy Rider': A Legacy of Immorality
I do not know the man; however, I cannot help but think over the legacy of Peter Fonda’s most prominent and remembered film Easy Rider. All that I’ve seen in social media and print concerning Fonda is the acclaimed film Easy Rider and his more recent scandals involving foul comments on Twitter. For those purporting their faith in Christ Jesus, this legacy is astoundingly bleak.
The film Easy Rider showcased in 1969 as the quintessence of the counterculture movement already in full-effect. This was the display of a contagion already infecting the American youth and young adults (note, the drugs used in the film were real). Easy Rider explained, in unapologetic fashion, that historical orthodoxy and morality were no longer necessary or viable options for the American dream.
It is vital that those thinking over this movie in 2019 remember what preceded its production. Peter Fonda appeared in the movie The Trip in 1967, a movie portraying the enlivening (and erotic) effects of LSD on a disheveled man’s psyche. This same year, The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde also hit theaters. These three films all coalesce into the grandiose idea that what was once taboo should now be seen as enlightened, or at least permissible. Morality, as we knew it, can no longer lay its clean paws on the future citizens of America. This specific counterculture showed that violent romance, unhinged sexuality, and recreational drug use are key, viable options for Fonda’s demographic. These are not suggestions, but ideas to be paraded and indoctrinated for the sake of self-exploration.
Summer 1967 is etched in America’s history as “The Summer of Love” due to a stand-in within Southern California’s Haight-Ashbury district. Young and restless outcasts, drug-peddlers, homeless, and all sorts of disenfranchised came together in upwards of 100k to proclaim freedom from the bondage of morality. Peace was the watchword, nothing would stand in the way. Inevitably, these folks became increasingly unhappy due to their overwhelming the native communities’ facilities. This population created disorder and chaos. Increased policing was necessary because of internal problems; there was no screening or vetting of individual participants. Those who lived for this short season within Haight-Ashbury experienced a wide spectrum of consequences for the sake of the dogma of “peace”.
The Summer of Love is often remembered fondly; however, its reality shows that boundaries must always be set when groups of people are brought together in any capacity. No one can truly escape morality without consequence. We would do well to investigate the purpose of Easy Rider (as well as its 1967 context and companion pieces) and its trickling effects in our modern day.
What is the legacy left from 1967s most acclaimed films and summer riot? What is offered in the culmination of this counterculture philosophy portrayed in Easy Rider? Is Fonda’s portrayal just a typical anti-hero, or is this something with far deeper effects in the psyche of American youth? As Christians we might consider how such a legacy stacks up against Psalm 78:1-8. Is this a legacy we want our children to desire of us, or for themselves?