Although the basic idea for the film was Fonda's, the title Easy Rider was provided by Southern (it is an American slang term for a man who lives off the earnings of a prostitute) and it later emerged that Southern wrote several drafts of the screenplay. During production, Southern became concerned at Hopper and Fonda's replacement of his writing by what he described as "dumb-bell dialogue", and more of the material Southern wrote for the main characters was cut out during the editing process.