Film Log- Taxi Driver

Movie: Taxi Driver
-1976, color, 113 min.
-Director: Martin Scorsese
-Actors: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster

Travis Bickle is an ex-Marine who works as a nighttime cab driver. He suffers from Insomnia and unfortunately fails to connect to anybody because he is a loner. As a cabbie, Bickle drives all over the downtrodden mid-'70s New York City, "wishing for a real rain to wash the scum off the neon-lit streets." In his isolation, Bickle misjudgingly takes out his anger powerfully and lashes out at the world he lives in by transforming into a violent individual, he hopes to connect to Betsy, a smart office-worker, and to rescue a pre-teenage prostitute, Iris.

Q:How does Scorsese use the camera to imply that Travis Bickle is racist?

A. Although the audience viewer never hears Bickle explicitly make a remark against the blacks in the movie, Scorsese set the movie up in a way to focus the viewer's attention to Bickle's responses toward the black men in the movie. Throughout the story, Travis encounters a few instances where he shares the same hatred against blacks as the people around him. One example is the scene where, in fact, Scorsese acts as a passenger in the cab and tells Bickle to pull up to the apartment where his wife is having an affair with a black man. The other instance is when Travis is in the liquor store and he kills the black man in the store with him. The store-owner tells travis to leave because "he can take care of it" and he immediately begins to beat up the shot man.
Another huge point in Bickle's deep hatred for the blacks is the way the camera reacts toward them. In the film, everytime Bickle lays eyes on a black person, the camera slows down to portray Bickle's way of lingering looks and point of view on this particular race.

Q: How does clothing play a major role in determining the female characters?

A. Costuming plays an enormous role in helping the audience realize the social status of Betsy and Iris.
Through her costuming, one can tell Betsy works in a professional environment. The first time we see her, she is wearing a white dress to show her angelic presence. Throughout the film, Betsy wears a red dress, a blue dress (to show serenity and calmness), and a cream colored coat. Betsy works in a political office and her costuming is crucial in showing her hygiene, beauty, and representation.
Similarly, Iris, the 12-year-old prostitute wears clothes in order to fit into her environment. Though these two characters come from different backgrounds and social statuses, their choice in clothing distinctly defines their role in the film. Iris wears vibrant colors, tight clothes, and heels. From afar, one could not tell she is a 12 year old, however, when she reveals her eyes from her over-sized sunglasses, one is able to tell she is a child. The way she dresses is made to appeal men on the streets to run "Sport's" business.