Fun with Tivo: What the hell happened to Peter Fonda?
August 17th, 2008 at 1:45 am
If you smoked enough pot in college, as I did, you probably watched Easy Rider at some point. Taken on its own merit without the benefit of generational context, it’s pretty unwatchable after the first ten minutes or so. But that’s not really the point. It was part of that wave of late sixties films with anti-heroes who died at the end, and is important for its square-jolting qualities. A lot of upstanding people found out what the dirty hippies were up to by watching this movie, and it terrified many of them. That’s pretty cool.
The anti-hero in Easy Rider was Captain America, played by Peter Fonda. His sidekick was Dennis “I don’t even remember filming Apocolypse Now” Hopper. They rode big fucking Harleys through the countryside with Steppenwolf roaring in the background, smoked a lot of pot, dropped acid, sold cocaine, slept in communes, camped out, and generally were out to show the squares there was, like, totally a better way man. And to find America along the way. Or something.
As I mentioned earlier, I think Easy Rider gets kind of unwatchable to me after the first ten minutes or so, at least when I’m sober. But the intro sequence was pretty fucking cool:
They pound you in the face with metaphors. Watch as Captain America pushes drug money through a plastic tube into a gas tank painted like an American flag. I bet you could write a pretty decent thesis paper on just that one shot. Even if it wasn’t a good thesis, at least you’d have an excuse to smoke a bowl.
Agree with me? Not? Doesn’t matter, because regardless of my or your opinion, Easy Rider and Captain America have become cultural fixtures which have spawned much discussion, imitation and parody. They represent ideals which have long since died, but which are remembered fondly by a lot of people.
Which is what makes this advertisement I ripped off my Tivo so fucking sad:
The anti-hero in Easy Rider was Captain America, played by Peter Fonda. His sidekick was Dennis “I don’t even remember filming Apocolypse Now” Hopper. They rode big fucking Harleys through the countryside with Steppenwolf roaring in the background, smoked a lot of pot, dropped acid, sold cocaine, slept in communes, camped out, and generally were out to show the squares there was, like, totally a better way man. And to find America along the way. Or something.
As I mentioned earlier, I think Easy Rider gets kind of unwatchable to me after the first ten minutes or so, at least when I’m sober. But the intro sequence was pretty fucking cool:
They pound you in the face with metaphors. Watch as Captain America pushes drug money through a plastic tube into a gas tank painted like an American flag. I bet you could write a pretty decent thesis paper on just that one shot. Even if it wasn’t a good thesis, at least you’d have an excuse to smoke a bowl.
Agree with me? Not? Doesn’t matter, because regardless of my or your opinion, Easy Rider and Captain America have become cultural fixtures which have spawned much discussion, imitation and parody. They represent ideals which have long since died, but which are remembered fondly by a lot of people.
Which is what makes this advertisement I ripped off my Tivo so fucking sad:
