Fun fact! There was some weirdo guy that after watching this film thought it would be cool to shoot the president of the US because he thought it might impress Jodie Foster (Iris).
Saturday, December 3, 2016
taxi driver
Watching this film is always an interesting journey. A pattern that I have noticed from commentary said after the film has ended falls back to Travis and the way that people perceive him. Many see Travis as a basic Joe who has simply been pushed into this explosive state. However, I see Travis as a textbook psychopath who shouldn't be confused with a harmless civilian who under different circumstances would not have been pushed to such levels of violence; to do so would be dangerous, I think. Travis encapsulates some of the very characteristics that he himself was so repulsed by, but because of his self-appointed hubris, was too high and mighty to notice. This notion, however could be argued in his attempt to commit suicide- perhaps he came to the same realization and figured that he could actually clean the streets by killing himself. Still, I believe Travis to be a self-centered egotistical person to the very end (even if it is medical), and the motivation behind his suicide would have been his inability to face responsibilities for his actions; he was petrified of what could have come afterwards. We also see this kind of inability play out during his relationship with Betsy. When she shuts down every attempt of his for reconciliation, Travis is quick to compare her to the very scum that he, at some point, separated her from. Instead of owning up to the fact that he offended Betsy, he willingly decides to blame her. The theme of emasculation also shows up in this film. Its very easy to see this film as the tale of an emasculated man trying his hardest to prove otherwise. For example, it's apparent that Travis is awkward with women as depicted with his interactions with Betsy but its even more powerful to say that he is impotent. Travis is probably sexually dysfunctional which is why he succumbs to skin flicks but even there he is unable to find release. Another red flag is raised when we become aware of his ideologies. Travis holds absolute "values", something is either good or evil. So of course, he sees women as whores or virgins which is why I find his relationship with Iris to be interesting. Of course, his motives behind wanting to help her are selfish but judging by his repetitive behavior he should have intended to kill her she is after all an actual whore. I could go on forever, i just love this movie :)
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Hi Monica:
ReplyDeleteVery nice response. I think you're right to point out Travis' psychopathic qualities. He's not a normal Joe, thank god, though in the intervening years his behavior has become more and more normalized via school shootings, terrorist attacks (both Islamic and Christian fundamentalist and other nutjob blood-shedding), and misc. workplace killings. I think it's no coincidence that the vast majority of these killers shoot themselves at the end of their rampages. Like Travis, they're content to imagine their (delusional) hero status at the end. The true irony of this film is that Travis really becomes a hero at the end. The only way you can jibe that idea w/ reality, I think, is that NYC was in a really bad place at the making of this movie. In 1975, NYC nearly had to file bankruptcy, crime was rampant, and the trash on the streets in the film is due to a real-life trash-pickup strike in that year.