Its no use trying to explain the value of this movie to people who weren't alive at that time. No need to defend it, either. Young people of any generation usually think they know everything anyway, so why bother. But there was a time before the internet and cell phones, and easy rider is a strong youth statement from such a time. The movie making itself might seem dated, but the impulse behind this film is real in a way that 10 Fast and Furious sequels cant match. And this movie will always be a snapshot of rebellion; from the real life pot smoking done on camera throughout the movie, to an acid tripping Peter Fonda hating his mother out loud in the graveyard sequence (his real mother took her own life when he was a boy.) Theres plenty to be critical about in easy rider from a technical standpoint, but as a low budget attempt at capturing a larger cultural mood of rebellion at that moment, it does quite well. You had to be there.