The Harley Davidson has always been the all American symbol for freedom and individuality. One of the first motorbikes of its kind, the Harley Davidson has been the symbol for being on the road and embarking on a roller coaster ride of reckless fortune. Over the years, the bike has been associated with a slew of American underground films, which include Kenneth Anger’s path breaking short film called Scorpio Rising. During the late 1960s, leading to the late 1970s which were the prime years of the Flower Power movement. Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll were in vogue then and this was where the concept of the hobo became increasingly popular. A short form of the expression “homeward bound,” the hobo was the man who gave up everything in search of a quest o a higher truth through which he tried to make sense of the reality around him. Jack Kerouac’s “The Dharma Bums,” and “On the Road,” were two prolific novels which emphasized on the spirit of freedom during that time.As a natural consequence, the Harley Davidson got entangled within this mesh of liberty and emancipation from reality. Soon it began to be associated with that concept of being on the road and wandering around. Also, throughout these decades there were numerous gangster films which were made and these outlaw biker movies always featured the Harley Davidson as being the main vehicle being ridden around. Thus blood, violence and aggression became natural attributes that were tagged on to the name of the legendary bike. It became a symbol for an anti establishment reaction against the dreary post war reality that the West was getting disillusioned with.
Kenneth Anger’s movie, “Scorpio Rising,” portrays this motorcycle cult which had the Harley Davidson at the forefront. It featured the chaotic world of the Flower years and the entire involvement with drugs and sex, along with reckless adventure and intense daredevilry. It inspired all the later popular cult movies by Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and the other legends that we all hear of. The entire cult of these anti establishment movies started with this short movie. It spawned the later generation of movies like “A Clockwork Orange,” , “The Graduate,” and so on. Thus the Harley became the image of what America wanted to be, it symbolized the longing to create and live the American dream. It implied very little concern with ethics and laws that conventional society went by. Thus every rebel wanted to be a Harley biker. This image of anger and the discontent was suitably used by the motorbike to self perpetuate it’s image as a cult symbol.
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