Travis Bickle was racist. He uses the word "spook" in his diary, and his racism is clear from the way he looks at the black people around him. Travis notices black men everywhere, revealing a deep-seated fear and hatred of black men in particular. The constant shots of groups of black people and black men reveal Travis's obsession. The camera focuses on the black people walking through the streets or sitting in the diner as if they are from outer space. Black people are often shot in slow motion, showing that Travis's gaze lingers on them. He is fascinated with what he hates. Travis's obsession separates him from society, because for the most part the people around Travis accept what goes on. Travis also seems jealous of black men. He focuses on the black couple dancing when he watches American Bandstand, as if he is not able to believe that they can be happy while he must be alone.

Only two characters in the film share Travis's racism. The first is the unnamed passenger, who wants to kill his wife for having slept with an "[n-word]." The passenger gives voice to words Travis thinks but did not have the courage to say, which is why the passenger has so much influence over Travis. Some critics argue that the passenger is an object of Travis's imagination, representing the deepest recesses of his psyche. The other racist character is the man who runs the convenience store. When Travis shoots the young black man who is robbing the convenience store, he worries about the consequences of having used an unlicensed gun. The man behind the counter tells Travis not to worry about it, and he beats the dead man with a crowbar. Travis feels justified in his racism because a few other people share it, even though their feelings probably do not resemble his. In the original screenplay, all the people Travis kills at the end of the film were written as black. Scorsese changed this aspect of the story because he believed racism to that extreme would be too controversial.

Taxi Driver is probably the most written about film of the past 45 years, if you're resorting to observing a 4chan thread to find ideas to discuss you're a horrific student

I don't believe Travis was any more racist than anyone else in that time. An honorable discharge from the Marines tells me he must've had camaraderie with all sorts of people.

Taxi Driver addresses masculine loneliness even in the most populated city in the world, better said, especially in the most populated city in the world. It is a study of how people alienate other people if they don't fit their shallow fast-life commodities.

>>68202212
I think you're projecting in that last sentence.

4chan didn't exist so he had to meme to himself. He tried to meme with a girl, but she was having none of it. There was no internet porn, so he went full autist and tried to kill a political figure and failed miserably. He whiteknighted for some cumdumpster.

>>68202184
>An honorable discharge from the Marines
Only if you think he's telling the truth

>>68202184
>An honorable discharge from the Marines
Your mom got an honorable discharge from a Marine

>>68201914
Bickle obviously was a racist, but i think the choice to change the race of the guys at the end was a smart move, and avoiding a "controversial" scene was in line with what the ending conveyed about Travis. By making the "villains" white, the image of a racially-motivated murder spree is not invoked, which preserves the heroic image of the act, to contrast with the place of hatred and disgruntlement it came from. The ending of Taxi Driver is a dangerous and violent man finding an outlet for that violence which is misinterpreted by everyone around him as a selfless and benevolent act. For all intents and purposes it is a heroic action, but having seen Bickle's mental process (as you said, given voice by Scorsese's passenger character) we are privy to his private knowledge that he's not a benevolent man on the inside, and his next violent act could be an evil one.

this movie doesnt even work anymore as we are now supposed to like and welcome the shit Travis felt disgusted about.