Racism In Taxi Driver

Okay - I just watched Taxi Driver and I thought it was really good. However, it wasn't jaw-droppingly amazing for me, which is what people had been leading me to think. This wasn't through any fault of the film makers. There were scenes that I knew were really well-shot and profound but it flew over my head the first time I watched. Indeed, I did have to look at some critics' review of the movie to better appreciate it. I feel like it will take repeat viewings of it for me to truly appreciate it as the masterpiece I know it is.

However, there is one thing that bugged me about the film. Or, rather, the film's critics and analysts - many of whom claim that Travis Bickle is, himself, a racist and that this only further emphasizes his hypocrisy, violent nature, and insanity. However, I never really got that vibe from him. He said early on in the film (albeit using a rude term) that some cabbies didn't allow blacks in their cabs but he, himself, did not care one way or the other. He also tries to get a date with the black girl working behind the counter at the porn theater. And, yes, he did gun the convenience store robber down like a dog on the street but, from what I got of it, he did that because the guy was a criminal, not necessarily because he was black. After all, he gunned down the white pimps with just as little mercy. What do you guys think? Am I making valid points or did this movie just go over my head.

Who are those critics? Becasue seeing racism where there it isn't is getting annyoing.

Travis Bickle has a dream of getting rid of the scumbags, thieves, corrupts and so forth. As you said, he doesn't distinguish black and white people in terms of "bad vs. good". He treats women well (if with a lot of mistakes, due to his difficulties in social skills and connection) and men well unless they treat someone else bad. He shoots a white pimp and a black robber/thief.

The movie doesn't have a single tone of racism. It's about alienation, barely contained anger, and the diversity of the night and its peoples, good or bad. And the way it's written, shot and acted is what makes it a classic (not to mention the theme or the main characters themselves (Travis, Iris and Betsy).

Some of the critics are on This Very Wiki. Just look at the trope page and you'll see that Travis is labelled as both a racist and homophobe. Tarantino also thinks Travis is sligtly racist. I do agree with you - he's sort of like the Punisher. Doesn't care who you are unless you're a criminal - in which case you don't deserve to live anymore.

From what I understand there were some intentional racial overtones that were cut from the final film, specifically the villain was supposed to be black but Scorsese was worried it'd make the movie seem racist. Wikipedia does say it's still implied that Travis is racist since some of the other drivers use racial slurs for black people and Travis makes "Hostile eye contact with several black characters".

If there is racism I would expect it to be like The Godfather or Raging Bull where it's Deliberate Values Dissonance.

It is actually not a stretch for a misanthrope like Travis to harbor some racist tendencies in a belief blacks might be more inclined towards criminality or so.

I just watched this recently and yeah I'm not seeing Travis as racist. Misanthropic, I guess, but not really racist. And where'd the editors for the page on this wiki get him being a homophobe from?

I'm thinking it's just people seeing shit that ain't there.

I fail to see how Travis Bickle is racist. A misanthrope with bad social skills yes but it's hardly the same thing as a racist. Grow thicker skin, people.

Thing about Travis is that everything about his racism is subtle. Whenever he's walking the streets he's always (and the camera by extension) focusing on black people. His uncomfortableness around his black coworker.

Scorsese was going to make it more overt by having all the pimps at the end being black but he thought that would be going too far.

This thread is old but I think it's something worth discussing again since the new Joker movie has brought in a lot of new fans of Travis Bickle. The last person put it really well with the camera lingering in certain shots, but I think what's been forgotten is that a few times in the movie Travis calls black people, and I quote, """spooks""" which is an older slur that people don't use much anymore, so it's easy to overlook. He's ALSO a misogynist with a Madonna/Whore Complex, viewing Betsy as a pure angel until she rejects him, he despises prostitutes, and his attempts to help Iris by talking to her fall flat because he sees her as an innocent victim, and to be sure she is a victim, but he doesn't know how to talk to her on her level.

Travis is probably racist to a degree in the fact that he's a working class Angry White Man bundle of neuroses and ticking time bomb of resentment. It's not his PRIMARY motivation or what sets him off on his killing spree that just so happens to turn him into a kind of folk hero rather than Suicide by Cop like he planned.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 30th 2020 at 10:52:52 AM