The Freaks Come Out At Night

Travis Bickle from the film Taxi Driver, played by the handsome Robert DeNiro, was quite the round character. A discharged Marine and insomniac, he falls into a crusade to rid the flavorful New York City of its "whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal". Travis is undoubtedly an outcast. This is shown through his interactions with other characters throughout the film. When he occasionally stops by the local cafe with fellow taxi drivers, he doesn't ever really engage in conversation with them, mostly just listens and at times barely does that. He attempts to date Betsy played by Cybill Shepard, however, his lack of social skills prevails and he is denied her as her love interest. This is one event that led up to his character change. As the film goes on and the viewer hears the diary entry narration from Travis concering Betsy, it becomes very apparent this is not the first time he has been let down by a woman. Bickle's character is a minimalist, which is reflected by his clothing, his apartment, even his cab. He doesn't require much for life. As Travis witnesses more and more negativity during his late night cabbie runs, his personality morphs into this eerie being. He goes from mediocre to morbid. After the night when Iris, a prostitute played by Jodie Foster, was violently pulled away from his cab by her pimp, Sport [Harvey Keitel], he embarks on a mission to save her from the horrible life she leads. In preparation to complete the task at hand, Travis changes his lifestyle, to that of his former self as a Marine. His clothing becomes very militaristic and he sharpens his appearance to resemble the 70s punk rock look. He has evolved yet again. His journal entries are not as "lost" as previous entries, he now has a plan to execute, "I gotta get in shape. Too much sitting has ruined my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on there will be 50 pushups each morning, 50 pullups. There will be no more pills, no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body." When he finally completes this transformation, he completes the act to save Iris. His character is strong at this point and is very guided and precise. When he feels he has completed what he was destined to do, he seems to be more content with himself. When Betsy enters in his cab, he looks as if he could care less, almost like she wasn't anyone special to him at all. I think thats due to him becoming stronger through the series of events that led him back to the cab.

Kerstin D.