"Taxi Driver"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Martin Scorcese's film "Taxi Driver", the story of Travis Bickle, a taxi driver with no particular plot but more of a documentary of Bickle's life. It discusses Scorcese's tendencies to make films about the United States that are hard, rough-edged, unglamorous and violent and how "Taxi Driver" is no exception. It examines how America is portrayed as a completely messed-up society and how Scorsese shows that there is something fundamentally wrong with sex, politics and drugs all combined to produce an America that is falling to pieces.

From the Paper:

"The film is basically Bickle's view of New York City as he sees it. The New York he sees is one of slime, grime, seediness and filth: Travis only sees the cruel and sadistic underworld of the city. This is the main representation of America in the film and this is the reason that the film attracted such stark criticism from middle-American conservatives and moralists. The America which Scorsese portrays within Taxi Driver is a weird perversion of the America Dream. America is portrayed as seedy and decaying, not the country where opportunity is for all: the only people who are seen as prospering in the film are those engaged in illegal activities."

More papers on "Taxi Driver":

• Essay # 143733 : "Geselischaft And The Affect Of Urban Life In Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver"
• Film Review # 116149 : "Development in the Film "Taxi Driver"
• Essay # 67155 : "Film: "Taxi Driver"

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