Even Most Attentive Scorsese Fans May Have Missed These Taxi Driver Hints
Scorsese managed to tell us all about the character without actually telling anything.
Martin Scorsese 's 1976 masterpiece, Taxi Driver, remains one of the most influential films in cinematic history.
The movie is a cult classic that has inspired other directors’ works over the years. You may know the best example of it — Joker, impeccably directed by Todd Phillips.
Travis Bickle, flawlessly played by Robert De Niro, still manages to hook people with his loner vibes and total hatred for the rough streets of NYC.
A Reddit user shared one intriguing theory that proves that Travis Bickle is not a native New Yorker.
One of the key pieces of evidence supporting the theory that Travis Bickle is not a native New Yorker lies in the diner scene with Betsy, played by Cybill Shepherd.
Travis orders apple pie with melted cheese, a combination more commonly associated with the Midwest than with the culinary preferences of New Yorkers. While this may seem like a small detail, it reflects a possibly deliberate choice made by the filmmakers to provide subtle hints about Travis's origins.
Another thing that makes the theory stronger is Travis Bickle’s accent. De Niro speaks with a Midwestern accent. De Niro is famous for being really careful about his roles, so he wouldn't have used that accent without a reason.
Surprisingly, Martin Scorsese himself confirmed the theory as he explained in a 2015 interview with Vulture that Travis Bickle is indeed from the Midwest.
In the documentary Making Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro revealed that he was preparing for the role while he was shooting another movie (1900) in Italy. De Niro said that he recorded soldiers from the Midwest to learn the accent to later reprise it in Scorsese’s movie.
Understanding Travis Bickle as a Midwestern sheds new light on his feelings of isolation and disgust toward New York City of the 70s. The bustling metropolis can be overwhelming for anyone, but for someone unaccustomed to the fast-paced urban lifestyle, it can be “hell," as Scorsese said himself.
Even though it wasn’t indicated directly, Scorsese managed to leave some hints at the character’s origin that better explains his actions and behavior. That’s what people call “master at work.”