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1''The following text was originally published on @/{{Koveras}}' [[https://www.koveras.net/index.php/en/interests-en/about-movies-en/comprehensive-history-of-biker-media personal website]] and is republished here under the [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license]].''
2
3!!Secret Origins
4All biker-themed media are a reflection of the real-life biker subculture, with some works of fiction being truer to the reality than others. While understanding the outlaw motorcycle club culture and its origins will help in understanding biker media, the focus of this essay is on the latter, not the former (the interested reader is referred to Creator/HunterSThompson's classic book ''[[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008IU9IVG/ Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs]]'' as a good starting point).
5
6!!!Hollister riot
7The earliest motorcycle clubs ([=MCs=]) in the modern sense have been founded in the American Southwest soon after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, often by war veterans who had difficulties readjusting to civilian life. The seminal event for bikers' pop-cultural image was the so-called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollister_riot "Hollister riot"]] in early [[The40s July 1947]], when 4,000 inebriated bikers from different clubs made a ruckus in a tiny Californian town. While nobody was seriously hurt (there was property damage, though), sensationalist media reports blew the event [[IfItBleedsItLeads way out of proportions]] in the public consciousness.
8
9In the aftermath of the event, the American Motorcyclist Association (an NPO that governs most motorcycling clubs in the US since 1924) was quick to distance itself from the rioters. AMA's alleged claim that "99% of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens" (there are no records of them [[BeamMeUpScotty ever actually saying that]]) is the origin of the "one-percenter" moniker adopted by those motorcycle clubs who chose to cut ties with AMA in response, becoming the "{{outlaw}}s".
10
11!!!Hells Angels
12The [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels most notorious and iconic]] of these outlaw [=MCs=], the Hells Angels, weren't in Hollister, mainly because they wouldn't even be founded until March of the following year. Reportedly named after a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers WW2 fighter unit]] (themselves inspired by Creator/HowardHughes' movie of the [[Film/HellsAngels same title]]), the HAMC shot to prominence in the public eye after Thompson published his book in 1967 and are currently among the four largest outlaw [=MCs=] in the world[[note]]the others being: Outlaws Motorcycle Club a.k.a. American Outlaws Association ("A.O.A.", founded in 1935), Pagan's Motorcycle Club ("The Pagans", f. 1959), and Bandidos Motorcycle Club ("Bandido Nation", f. 1966)[[/note]].
13
14!!!''The Wild One''
15[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_0638.jpeg]]
16[[caption-width-right:230:''"Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?\
17"Whadda you got?"'']]
18It took Hollywood six years to dramatize the events of the Hollister riot: ''Film/TheWildOne'' ([[The50s 1953]]) starred Creator/MarlonBrando (himself an avid motorcyclist) and almost [[TropeCodifier single-handedly established]] many of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_biker_film outlaw biker film]] staples, from the opening shot of outlaws revving down an empty highway and into an unsuspecting town, through their [[BloodKnight unprovoked and disproportionate aggression]], to the iconic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfecto_motorcycle_jacket Perfecto leather jacket]] -- a personal preference of Brando that has since been [[TheRedStapler adopted by many real-life bikers]] as a result of the movie's success. It is worth noting, however, that the [[CoolBike motorcycle of choice]] in this movie wasn't a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson]], but Brando's own [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Thunderbird Triumph Thunderbird 6T]].
19
20Narratively, ''The Wild One'' introduced the [[TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil power triangle]] of the Bad Biker (Johnny), the Evil Biker (Chino), and the Upstanding Cop or Veteran (Harry Bleeker) that would become ubiquitous in the biker genre. It also featured all four of the essential biker movie {{conflict}}s: power struggles [[AHouseDivided within the club]] (Johnny and Chino's backstory), rivalry with other clubs (Johnny and Chino in the present), tensions with the police (Johnny and Harry), and latent animosity with [[NormalPeople ordinary citizens]] (Johnny vs. the mob).
21
22!!Exploitation Era (ca. 1966–73)
23While ''The Wild One'' was a critical and commercial success, the outlaw biker film really [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity took off after the media craze]] that followed the alleged rape of two women by the Hells Angels in [[The60s September 1964]] in Monterey, California. Thompson's 1967 book (which, in fact, opens with the Angels' account of the Monterey incident) also contributed a lot to bring bikers into the popular consciousness, and the latter half of the decade was arguably the golden age of biker cinema, thanks in no small part to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s countercultural movement of the '60s]]. The quantity-over-quality approach was dominant, however, so the vast majority of the films from this time have been forgettable [[ExploitationFilm exploitation movies]], dubbed "bikerploitation" by some sources.
24
25!!!''"Wild Angels from Motorcycle Hell on Wheels"''
26[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_wild_angels.jpg]]
27The movie that kicked off the biker boom was Creator/RogerCorman's ''Film/TheWildAngels'' (1966),[[note]]which was technically predated by ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059474/ Motorpsycho]]'' in 1965, but that movie did not have nearly as much traction,[[/note]] and over the next few years, [[FollowTheLeader it was followed]] by a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biker_films#1960s cascade]] of low-budget, formulaic bikerploitation flicks mostly produced by the same four studios: Corman's own Creator/AmericanInternationalPictures, Creator/CrownInternationalPictures, Independent-International Pictures, and Fanfare Film Productions. Many of them shared the actor pool, too, often starring Creator/PeterFonda, Creator/BruceDern, [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0827870/ Tom Stern]], [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0805177/ Jeremy Slate]], [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730126/ Adam Roarke]], or Creator/JackNicholson in lead roles.
28
29Even more so than ''The Wild One'', these exploitation films have codified the [[BadassBiker default biker appearance]]: [[BarbarianLonghair long unkempt hair]] (or a [[BaldOfEvil completely shaved head]]), dirty Levi's jeans, a [[HellBentForLeather leather jacket or vest]] (even during [[ExposedToTheElements scorching Arizona summers]]), and weird and disturbing paraphernalia (up to and including [[PuttingOnTheReich Nazi iconography]]). The creative void of these productions is perhaps exemplified by their extremely limited title pool: it's hard to find a movie from this period whose title doesn't include "angel", "wild", "wheels", "(motor)cycle" or "hell".
30
31!!!Sonny Barger
32[[Creator/SonnyBarger Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger]] (1938–2022) was one of the most prominent apologists of the outlaw biker subculture and a recurring figure in the history of biker media. A founding member and then-president of the UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}} charter[[note]]most motorcycle clubs call their regional branches "chapters", but the Hells Angels historically use the term "charter"[[/note]] of the Hells Angels MC, he was a prominent character in Thompson's book and had consulted on several of the better movies of the Exploitation Era, as well as starring in two of them, ''Film/HellsAngelsOnWheels'' (1967) and ''[[Film/HellsAngels69 Hell's Angels '69]]'' (1969).
33
34Barger was among the Angels at the ill-fated Altamont Free Concert in 1969 and subsequently featured in ''Film/GimmeShelter1970'' (see below). He also indirectly contributed to ''[[Film/TheLosers1970 Nam's Angels / The Losers]]'' (1970), which was reportedly inspired by a telegram he sent to [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson President Johnson]] in 1965, offering his charter to serve as a guerilla fighters in UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam|War}} (the President never replied). During the True Crime Era, he [[CastTheExpert played the aging biker]] [[Characters/SonsOfAnarchyRedwood Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz]] in several episodes of ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' between 2010 and 2012. He had also become a [[https://www.amazon.com/Sonny-Barger/e/B004SR974G/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 successful author]], with an autobiography focusing on his love of motorcycling and the "outlaw" lifestyle, several non-fiction books about motorcycling and the "outlaw" lifestyle, and a couple of novels in a series wrapped up in -- [[CaptainObvious well, guess]].
35
36!!!''Easy Rider''
37[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/easy-rider-captain-america_9308.jpg]]
38[[caption-width-right:300:''A man went looking for America and couldn't find it anywhere.'']]
39One movie stands above the mass of exploitation flicks of the late '60s: Creator/PeterFonda and Creator/DennisHopper's ''Film/EasyRider'' (1969). While the film focuses on a pair of bikers, they do not belong to an outlaw MC and are presented -- in a sharp contrast to most of its contemporary movies -- not as [[TheHorde feral and disruptive savages]], but as [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold sentimental outcasts lamenting the loss of the American spirit]]. ''Easy Rider'' was foundational in establishing this [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood more sympathetic narrative]] about outlaw bikers, one that positions their lifestyle as a quest for personal freedom and their motorcycles, as means of attaining said freedom.
40
41The film was a countercultural sensation and has won multiple awards. Music/JimiHendrix, Music/TheBand, Music/TheByrds, and Music/{{Steppenwolf}} all contributed to its soundtrack, with the latter's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_Be_Wild "Born to Be Wild"]] soon becoming one of two unofficial biker anthems. Finally, Peter Honda's bike from the movie, nicknamed "Captain America", has become an [[TheRedStapler iconic and much-replicated]] custom chopper design.
42
43!!!Altamont Free Concert
44The next watershed event that had informed the popular perception of bikers in general and of Hells Angels in particular was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert Altamont Free Concert]] in December 1969. Intended to recapture the magic of the Music/{{Woodstock}} festival earlier that year, Altamont was plagued by bad management calls -- in particular, by that of hiring Hells Angels as a security force and paying them upfront in beer.
45
46To no one's surprise, the concert was marred by drunken violence (including against the musicians), but what really capped it off was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Meredith_Hunter fatal stabbing of a student named Meredith Hunter]] by the Hells Angel Alan Passaro. Hunter was high on methamphetamine and threatened the people around him with a loaded revolver, so Passaro's actions were officially ruled in self-defense, but the damage to the counterculture, to the '60s, and to whatever goodwill ''Easy Rider'' managed to garner for bikers half a year earlier had been done. The next year, the whole affair was widely publicized by the documentary ''Film/GimmeShelter1970''.
47
48!!Novelty Era (1970s–1980s)
49In many ways, biker flicks of the late '60s followed in the footsteps of the [[TheWestern classic Westerns]] a decade earlier, from adopting a lot of their tropes (outlaw gangs, upright sheriffs, terrorized townsfolk) to their overall [[FandomLifeCycle trajectory in terms of genre popularity]]. By the [[The70s mid-'70s]], public interest in biker movies has [[CondemnedByHistory dropped off sharply]], as the freshness of the biker menace wore thin under the barrage of [[StrictlyFormula boilerplate formula plots]], and in an attempt to keep the audience's attention, film producers began [[GenreMashup mixing up]] pure bikerploitation with other genres.
50
51Sexploitation has been part of the biker movies since at least the 1968's ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061759/ The Hellcats / Biker Babes]]'', ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063306/ The Mini-Skirt Mob]]'', and ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063595/ She-Devils on Wheels]]'', and these genres' unholy matrimony continued well into The90s with ''Film/BarbWire'' (1996).
52
53{{Horror}} genre, of course, was a natural fit, given the outlaw bikers' predominant portrayal as terrifying and/or disgusting monsters in film. An early example of this was ''Film/WerewolvesOnWheels'' (1971).
54
55Perhaps the biggest new lease on cinematic life for the bikers were the {{dystopia}}n and [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] movies, where violent biker gangs became a mandatory staple ever since ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'' and ''Film/MadMax1'' (1979).
56
57Finally, the [[The80s late '80s]] brought about biker comedy, from the straight up satire of ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100119/ Masters of Menace]]'' (1990), through romantic comedy of ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097260/ Easy Wheels]]'' (1989), comedy horror of ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097550/ I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle]]'' (1990), to the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot comedy-horror-sexploitation]] of ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103959/ Chopper Chicks in Zombietown]]'' (1989).
58
59!!Revisionist Era (early 1990s)
60By the [[The90s early '90s]], outlaw bikers had become sufficiently ingrained in the American pop-culture that screenwriters were beginning to question the established bikers-as-feral-savages narrative, [[{{Deconstruction}} nudging their image]] towards something less marginal and edgy and more traditionally [[NinetiesAntiHero (anti-)heroic]]. Perhaps the most telling manifestation of this revisionism was the genre's leap into kid-friendlier media, such as the cartoons ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' (1993–96) and ''WesternAnimation/AvengerPenguins'' (1993–94). Still, the fact that both chose to depict them as {{anthropomorphic animal}}s is indicative of how hard it was for them to shed the aforementioned feral savage image.
61
62!!!''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' and ''Beyond the Law''
63Two iconic biker movies of the early '90s exemplify the Revisionist Era: ''Film/HarleyDavidsonAndTheMarlboroMan'' (1991) and ''Film/BeyondTheLaw'' a.k.a. ''Fixing the Shadow'' (1993). ''Harley Davidson'' echoed ''Easy Rider'' by focusing on the two biker protagonists' (Creator/MickeyRourke and Creator/DonJohnson) struggle for personal freedom as the object of their lifestyle. While ''Harley Davidson and the Malboro Man'' had not been as influential or successful as the older film, it, too, has become a CultClassic upon video release.
64
65%%[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beyond_the_law_1992_film_poster_13.jpg]]
66''Beyond the Law'', meanwhile, took the premise of ''Film/StoneCold'' (1991) -- [[TheMole a cop going undercover with a drug-trafficking biker gang]] -- and turned it on its ear by having the lawman Dan (Creator/CharlieSheen) embrace the outlaw biker lifestyle (even if he ultimately rejects it on moral grounds) and by portraying the bikers and particularly their leader (Creator/MichaelMadsen) as more alive and liberated than Dan's own superiors. In doing so, ''Beyond the Law'' had presented the biker subculture as a valid (if disruptive) alternative system of values and beliefs -- a far cry from its dehumanizing portrayals in earlier films. The movie had also featured Music/ChrisRea's 1989 song [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Hell_(song) "The Road to Hell"]], which thereafter became the other one of the two unofficial biker anthems, alongside "Born to Be Wild".
67
68!!!''Full Throttle''
69[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_full-throttle_1_6654.jpg]]
70[[caption-width-right:300:''When I'm on the road, I'm indestructible. No one can stop me... but they try.'']]
71In 1993, the cult game designer Creator/TimSchafer pitched the concept of a biker-themed point-and-click [[AdventureGame adventure video game]] to Creator/LucasArts, which would eventually be released as ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' (1995). Inspired by {{tall tale}}s about bikers and by Thompson's book, Schafer forewent the traditional outlaw biker narratives and instead focused on one afforded specifically by the video game medium -- bikers-as-power-fantasy. The playable protagonist Ben ([[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175720/ Roy Conrad]]) is the leader of an outlaw MC that is wrongfully accused of murder and defies corporate powers and other [=MCs=] to ClearTheirName -- this distinctly sympathetic portrayal shaped the outlaw biker image in many gamers' heads. The game also had a strongly themed hard rock soundtrack, featuring songs by the UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco band [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gone_Jackals The Gone Jackals]].
72
73After Schafer left [=LucasArts=], the studio has started work on a ''Full Throttle'' sequel twice: ''Payback'' entered production and was canceled in 2000, while work on ''Hell on Wheels'' began in 2002, before being canceled in late 2003. While Schafer's new company released a {{remaster}} of the original game in 2015, he himself has never envisioned any sequels, also noting that Conrad (who died in 2002) was [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim irreplaceable as Ben]].
74
75!!!Quebec Biker War
76The Revisionist Era came to an abrupt end around 1995, coinciding with the outbreak of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War Quebec Biker War]] (1994–2002), which followed the escalation of violence between the Hells Angels and the [[TheMafia Sicilian Mafia]]-backed Rock Machine MC over the traffic of [[TheCartel Colombian cocaine]] in UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}}, Canada in late 1994. The ensuing [[MobWar turf war]] had claimed well over 150 lives, including, most infamously, the eleven years-old Daniel Desrochers, who was killed by a [[ExternalCombustion car bomb]] meant for an Angels-affiliated drug dealer.
77
78The Canadian government responded to the escalation of violence in 1995 with Operation Carcajou, a joint task force of the federal, Quebec, and Montreal police. Its work was impeded by InterserviceRivalry and [[CorruptPolitician corrupt local officials]], so it wasn't until 2001 that full-scale [[ThePurge crackdowns]] on both sides of the biker war started taking place. The war officially ended in May 2002, when [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Boucher Maurice Boucher]], the leader of Hells Angels' Quebec charter who masterminded their involvement in the conflict, was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
79
80!!True Crime Era (2000s to present)
81Since around the [[UsefulNotes/The2000s mid-2000s]], the outlaw biker genre has been going through a slow-burn revival across multiple media, with the once-dominant image of feral savage bikers mostly giving way to the post-Quebec narrative of biker gangs as fronts for drug- and/or gun-smuggling rings (hence the "true crime era"). Nevertheless, the revisionist portrayal of them as sentimental freedom-seeking outcasts has survived, too, and is sometimes used for dramatic juxtaposition. As a result, biker films of the 21st century have run the gamut from the good-biker-vs.-criminal-outlaws racing action in ''Film/{{Torque}}'' (2004), through the affectionate parody of everymen-motorcyclists-vs.-criminal-outlaws in ''Film/WildHogs'' (2007), to the [[Creator/QuentinTarantino Tarantino]]-produced pastiche of the '60s bikerploitation in ''Film/HellRide'' (2008).
82
83!!!''Sons of Anarchy''
84[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sons_of_anarchy_2067.jpg]]
85While the first major live-action television series about bikers was ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299283/ The Last Chapter]]'' (2002), a Canadian mini-series dramatizing the events of the Quebec Biker War, it is the Creator/{{FX|Networks}}-produced ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' (2008–14) that remains the most influential biker-themed TV series to date. Its success came in part from pitting the two contemporary narratives about the outlaw bikers (idealistic freedom seekers vs. ruthless criminal enterprises) against each other and making it the overarching internal struggle of the series protagonist Jax (Creator/CharlieHunnam). Upon its conclusion, ''Sons'' was followed by a spin-off, ''Series/MayansMC'' (2018–ongoing), and has had a considerable impact on film, as well, such as the Australian ''[[Film/OnePercent 1% / Outlaws]]'' (2018).
86
87!!!Biker games
88The biker genre in video games has been dormant for years following [=LucasArts=]' fruitless attempts at a ''Full Throttle'' sequel, but in 2009, Creator/{{Rockstar|Games}} put the player in the midst of a ''Sons of Anarchy''-esque gang drama in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' expansion pack ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned The Lost and Damned]]''. ''VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution'' (2013) was perhaps the closest that a video game has come to being a shoddy Exploitation Era flick, while ''VideoGame/DaysGone'' (2019) instead took the late Novelty Era path, putting its ex-outlaw biker protagonists in the midst of a ZombieApocalypse.
89
90Meanwhile, in [[TabletopRPG pen-and-paper tabletop gaming]], ''Full Throttle'' had inspired ''MediaNotes/{{Fudge}}''-based games like ''[[https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/195704/mutant-bikers-atomic-wasteland-fudge Mutant Bikers of the Atomic Wasteland]]'' (1997) and an [[https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/211650/full-throttle unofficial adaptation]] by James Wedig in 2002, both of which stayed true to Schafer's bikers-as-power-fantasy narrative. Robert Nolan's ''[[TabletopGame/OnePercenter 1%er: The Outlaw Motorcycle Game]]'' (2013), on the other hand, shows a strong ''Sons of Anarchy'' influence, going all-in on the bikers-as-criminal-enterprise narrative instead.

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