What was my favorite work from this semester? If we’re talking about performances, I’d say Intringulis or Asuncion. But I’ve already written blogs about how much I loved those, so…what about the plays? My favorite of those was The Mercy Seat, but I don’t think I have enough else to say about it that would fill an entire blog. That leaves me with the movies, something we really didn’t blog about, and my favorite of those was definitely Taxi Driver. So now I’ll finally get my time to profess my love for Robert De Niro!
No, seriously. I love Robert De Niro. I’ll admit that originally I actually wasn’t too thrilled to have to watch Taxi Driver. I was expecting it to be another one of those “classic” movies that I wouldn’t love but would feel important for having watched. Needless to say, I was really surprised to find myself hooked. Taxi Driver made me think about the Vietnam War and its consequences—we always hear about the questionable politics behind it, the protests, and the death toll, but what about the people who physically survived but were mentally ruined? It’s a thought that really affected me personally, because my dad would have served in Vietnam had he not gotten deferred. If he’d actually had to go to war, would he be a completely different man? Would he have become like Travis, wandering lost without a purpose in life? Would he have even survived? Of course, it’s crazy to get into hypotheticals like that when he never even went to war in the first place. But Taxi Driver actually made me think about those things.
I feel like in Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese was really able capture that post-Vietnam turmoil. America was still reeling from Watergate, there was an oil shortage, and inflation was getting out of control. In short, we were in dire straits. And in the middle of all that is Travis Bickle, up a creek of his own. He’s an unlikely hero at best, and I don’t even think I would call him a hero. Rather, he’s a man who is completely and utterly lost. He needs help, but who’s going to give it to him? Not the government—the government has too much on their hands right now to deal with veterans like Travis. Not Betsy—she really wanted to like him, but I don’t blame her for backing away. Certainly not Iris—she’s got her own issues to deal with, and she’s only 12 years old. Ironically, the one man in the film who wants to bring about social change and help people like Travis is the very man Travis plans to kill. So Travis really is stuck rolling in neutral with no place to go.
I actually watched Taxi Driver twice: once with my brother and once with Natasha and Alyssa. The first time I was on edge nearly the entire movie, waiting for what I thought was the inevitable assassination of Palantine. The second time, since I knew what was going to happen, I was able to focus more on the way the movie was put together. I love the creepy paranoid shots of Travis looking through his rearview mirror, the sleazy jazz music that plays throughout, and the way Scorsese always cuts off part of Palantine’s face when his ads are in the background. I feel like it’s kind of strange to say that I loved Taxi Driver, because I don’t feel like it’s the kind of movie you’re supposed to love—it’s definitely not a fun film you’re going to watch with your friends on movie night. I think what I’m really trying to say is that I love the way that movie made such an emotional impact on me.
I also feel like Taxi Driver is the movie that displays what is closest to the most truthful image of New York for me. On one hand, we see it as a place for where people succeed and thrive, like Betsy and Palantine. But we also see that nightmarish side it has as well, where those who aren’t up to speed quickly get left far behind. Although I’ve said that New York is my personal Eden, I also definitely realize it’s not that perfect place that Hollywood wants you to think it is, and I think it’s incredibly intelligent for a Hollywood film to acknowledge that. So I can’t be the only one who finds it pretty ironic that Robert De Niro is now starring in New Year’s Eve. Poor, poor Robert De Niro…what has your career been reduced to?
Now, for the title of the post- I sat for the longest time trying to think of one that fit. I finally settled on the opening lyrics from the Strokes song “I’ll Try Anything Once”. To me it fits both Travis Bickle and my experience in this class. Travis’s decision not to try killing Palantine and to instead kill Iris’s pimp made the city view him as a hero when what he really needed was help. His life would’ve taken a completely different shape had he pulled the trigger at the rally. As for me, being in this class was one of the best decisions I never knew I made. I pretty much just picked this class at random, but I’m so happy that I did. My first semester at QC/Macaulay was made even better by our class! I’ve had so many amazing experiences this semester that some people don’t even have in a lifetime, and I feel really lucky to have met everybody (and Professor Healey too, of course!)
