Counterculture and Easy Rider

Easy Rider visibly portrays the realities and fantasies of the counterculture movement in the late 1960s in several ways.
    At the beginning of the film, we find out that heroes Wyatt (Captain America) and Billy are involved in the drug business as they appear to be selling for a large amount of cash that will ultimately take them to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. The drug movement was one of the main assets of 1960s counterculture in which experimentation and use for spiritual purposes [or any purpose] were encouraged. Especially around the time of the late 60s, the Haight-Ashbury craze in San Francisco, California was so influential that those who returned to their Eastern homes brought the Haight-Ashbury mentality with them, leading the drug movement to spread across America. Drugs remain to be ever-present throughout the movie as Wyatt and Billy take a road trip and stop at a commune where they are given LSD, one of the most mind-altering and common drugs used during that time (in which the cemetery scene illustrates).
    Once the boys travel further East and befriend George Hanson, they introduce him to marijuana, probably the most popular drug that many claim “leads to harder stuff.” Other than the use of drugs, the 60s counterculture movement was also reflected in the rock and roll music used in the film. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Steppenwolf and The Byrds [just to name a few] were all included in the Easy Rider soundtrack. The Byrds’ song “I Wasn’t Born To Follow” reflects the mentality of the hippie counterculture as a whole since the main belief of the hippies or “white negroes” was to stop submitting to popular culture and social norms and to simply “do what makes you happy.” The hippies were against America’s materialistic and straight society, and they wanted to live by their own principles which included free love and ultimate freedom to do what you want as long as it doesn’t harm others. This mindset can be reflected in the commune in the film...