Taxi driver is another famous male existentialist film directed by Martin Scorsese that is a
companion peice of Full Metal Jacket. Taxi Driver takes place in 1976 in New York. The film focuses on a
Vietnam war veteran named Travis who is 26 years old. He served as a United States Marine for roughly 4
years. He comes back home to New York but sees that the city got even worse. He suffers from insomnia
from the war and he can't sleep at night.The only thing he does during nights is ride on the buses or trains
around New York. He decided to get a job as a taxi driver because of the long hours it offers. He gets the job
and works for 12 to 16 hours a night. Travis explains how the streets are filled with drug atticts, prostitutes,
street thugs, gangs, and the cops were corrupt. Travis is bright and perseptive but he is not very intelegent
due to his lack of school education. After his hours of work are done, He has to clean the blood and semen
off of the back seat. And even still he is unable to sleep, so he goes to the XXX theaters which, at the time,
were all over New York. Being a war vet and being been through intesive military training that demeans
women, Travis is not sexually turned on by the sight of these films.
Travis stops by an office building that promotes Charles Palantine, a politician running for president.
He notices the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. She is the stereotypical young white woman that
wore a white dress, had blonde hair, and looked innocent. He sat outside the building staring at her,
admiring her beauty. After he is told to move out of that spot he continues his work shift. At night when he
is done with his shift, he meets up with his fellow taxi drivers to drink coffee and eat food. They usually talk
about stories of their experiences driving that day. One of the taxi drivers tells Travis that he needs a gun if
he is going to work that late and drive to all different parts of New York. The driver says he knows someone
who can sell guns. The next day Travis comes into the office and walks up to the blonde woman and tells her
he'd like to voulenteer. She tells him her name is Betsy. She asks him about his view on Palantine. He
respondes by repeating, "I don't know much about it but I'm sure it's a good one" for every question. He
confidently asks her out to coffee. She asks for an explaination and he responds, "I think you're a lonley
person". He goes on explaning how he saw in her eyes and how she carried herself that she is not a happy
person. She then agrees to see him. Travis does not know much about women due to his military training
and he is also lonely. When he takes her to the coffee shop he is very straight forward. He tells her he
doesn't like the people she is working with. He asks her out to see a movie and she accepts.
While Travis was working his night shift, Charles Palentine gets in the back seat and Travis gets
excited and tells him how much he supports him. Palentine asks Travis, "What is the one thing about this
country that bugs you the most?" Travis responds, "For one thing, he should clean up this city, it's like an
open sewer, it's filled with filth and scum". The polititian then responds, "Well, it's not going to be easy. We
are going to have to make some radical changes. This scene shows how Travis starts to understand politics
more. He knows that whoever is going to run for president is going to say the same things to get your
support. This is also true in the world we live in today. Polititions are talking tape recorders that spew false
hope into peoples ears to get what they want, not so much what the people want. A young girl gets inside
of the taxi and tells Travis to get her out of here. A man from outside starts pulling the girls arm and tells her
to get out of the car. The man pulls out a knife and forces her out of the taxi. Meanwhile, Travis just
watches what happens. The man gives Travis money and tells him to not mention what he saw to anyone.
This scene depicts how New York streets are filled with crime and no one cares to do anything about it.
Travis picks up Betsy and takes her to the movies. She doesn't go see movies often so she lets him take her
to where he wants to go. Unsure of what women like, he takes her to the XXX theater. She is disgusted by
the film and walks out. She tells her she doesn't want to be with him and she calls a taxi. Travis does not
know about movies or women so he did not know what to do when he took her out. He tries to call her back
but she never responds. Travis learned that women are all the same, cold and heartless.
A man gets into Travis's taxi and tells him to pull over to a curb. The man shows Travis a window in
one of the apartments with a naked women in it. He tells Travis that is his wife but not his apartment. He
explains that she is having an affair with a black man. The man says he is going to take a pistol and shoot
and kill her. Travis does not say one word. This scene shows you another reason why New York is so corrupt
during that time. It also gets Travis thinking about the possibility of carrying a gun with him. The next night,
Travis sees the young girl who was pulled out of his cab the other night. He follows her down the street and
he finds out that she was a prostitute.