In his analysis of Taxi Driver as a revisionist western, Robert Ray places Taxi Driver's protagonist, Travis Bickle, squarely in the mold of the lone heroes of the western genre. He notes Travis's unspecified origins as well as the character's initial "disinterest" in becoming involved in what he sees as the venality and decadence of New York City (352). Perhaps also, like these Western heroes, Travis is directionless in his life. In addition to struggling with his deep loneliness and apparent psychosis, Travis struggles to find and maintain a true identity in an environment that is increasingly problematic for him. Against the backdrop of the commodification of people, politics, and sexuality in 1970s America, Travis strives to thrive and carve out an identity distinct from his profession. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay At the beginning of the film, Travis is introduced as an unemployed newcomer to New York who is applying to become a taxi driver. He shows a certain detachment during the interview for this position. When asked bluntly why he wants to become a driver, he simply replies: "I can't sleep at night" and, later, "I mostly drive at night. Metro, bus. I was thinking, you know, if I “I’m going to do it, I might as well get paid for it. » Travis' impartiality in his bid for the film's lead position is compounded by the lack of clearly defined goals in his life. The first act montages show Travis seemingly wandering around New York at night in his taxi, staring expressionlessly at people on the street. Travis's moral intentions are also uncertain. He virulently attacks the "whores, skunks, buggers, queens, fairies, drug addicts, drug addicts" of New York, but he also regularly frequents porn cinemas. In one of the first scenes, Travis, in voiceover, reveals his lack of direction: "All my life needed was a feeling of somewhere to go." I don't believe that one should devote one's life to morbid personal attention, I believe that one should become a person like any other. » Later in the film, Travis explains his feelings to fellow Wizard: "I just want to go out and, and, you know, really, really, really do something... I just want to go out and really, you know, I I really want to... I have bad ideas in mind." Travis' attitudes and behavior represent much more than the loneliness or psychosis that partly define his character. Rather, they are symptomatic of a broader desire for identity and purpose in society. Travis's thin history – he served in the Marines in Vietnam – reinforces this interpretation. Many veterans returning from Vietnam in the 1970s struggled to integrate into both a society that viewed their efforts negatively and a nation plunged into economic crises, political instability, and social upheaval. Traumatized by their war experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder was another major stumbling block for many young men in building their post-war lives. Although Travis doesn't seem particularly interested in being a taxi driver at any point in the film, he ultimately becomes closely connected to his job. The relationship between one's work and one's identity is stated bluntly by Wizard in his monologue as he lectures the advice-seeking Travis: Look at it this way. A man takes a job, you know? And this work – I mean, like that – becomes what it is. You know, like - You do one thing and that's thisthat you are. As if I had been a taxi driver for thirteen years. Ten years at night. I still don't own my own taxi. Do you know why? Because I don't want to. This must be what I want. Being part of the night shift and driving someone else's taxi. Do you understand? I mean, you become... You get a job, you become the job. A guy lives in Brooklyn. A guy lives in Sutton Place. You have a lawyer. Another guy is a doctor. Another guy dies. Another guy is recovering. People are born, you know? I envy you, your youth. Come on, fuck yourself, get drunk. Do anything. Either way, you have no choice. I mean, we're all screwed. More or less, you know. [emphasis added] Travis dismisses Wizard's ideas, saying "I don't know. That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard." However, Travis is indeed characterized by his job as a taxi driver. At the end of the film, a series of newspaper headlines refer to Travis as a "taxi driver" or "taxi driver" and incorrectly (especially in Robert Ray's estimation) rate him as a hero during the coda surrealist of the film. The film's characters and events are seemingly reduced to a very superficial and inaccurate urban fable – "hero taxi driver kills mafia members and saves child prostitute" – the details of which (e.g., the first attempt at assassination of Travis) have gone unmentioned. in favor of an improbable happy ending featuring various one-dimensional characters found in the street. There is therefore a metonymic relationship that is established in the film between a character and his profession. Furthermore, some of these relationships are arguably more sinister and damaging than the relationship between Travis and the taxi driver. The commodification of people—from a child prostitute to a U.S. senator—is a key latent theme throughout the film. Senator Palantine's character is presented as a rather uninspiring presidential hopeful offering a vague message of change and unconvincing platitudes about empowerment. epitomized by his campaign slogan, “We Are The People.” Robert Ray considers Palantine "another in the long line of men of good will shown by the Western to be too weak to tackle real problems" (353). In the film, Palantine is primarily a virtual presence, represented largely by her campaign team and posters that appear sporadically in the background of various scenes. The audience only “meets” Palantine once in a candid setting: when the senator, by pure chance, appears in Travis’ taxi. In this scene, Travis encourages Palantine to "flush" the "filth and scum" of New York "down the fucking toilet." To this, Palantine can only meekly respond, "Well, I think I know what you mean, Travis. But it's not going to be easy." Palantine appears only two other times: via a television interview and on stage at the rally near the end of the film during which Travis makes his assassination attempt. Palantine is described as being packaged for mass consumption by his media-savvy campaign workers. Even the name Palantine – a portmanteau of “buddy” and “Valentine” – evokes this “branding” of politicians. (His opponent, whose name appears on a poster but is not visible in the film, goes by the pleasant nickname "Goodwin.") The film's views of Palantine's downtown campaign office partly describe the mechanism internal marketing. In one scene, Tom encourages his colleague Betsy to "emphasize the mandatory welfare program" in the senator's campaign platform. This exchange follows: Betsy: First push the man, then the problem. "Senator Palantine isabove all a dynamic, intelligent, interesting, fresh, fascinating man... " Tom: You forgot "sexy". Betsy: "-- man. "No, I didn't forget "sexy." Tom: Listen to what you're saying. It sounds like you're selling mouthwash. Betsy: We're selling mouthwash. [emphasis added] The version The original version of this scene as written in Paul Schrader's original screenplay includes a longer reflection on the marketing of people in politics and media Betsy rhetorically asks Tom why CBS News has the highest ratings, explaining: You. want to know why CBS has the highest ratings? You [think] their news is different than NBC, ABC? Same news usually. good news for people, right? You thought that's why people watch CBS? I'll tell you why people watch Cronkite. the news, not the problems, man If Walter Cronkite told people to eat soap, they would. We sell cars, dammit (15). [emphasis added] This depiction of Palantine as an empty suit cynically marketed as mouthwash by his campaign team forms the political backdrop of the film, where the commodification of politics through mass media is an essential part of the New York environment of 1976. The reduction of Palantine to a commodity whose vaguely defined personal characteristics take precedence over his problematic positions is evident in Travis's relationship with the candidate. Travis, when he offers to volunteer for Palantine to meet Betsy, is asked what he thinks of Palantine's stance on welfare; Travis responds: "I don't really know the senator's position on welfare, but I'm sure it's a good position." Even after Betsy breaks up with Travis, Travis retains an inexplicable fascination with the candidate. His obsession is expressed visually through the walls of his small apartment covered with Palantine posters and newspaper clippings about the candidate, as if the senator were Travis' favorite band. Notably, Travis' interest seems to lack a thorough understanding of Palantine's agenda. In Travis's mind, Palantine is thus reduced to an object of irrational fetishism. Sexual commodification is another important theme in the film. Iris is a teenage runaway and child prostitute under the aegis of her accomplice Matthew, whom she calls "Sport". She is literally held in sexual slavery by her pimp; The audience meets Iris in the midst of an impulsive escape attempt, which ends with Matthew violently removing her from the backseat of Travis' taxi and "giving" Travis $20 for his "trouble." Later, when Travis tries to save her, Iris insists that she is not treated badly by Matthew and tells Travis that she "must have been stoned" during her escape attempt. Later still, in a scene peculiar to Travis's absence, Iris and Matthew dance very tenderly with each other while he whispers soothing assurances of love to her; she seems genuinely soothed by him. As a drug-addicted child prostitute, Iris is extremely helpless, and so her clingy subordination to Matthew is not surprising; she admits it herself: "When I'm not high, I have nowhere to go. They just protect me from myself." She is essentially held as a slave, and her rationalization of this - her belief that she is still in control of her own destiny and that she can leave at any time, but that she simply chooses not to - n it's nothing>.