Easy Rider – He Wasn’t Born to Follow
[Originally published as part of the “MSN Cadillac” series.]
Peter Fonda was already an icon of the counterculture when he suited up in black leather and a star-spangled helmet, mounted a Harley-Davidson chopper, tossed his watch to the desert floor and drove off with a shaggy Dennis Hopper in search of America.
The film was Easy Rider, an independent film produced by Fonda, directed by Hopper, largely scripted by cult author Terry Southern and shot on the road. The low-budget production became a countercultural shot across the bow of an out-of-touch Hollywood system. From the opening blast of the biker anthem “Born to Be Wild” to the grim disillusion of the climax, it tapped into the pulse of American youth, became a runaway hit and, for better or worse, was the defining film of a generation.
Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper looking for America
