Taxi Driver Masculinity Theory analysis
Released in 1976, the screenplay is set in a post-Vietnam War America. Robert DiNiro, the main character in the movie by the name of Travis Bickle, claims to be an ex marine and a Vietnam War veteran who drives a taxi at night in NYC. In his screenplay, the Taxi Driver, Martin Scoses suggests Travis Bickle a main character who undertakes the role of a cowboy, to be someone who embodies the masculine and violent traits in pre counter culture America, but also someone who represents elements of western mythology. In order to support his argument Scoses uses Travis need to fulfill his masculine cowboy persona, by making him the hero of his own life.
Travis unclearness with what his country has become requires him to construct a masculine cowboy persona for himself and become societies savior in order to survive. Similar to a gunman riding alone in a corrupt town seeking justice, Travis sees himself as this person needing to “clean up” the downfallen city of New York. After his death in the end of the movie, newspaper headlines “A man who stood...
Over time, the United States has experienced dramatic social and cultural changes. As the culture of the United States has transformed, so have the members of the American society. Film, as with all other forms of cultural expression, oftentimes reflects and provides commentary on the society in which it is produced. David Fincher’s 1999 film Fight Club examines the effects of postmodernity on masculinity. To examine and explicate these effects, the film presents an unnamed narrator, an everyman, whose alter-ego—in the dissociative sense—is Tyler Durden. Durden represents the narrators—thus every man’s—deep-seated desire to break free from the mind-numbing, emasculating world that is postmodern, post-industrial America.
By adapting the standard Hollywood ‘road’ movie narrative (east to west), incorporating modern music as non-diegetic sound and utilizing shocking scenes – both socially and in terms of ignoring every written and unwritten filming law - Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider stands as a testament to the changes going on in the US during the late 1960s and creates a certain distance to the previous way of seeing America.
Bullitt was released in theaters on October 17th, 1968 and was directed by Peter Yates. The movie is based off of the book Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish. The protagonist Frank Bullitt is played by Steve McQueen; Frank is ranked as a lieutenant for the San Francisco Police Department. Bullitt is recognized and famous for the car chase scene between Frank Bullitt and the Ross Hitmen. Frank drove the
It was incredibly difficult to not to pick one of my favorite films for this project, such as A Clockwork Orange, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and Jaws. However, I went out of my comfort zone and picked a genre of film I’ve never become familiar with- Western. The 1974 film Blazing Saddles was a hilarious frontier/Wild West twist about road worker named Bart, played by Cleavon Little, becoming part of character Hedley Lamarr’s (Harvey Korman) evil plan to out-run the small town of Rock Ridge by appointing an African American sheriff to the massly single-minded small town of racist’s. With the plan to destroy the town to make way for a new railroad, Lamarr is convinced that they town would be so appalled that they wouldn’t stand having an
For centuries, the ideal masculinity has been seen as the provider, the macho man, the cowboy and the emotional rock, but new representations of manliness in the media have been challenging this idea (Watson 2015, p. 270). Within these new depictions, there lies a hierarchy where one form of masculinity is more accepted than the rest (Kluch 2015). Macho masculinity has been seen as being dominant in the hierarchy for generations, however, in recent years, there have been an influx of new representations of masculinity that disrupt traditional hierarchal ideas. The masculinity of the twenty first century includes emotions, sensitivity, discipline, and intelligence. These new aspects of the hierarchy have been introduced by movies such as Brokeback Mountain, 22 Jump Street, The
At one point during the movie, I dozed off after being in the theatre for a copious amount of time. The film featured critically acclaimed actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Matthew McConaughey. In addition, the film’s director is the Golden Globe winner for best director, Martin Scorsese. The setting of the movie was New York City and begins in 1987. Transportation includes helicopters, the subway, cars, boats, and airplanes.
Society in general has a way of assigning men and women with individual roles that need to be complied with. To clarify, in the 1950s and 1960s, American women were required to maintain their homes while raising their children and making sure the husbands were happy. On the other hand, American men had to provide for the family and protect them. Displaying characteristics not parallel to one’s gender is rarely unobserved and almost always has negative consequences because society seeks to maintain order. In reality, the people cannot conform to society’s “norms” because people have the right to be independent of society, yet be a part of it without sacrifice. An example would be how American society views masculinity as a man who is strong,
A raging, oncoming freight train is roaring down the tracks around a slight bend bearing towards a helpless, vulnerable damsel in distress that is tied to the railroad tracks with only seconds to spare. She only has one hope: Superman. Faced with this nearly impossible situation what does Superman do? Naturally, he jumps in front of the locomotive head-on, putting his life in danger, and stopping the train with a screeching halt just inches away from the young lady, of course. What could be more heroic or courageous than succeeding during a dangerous situation? Nothing. As Superman demonstrated, these situations present the chance for traits of masculinity to be displayed. Now, not all situations may possess the severity or extremity of the situation that Superman handled but in all situations that are somewhat perilous masculinity is often associated with the attributes brave, bold, muscular, virile, and forceful, as well as many more. Masculinity requires facing challenges head-on and defeating the dangers; no second guessing, no hesitation. Get the job done. In various short stories from Benjamin Percy’s book Refresh Refresh the male protagonist is always presented with dangerous situations to display his masculinity through his courageous actions. This is executed during multiple different situations, but is often the result of saving a female character. The male protagonist rises to the occasion when an opportunity presents itself, but often they are responsible for creating the dangerous situations. These stories seem to verify Germaine Greer’s view that she expresses in her work Masculinity that “Masculinity requires the creation of dangerous situations, actual or symbolic.” (898)
Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Rosa Parks, Colin Simmons, all household names that people should be and most likely are aware of. Brenda Berkman needs to be on that list of household names. In the early 80s this one woman single-handedly took on the New York Fire Department, and became the city 's first female firefighter.
... middle of paper ... ... Travis, in contrast, does act in order to pursue his ideal, but in such a contradictory and vile fashion that it almost denounces the title of saviour altogether. Ironically, he survives the order, despite attempting to commit suicide, and is lauded as the “taxi driver hero”. He keeps the newspaper clippings praising his heroic endeavor on his wall, perhaps insinuating that he has started to believe that what he has done was heroic, and ultimately justifying what he has done as for the best interest of humankind, and in accordance to the normal interests of “reason, honour, [and] peace” ().
Aside the Director, and screenwriter, many people can relate to Travis’s struggle between worlds, and the uncertainty of how to attain status in the better of the two. This film depicts the striving that we take to find morals. This quest isn’t always successful though. This is viewed in “Taxi Driver” as Travis’s assassination attempt on a presidential candidate, which fails. Film critic Amy Taubin explains this best when she writes, “….the assassination failed is only fitting, since Taxi Driver is a film steeped in failure—the US failure in Vietnam, the failure of the 1960’s counterculture and…the failure of masculinity as a set of behavioral codes on which to mold a life.”
After Scorsese’s father asking him a question about a character, a young Martin raised his fingers to make an impression of him shooting a gun. This image is one of the most memorable images in Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver, where we see Robert De Niro repeating the same image pointing to his temples. This image is shown at the height of the film. When Scorsese got a television at home, no more did he have to leave his house to engross himself in the most recent movie best seller. Already we can see Scorsese’s love of filmmaking from an extremely young
Setting: “I move onto the sidewalk and Curt and I stand there watching our cab disappear into the sea of cars making their way up and down Houston.
Vietnam veteran Travis Bicklea finds that his life has been turned upside down after returning America from the battle-field. He suffers from the insomnia and sense of isolation, which leads him to take a job as taxi-driver at night; many of his customers represent the people from the lowest class of society: prostitutes, adulterous husbands and wenchers. Since Travis has promised the cab company that he will drive anywhere, at anytime, his likelihood of seeing the best of human nature is fairly slim. So, he tries to create an extra-occupational life for himself. He befriends Betsy, a beautiful girl working at a Senator's campaign office. Unluckily, with on possession of the slightest amount of social skills, Travis takes her to a porn movie on their first date, so Betsy rejects him and refuses to see him anymore. Then another girl bumps into Travis¡¯s life. One day, a prepubescent prostitute who is desperately trying to escape from her pimp named Sport (Keitel). Travis is touched by her plight and resolves to assist her, despite her later unwillingness to cooperate. Meanwhile, Betsy refuses to accept his repeated attempts to apologize, and he begins to go psychotic under the force of various pressures. Travis purchases several semi-automatic guns, takes up a rigorous physical training, shapes his hair into a bristly-looking Mohawk, and decides to assassinate the candidate for whom Betsy is working. After his attempt to assassinate the senator failed, Travis then goes after Sport, killing him and a Mafioso who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in a spray of bullets. After this massacre, Travis tries to kill himself in Iris's room, but has wasted so many bullets that he has none left with which to commit suicide. Nevertheless, his bloodbath turns him into a media hero, and Betsy suddenly discovers an interest in him. In turn, Travis rejects her, and he drives off into the night toward an uncertain future.
Masculinity and femininity are two terms, which have been interpreted differently throughout history. Both the males and the females have responsibilities and duties but these duties differ based on one’s gender. Gender has played a prodigious role in the economy, politics, and the society. Everyone starts making interpretations of the strengths and weaknesses based on one’s gender. These interpretations are not always based on his or her ability but is usually based on his or her gender. Males tend to be judged as extremely strong and unfashionable in terms of appearance. Whereas, females are judged as expensive and very fashionable. Males and females both differ in their abilities and their enjoyments. Fashion, entertainment, and strength are three topics, which are used to define masculinity and femininity in the 21st century.