Interesting Theory About "Taxi Driver"

Started by 1976, August 11, 2004, 09:57:52 PM

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1976

All of the events that take place inside the cab are actually hallucinations. I'm too tired to exlplain it right now, but just think about the specifics of each scene inside the cab (the politician, the angry husband, Iris being pulled out by Sport, the last scene with Betsy in the cab) and the events that immediately preceeded or followed them.

NEON MERCURY

:scatter: .............that enteresting ..but i like Eez28's theory about colateral being the prequal to HEAT...........

Finn

Interesting theory indeed...although you can probably analyze stuff like that to death
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Pubrick

Quote from: Insomniacyou can probably analyze stuff like that to death
meaning: why bother thinking at all.
under the paving stones.

1976

Quote from: Cassius KingAll of the events that take place inside the cab are actually hallucinations. I'm too tired to explain it right now, but just think about the specifics of each scene inside the cab (the politician, the angry husband, Iris being pulled out by Sport, the last scene with Betsy in the cab) and the events that immediately preceeded or followed them.


So let me try to explain this now.

The first event inside the cab shows us Palantine taking a ride to a hotel room. Nevermind the obsurdity of a presidential candidate taking a taxi. The key here is the scenes preceeding this event...Travis' inner dialogue detailing his disgust with the city and images showing us how lonely and meaningless his life has become. His obsession with a woman who works for Palantine's campaign. Here is a man searching for some sense of self-worth, needing someone to express his feelings to...searching for some common link with this woman to facilitate his courtship. Enter Palantine...who encourages Travis by not only allowing him to voice his opinions on the state of his surroundings, but also by making him feel human (referring to him by his first name) and somewhat important:

"I have learned more about America from riding in Taxi cabs than in all the limos in the country."

The next event shows us Iris getting into the cab, having run away from Sport. Nevermind that when later questioned about this event, Iris has no recollection of it. Iris represents a purpose in Travis' life. Having just spoken about the need to clean up the city, she represents his ability to make a change. If he can save her soul, he will have accomplished something meaningful in his life. However, he needs a reason to interfere...hence imagining she is in danger and basically asking for help.

We eventually come to the scene in the cab where an angered husband is telling Travis his wife is cheating on him with a black man (which we know Travis is not fond of), and voices his intent to kill her. We never see the wife, only a silhouette in a window. Nevermind this scene is preceeded by Travis threatening Betsy:

"You're in a hell. And you're gonna die in a hell just like the rest of them."

"I realize now how much she is just like the others. cold and distant. Many people are like that...women for sure."

The man in the cab mentions murdering this woman with a .44 magnum. We eventually see Travis purchasing a .44 magnum. Something tells me the woman in the window might have been Becky.  

The final scene inside the cab shows us Betsy, impressed by Travis's "heroic" act, almost trying to get back into his life. This final hallucination is his chance to make Betsy feel like she made a huge mistake by leaving him, and his chance to get back at her by seeming almost apathetic about her presence. Chances are, Betsy doesnt care. But it is important to Travis to believe she does.
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This whole idea of hallucinations is far-fetched for sure, but I have watched this film again with this theory in mind, and it has made a brilliant film even more incredible for me. I suggest you all do the same.

Derek237

That's a good theory to the film, and it makes complete sense looking back on it all now. There's only one thing that conflicts with it though: the crinkled up bill that sport gives to Travis. Even though he doesn't give it to the other cabbie he owes money to he still ends up giving it to the hotel guy, so it must be real. And if his hallucination gave him a real physical bill....uh-oh, my brain just exploded.

I Don't Believe in Beatles

"I was hallucinating and my brain gave me money and made me think it was from a hooker."  

If it is a hallucination though... well... Travis does imagine Iris and she is real. And if she's never met him and according to your theory he's hallucinating... wouldn't this make him like a psychic?  I can see Travis as being so out of it that at times he hallucinates but for his hallucination to be confirmed later as involving an actual person who he meets is odd.  

What about the first guy Travis picks up also?  (I think it's the first guy.)  You know, the "Prostitute and John".
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later." --Stanley Kubrick

Gamblour.

A better theory (and maybe someone else thought of this before me) is that this movie is actually The Catcher in the Rye.
WWPTAD?

MacGuffin

Quote from: Gamblor not so gone.A better theory (and maybe someone else thought of this before me) is that this movie is actually The Catcher in the Rye.

That was either Mark David Chapman who had a copy of the book when he shot Lennon, or John Hinkley who shot Reagan for Jodie Foster.
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SiliasRuby

Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: Gamblor not so gone.A better theory (and maybe someone else thought of this before me) is that this movie is actually The Catcher in the Rye.

That was either Mark David Chapman who had a copy of the book when he shot Lennon, or John Hinkley who shot Reagan for Jodie Foster.
It was Mark David Chapman.
The Beatles know Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and is in Los Angeles.

When you are getting fucked by the big corporations remember to use a condom.

There was a FISH in the perkalater!!!

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cowboykurtis

i dont think this theory works -- if that was the case scorsese wouldnt have shot those cab scenes how he did. i belive there are shots in the cab of the other characters' point of view.

1. we see the politicians pov looking at travis' cabbie license

2. when the angry husband (marty) is in the back seat we see his pov looking at travis in the rear view mirror.

havent seen it for a while so i could be wrong. interesting theory but within the landscape of the film, it doesn't really hold up.

however when referring to the last scene -- when betsy re-enters the cab, i always thought that was intended to be a hullcination...i still do.
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