It also left an impression on me. I shared a room with him and my other older brother Jim. On the wall next to the shelf with the 8-track player was a long hor
izontal poster of Hopper and Peter Fonda gliding along the highway on their choppers with the Southwest landscape behind them. Fonda with his American Flag custom paint job, no helmet, hair in the wind. Hopper with his mustache, bushman hat, and buckskin pants and tassle-covered coat. I would lie in bed listening to the Stones, Doors or Jefferson Airplane coming from Richard's or Jim's headphones and stare at the poster. Fonda and Hopper. Both wearing sunglasses, leaning back, on the road. They were the picture of cool. I often fell asleep imagining where they were riding to. I could almost hear the engines.
It was several years until I actually got to see the movie. There were no R-rated DVDs for kids to watch when their parents were at work when I was 8. No On Demand. You either snuck into the theater or waited -- for years. I was a little too young for sneaking. But just looking at that poster every night slowly made me part of the "Easy Rider" faithful.
When I finally did watch it, Hopper's Billy was like no other character I had seen. Hopper was like no other actor. I would see many characters like Billy again from those who Hopper inspired to do their acting over the edge. Jack Nicholson was one of those actors. His drunken ACLU lawyer George attracted most of the attention (and Oscar nomination) and sparked a legendary career. But it was Hopper's Billy that I remembered after leaving the theater. The actor's most famous lines come from his roles in "Apocalypse Now" and "Blue Velvet,'' but it was Billy's line in the scene with George in the darkness of night -- only a campfire reflecting on their faces -- that I think of first.
Nicholson's George tells Billy the establishment is afraid of what he and his friends represent. Billy says "Hey man. All we represent to them, man, is just somebody who needs haircuts.'' Oh no, man, George tells him. What they represent to them is freedom. Billy answers with one of my favorite movie lines and one that captures the late '60s/early '70s as well as any lyric or line from that time.
"What the hell's wrong with freedom, man? That's what it's all about."
Hopper's death the other day had me watching bits of "Apocalypse Now" and "Heart of Darkness" for some of his best moments. It also had me watching another classic clip of his that many have probably not seen -- or at least don't remember seeing. And here is where this post fits in on a tailgating blog.
Hopper's career suffered at the hands of his over-the-edge style. He took his visions -- even the non-drug induced ones -- too far and became too big of a hassle to deal with. He was in exile most of the '70s. He returned in the '80s with "Rumblefish" and "Blue Velvet" and "Hoosiers" and then became the movie villain of the '90s starting with his role in "Speed." It was at this time that the NFL brought him in to do little promo videos for Monday Night Football and other big games. Some of them rank among the best in TV shorts. My favorite (attached below) is the one he did before the Patriots home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers in September of 2002. That was quite a night. One of the all-time greats in Foxborough: http://tjtailgatetales.blogspot.com/2009/11/we-are-champions.html The Pats were defending their first Super Bowl on a Thursday night in their new stadium. The banner was raised. The Steelers destroyed. I got home late that night and, as I often do, popped open a beer and popped in the video tape of the game.
I fast-forwarded through the pre-game talk till I saw a blurry Dennis Hopper going by. I stopped and hit rewind. Then play. I still laugh when I watch it. It captures just how amazing it was that the Patriots really won the Super Bowl. And note the very end. Hopper predicts the Patriots dynasty. "Every year, man! Every year!"
izontal poster of Hopper and Peter Fonda gliding along the highway on their choppers with the Southwest landscape behind them. Fonda with his American Flag custom paint job, no helmet, hair in the wind. Hopper with his mustache, bushman hat, and buckskin pants and tassle-covered coat. I would lie in bed listening to the Stones, Doors or Jefferson Airplane coming from Richard's or Jim's headphones and stare at the poster. Fonda and Hopper. Both wearing sunglasses, leaning back, on the road. They were the picture of cool. I often fell asleep imagining where they were riding to. I could almost hear the engines.It was several years until I actually got to see the movie. There were no R-rated DVDs for kids to watch when their parents were at work when I was 8. No On Demand. You either snuck into the theater or waited -- for years. I was a little too young for sneaking. But just looking at that poster every night slowly made me part of the "Easy Rider" faithful.
When I finally did watch it, Hopper's Billy was like no other character I had seen. Hopper was like no other actor. I would see many characters like Billy again from those who Hopper inspired to do their acting over the edge. Jack Nicholson was one of those actors. His drunken ACLU lawyer George attracted most of the attention (and Oscar nomination) and sparked a legendary career. But it was Hopper's Billy that I remembered after leaving the theater. The actor's most famous lines come from his roles in "Apocalypse Now" and "Blue Velvet,'' but it was Billy's line in the scene with George in the darkness of night -- only a campfire reflecting on their faces -- that I think of first.
Nicholson's George tells Billy the establishment is afraid of what he and his friends represent. Billy says "Hey man. All we represent to them, man, is just somebody who needs haircuts.'' Oh no, man, George tells him. What they represent to them is freedom. Billy answers with one of my favorite movie lines and one that captures the late '60s/early '70s as well as any lyric or line from that time.
"What the hell's wrong with freedom, man? That's what it's all about."
Hopper's death the other day had me watching bits of "Apocalypse Now" and "Heart of Darkness" for some of his best moments. It also had me watching another classic clip of his that many have probably not seen -- or at least don't remember seeing. And here is where this post fits in on a tailgating blog.
Hopper's career suffered at the hands of his over-the-edge style. He took his visions -- even the non-drug induced ones -- too far and became too big of a hassle to deal with. He was in exile most of the '70s. He returned in the '80s with "Rumblefish" and "Blue Velvet" and "Hoosiers" and then became the movie villain of the '90s starting with his role in "Speed." It was at this time that the NFL brought him in to do little promo videos for Monday Night Football and other big games. Some of them rank among the best in TV shorts. My favorite (attached below) is the one he did before the Patriots home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers in September of 2002. That was quite a night. One of the all-time greats in Foxborough: http://tjtailgatetales.blogspot.com/2009/11/we-are-champions.html The Pats were defending their first Super Bowl on a Thursday night in their new stadium. The banner was raised. The Steelers destroyed. I got home late that night and, as I often do, popped open a beer and popped in the video tape of the game.
I fast-forwarded through the pre-game talk till I saw a blurry Dennis Hopper going by. I stopped and hit rewind. Then play. I still laugh when I watch it. It captures just how amazing it was that the Patriots really won the Super Bowl. And note the very end. Hopper predicts the Patriots dynasty. "Every year, man! Every year!"
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