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** Travis is a fully grown man who keeps in contact with his parents (despite the fabrications regarding his lifestyle), Iris is a 13 year old prostitute.
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** Travis is a fully grown man who keeps in contact with his parents (despite the fabrications regarding his lifestyle), Iris is a 13 year old (i.e. a little girl) prostitute.
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** Travis is a fully grown man who keeps in contact with his parents (despite the fabrications regarding his lifestyle), Iris is a 13 year old prostitute.
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* ShoutOut: Travis Bickle is named after Mick Travis, Malcolm [=McDowell=]'s character in Lindsay Anderson's films ''Film/{{If}}'' and ''O Lucky Man'' (and later ''Britannia Hospital''). Also, in one scene in ''O Lucky Man'', [=McDowell=] wears suspenders with no shirt, as [=DeNiro=] does in one scene here.
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* ShoutOut: ShoutOut:
** Travis Bickle is named after Mick Travis,Malcolm [=McDowell=]'s MalcolmMcDowell's character in Lindsay Anderson's films ''Film/{{If}}'' and ''O Lucky Man'' (and later ''Britannia Hospital''). Also, in one scene in ''O Lucky Man'', [=McDowell=] wears suspenders with no shirt, as [=DeNiro=] does in one scene here.
** Travis Bickle is named after Mick Travis,
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Crosswicking.
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* SchroedingersButterfly: [[spoiler:The film shows our sociopathic "hero" getting great praise for his shoot out, right after being probably gunned down. Even if he really did live, you can bet he's still crazy.]]
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* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Travis has a ''major'' case of this.
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* HeroComplex: Travis has a ''major'' case of this.
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* AntiHero: Travis Bickle practically ''invented'' the modern anti-hero. Travis is a [[SlidingScaleofAntiHeroes Type V]]. The guy's a nut, but hardly an unsympathetic one..
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* AntiHero: Travis Bickle practically ''invented'' the modern anti-hero. Travis is a [[SlidingScaleofAntiHeroes Type V]].NominalHero. The guy's a nut, but hardly an unsympathetic one..
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* FollowTheLeader: Paul Schrader's remake of ''TheSearchers'' [[RecycledInSpace in 1970's New York City.]]
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* Hypocrite: Travis advises Iris to return to her parents, but he has (mostly) cut himself off from his own parents.
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* Hypocrite: {{Hypocrite}}: Travis advises Iris to return to her parents, but he has (mostly) cut himself off from his own parents.
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* Hypocrite: Travis advises Iris to return to her parents, but he has (mostly) cut himself off from his own parents.
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* BigDamnHeroes: Travis fantasizes about being one for months leading up to his eventual rampage. It's one reason [[spoiler:people think the ending is entirely in his imagination as he's dying.]]
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* BigDamnHeroes: Travis fantasizes about being one for months leading up to his eventual rampage. It's one reason [[spoiler:people think the ending is entirely in his imagination as he's dying.dying (though WordOfGod says no).]]
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* ShellshockedVeteran: Travis, possibly.1
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* ShellshockedVeteran: Travis, possibly.1
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* SirSwearsALot: Travis himself.
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** Leading people to WatchItForTheMeme.
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** Leading people to WatchItForTheMeme.WatchItForTheMeme.
----
----
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* ShallowLoveInterest: Betsy.
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* {{Joisey}}: Travis gives a fake name and address in New Jersey to a Secret Service agent after being promised "forms" to join the Secret Service.
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* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Robert De Niro worked hard on Travis' midwestern accent, but his real accent can be heard on occasion.
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The plural of knife is not knifes, it\'s knives.
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** Travis is also proficient in the use of guns and combat knifes, although that doesn't necessarily make him a war vet.
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** Travis is also proficient in the use of guns and combat knifes, knives, although that doesn't necessarily make him a war vet.
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* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Travis at the end. It actually depends on your point of view if he really had to die or survive]].
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* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Travis at the end. It actually depends on your point of view if he really had to die or survive]].survive. Even if he did survive, there is absolutely no talk in the epilogue of prosecution for shooting up the whorehouse, even for so much as carrying several unlicensed firearms, and he keeps his job]].
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* HiddenWeapons: Travis has a gun up his sleeve.
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* TheBigRottenApple: "All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
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* TheBigRottenApple: Travis, as a night cab driver sees the worst side of New York. "All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
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* DyeingForYourArt: [=DeNiro=] surprisingly did not shave his head for the role (He was shooting ''1900'' in Italy as well). He did however drive a cab for twelve hours a day and study Mental Illness.
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* DyeingForYourArt: [=DeNiro=] surprisingly did not shave his head for the role (He was shooting ''1900'' in Italy as well). He did however drive a cab for twelve hours a day and study Mental Illness.studied mental illness.
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* TheBigRottenApple
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* TheBigRottenAppleTheBigRottenApple: "All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
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* HandCannon: The .44 Magnum. The smaller guns turn out to be more useful, however.
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* KickTheDog: A store clerk fed up of being robbed viciously beats a thief with a crowbar after Travis has killed him.
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* KickTheDog: KickTheSonOfABitch: A store clerk fed up of being robbed viciously beats a thief with a crowbar after Travis has killed him.
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* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Travis desperately wishes he was someone of importance and could be a part of the world Betsy inhabits. Its his wish to escape his existence that leads him to go on his rampage.
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* OneSceneWonder: Martin Scorsese's cameo as a psychotic passenger that Travis picks up.
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** AntiVillain: Travis is a [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type III]]
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moving to correct namespace
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[[redirect:Main/TaxiDriver]]
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-->''On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.''
-->--'''{{Tagline}}'''
-->''"Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I am God's lonely man."''
-->-- '''Travis Bickle'''
Do we really need to repeat this movie's most famous line (which enters into several top [[strike:#100]] #10 lists on the subject)?
...In case we do. It's the famous "You talkin' to me?" scene. [[DontExplainTheJoke There, happy?]]
One of MartinScorsese's most famous movies, made in 1976, it's the story of an insomniac and depressed New York City [[TheTaxi cab driver]] (Travis Bickle, played by RobertDeNiro) who becomes obsessed with [[TheScourgeOfGod cleansing the city of human "trash"]] and goes [[AxeCrazy insane]]. The film is notable for being one of De Niro's first massive roles and for JodieFoster's breakout role, as a child prostitute. She was twelve years old at the time. Cybill Shepard, HarveyKeitel, AlbertBrooks, and Peter Boyle also appear in the film, and BernardHerrmann composed the music score (his last).
(Watching this movie knowing about [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr John Hinckley Jr.]] makes several scenes, including [[spoiler: where Bickle appears to be about to shoot Senator Palantine]], [[HarsherInHindsight a different experience to watch]].) [[hottip:*:it also paints BugsyMalone in a whole new light.]]
Not to be confused with ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'', an AwfulBritishSexComedy that came out at about the same time.
----
!!Provides Examples Of:
* AntiHero: Travis Bickle practically ''invented'' the modern anti-hero. Travis is a [[SlidingScaleofAntiHeroes Type V]]. The guy's a nut, but hardly an unsympathetic one..
* AssholeVictim: We're not supposed to cheer the carnage but Travis' victims (Robbers and pimps) do fall under this category.
* AuthorAvatar: Travis for Paul Schrader, though Schrader obviously never went on a shooting spree (that we know of anyway).
* AxCrazy: Travis by the end of the movie.
* BasementDweller: Of the gun-idolizing, hero-complexing psychopath variety.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: You'd better not provoke him.
* BigDamnHeroes: Travis fantasizes about being one for months leading up to his eventual rampage. It's one reason [[spoiler:people think the ending is entirely in his imagination as he's dying.]]
* TheBigRottenApple
* BlackBlood: [[MoralGuardians In order to attain an R rating]], Scorsese had to desaturate the shootout scene, making the blood a dull pink rather than bright red. (General consensus is that the muted colors work in the scene's favor.)
* BookEnds
* ByronicHero: Travis.
* ChekhovsGun: Travis uses every single weapon he buys.
* CityNoir: Most examples of CityNoir in film draw inspiration from this one.
* CoolShades: Travis' famous Aviator Ray ban's.
* CrapsackWorld: This is the worst New York has looked outside of apocalyptic science fiction.
* CreatorCameo: Scorsese plays a passenger who watches his wife through a window from the street while detailing how he'd like to shoot her.
** He also appears in the slow-motion introduction shot of Betsy in the background, sitting on a stoop. Whether or not this is the same character is unclear, but they are dressed differently.
* CreepyMonotone: Travis.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Averted. We learn almost nothing of Travis' past and, based on the anniversary card, he keeps in contact with his parents and cares about their opinion to lie to them about his life. It makes the film more interesting as you really wonder what happened to Travis to make him the way he is. (See Vietnam below)
* DawsonCasting: A controversial aversion with thirteen-year-old Jodie Foster playing a twelve-year-old prostitute in a graphically violent film. She had to go through psychological analysis to prove she could handle the role, and her older sister acted as her body double for some scenes.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the {{Vigilante Man}}. Technically, on his first [[spoiler: and only]] outing as a vigilante, he [[spoiler: may or may not have died]]. This is what happens when an ordinary man takes up arms and goes against common thugs. And a physically fit ordinary man who supposedly had military training at that.
* DiscretionShot: Travis's awkward phone call to Betsy, where the camera pans away from him to look down an empty hallway as though feeling his embarrassment, is an unusual example.
* DontTellMama: Travis lies to his parents about what is really going on with him to reassure them.
* TheDulcineaEffect: Bickle is a weird SociopathicHero version. Taking pity on a random prostitute who was in his cab for a little over ''30 seconds''.
* DyingDream: A common theory about the ending, since [[spoiler:Travis is let off for brutally murdering multiple people in front of a 12-year old girl, reunites said 12-year-old girl with her parents, gets his brief girlfriend back, and ''keeps his job with the cab company''.]] WordOfGod says no, however.
* DyeingForYourArt: [=DeNiro=] surprisingly did not shave his head for the role (He was shooting ''1900'' in Italy as well). He did however drive a cab for twelve hours a day and study Mental Illness.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Iris hates her first name and prefers to be called "Easy." Travis insists upon calling her by her proper name.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: In the third act, Travis writes a letter to his parents, ensuring them he's fine, [[BlatantLies that he's dating a nice girl,]] and [[PetTheDog he loves them.]]
* FingerGun: Done a few times by Travis in the seedy porn theatres. Also, [[spoiler: after his rampage, Travis tries to shoot himself, but he's out of ammunition. When the police arrives, he places his index finger against his temple like a gun and pretends to shoot himself in the head several times.]]
* FiringOneHanded: Travis Bickle would die before holding a gun in both hands.
* FourIsDeath: Travis buys four guns from Easy Andy.
* GainaxEnding
* GunsAkimbo: Parodied in one shot where Travis draws his .44 Magnum in his right hand and his snubnose revolver in his left. The barrel of the former is longer than the entirety of the latter.
* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Famously, the "You talkin' to me?" scene was only scripted as Travis looking at himself in the mirror and perhaps talking to himself.
* HeroComplex: Travis has a ''major'' case of this.
* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders: this movie is often used to show the schizotypal one.
* IconicItem: Travis' army jacket and of course the 44 Magnum.
* ImportantHaircut: Bickle's mohawk, received just before his rampage.
* InMemoriam: The end credits finish with one of these to Bernard Herrmann, who died just days after completing the score.
* JobTitle
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Travis at the end. It actually depends on your point of view if he really had to die or survive]].
* KickTheDog: A store clerk fed up of being robbed viciously beats a thief with a crowbar after Travis has killed him.
* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: Travis Bickle does this a lot during the movie, but the example most famous is:
-->"All the animals come out at night — whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
* LoonyFan: The ''very'' loony John Hinckley Jr.
* LonersAreFreaks
* MoralDissonance: Thanks for shooting up that den of prostitutes, you heroic rogue.
** Of course thats assuming that the Hero worship actually happened.
*** WordOfGod says it did. Screenwriter Schrader said on DVD commentary that the fact that Bickle was worshipped as a hero was meant to be ironic, and that he would ''not'' be a hero when he snapped again (the cymbal crash and the look in his eyes in the rearview mirror at the end implied that he was as unstable as ever.).
* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler: Travis was planning that, but he didn't have any bullets left]].
* NewYorkCity
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Travis, while mostly an Avatar for Paul Schrader, has more than a few similarities with Arthur Bremer who shot and paralyzed Governor George Wallace three years earlier.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Subverted at the film's climax. [[spoiler:Travis shoots Iris's pimp once in the stomach, and assumes that he's dead (as do, in all likelihood, the audience). Minutes later, the pimp reappears behind Travis and shoots him, failing to kill Travis but wounding him quite badly]].
* NoPartyGiven: Senator Palantine, although his comments suggest that he is a Democrat.
* NoSocialSkills: Everyone Travis interacts with seems to sense that there's something off about him.
* NothingUpMySleeve: One of Travis's guns is hidden up his sleeve, and drawn using a speed-rig he made himself.
* OneSceneWonder: Martin Scorsese's cameo as a psychotic passenger that Travis picks up.
* PetTheDog: Travis's love for his parents and concern for Iris.
* PlatonicProstitution: Travis does this to convince Iris to give it up. She is resistant to the idea.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Averted in the final shootout.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "They... can not... touch...... her..."
* QuickNip: Travis takes one right around when he purchases his guns.
** Another shows up right before the [[spoiler: first, failed manifestation]] of his rampage.
* ShallowLoveInterest: Betsy.
* ShellshockedVeteran: Travis, possibly.1
* ShoutOut: Travis Bickle is named after Mick Travis, Malcolm [=McDowell=]'s character in Lindsay Anderson's films ''Film/{{If}}'' and ''O Lucky Man'' (and later ''Britannia Hospital''). Also, in one scene in ''O Lucky Man'', [=McDowell=] wears suspenders with no shirt, as [=DeNiro=] does in one scene here.
** During her coffee-shop date with Travis, Betsy quotes from Kris Kristofferson's song "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33", and Travis later buys her the album on which it appears (''The Silver Toungued Devil and I'').
** Movie billboards are seen for ''[[ClintEastwood The Eiger Sanction]]'', ''Film/DrNo'', and possibly ''TheWindAndTheLion'' (The billboard advertised SeanConnery).
** Looking closely at one of the newspaper clippings at end of the film mentions Harry Kilmer as President of the Manhattan Cab Company. Harry Kilmer was the name of Robert Mitchum's private detective character in ''TheYakuza'', which was writer Paul Schrader's first screenplay.
** While it would be dumb to suggest that the .44 Magnum's inclusion is in itself a reference to ''Film/DirtyHarry'', the reason the gun is so popular and thus is included in the film is [[TheRedStapler due to that movie]].
* SlasherSmile: Travis during the attempted assassination of Palantine.
* SociopathicHero: Travis Bickle is a nice, quiet variant.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Rough city, smooth jazz.
* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler:Travis seemingly attempts this at the film's climax. When the cops burst in, he puts his hands in his pocket and appears to be about to withdraw a gun. The cops aren't trigger happy enough for this to work however, and Travis instead pulls out an imaginary gun and pretends to shoot himself in the head]].
* TheTaxi
* ThrowItIn: Scorsese's cameo was completely unplanned as the actor that had been hired got sick. He states he hates being on camera and only did it out of desperation although audiences think he did very well.
* TranquilFury: A lot of repressed passion beneath that quiet, cold surface.
%% This used to be a "lolicon" wick.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Jodie Foster as a 12-year-old underage prostitute.
* UnreliableNarrator: You cannot literally believe a word that Travis says. Or at least, you cannot take it at face value.
* TheVietnamWar: Bickle is a Vietnam vet - or so he claims.
** His green jacket with "Bickle, T." emblazoned on the back would certainly back up that claim, as would the charred North Vietnam Army flag in his apartment.
** The PTSD also backs up this claim; many Vietnam war vets came back with major trauma.
** Travis is also proficient in the use of guns and combat knifes, although that doesn't necessarily make him a war vet.
* VigilanteMan: Travis.
* VillainProtagonist: Despite some of his more heroic actions, Travis does intend to assassinate a senator.
* YouTalkinToMe: TropeNamer and TropeMaker.
** Leading people to WatchItForTheMeme.
