‘Taxi Driver’: Martin Scorsese Says It’s Tragic How “Every Other Person Is Like Travis Bickle” Nowadays

As much as “Taxi Driver” is an incredible acheivement and one of the greatest American films in history, it’s also just as influential as a piece of pop culture. The name Travis Bickle is used by people who probably haven’t even seen “Taxi Driver” but can point out someone who embodies that character and archetype. And while Robert De Niro’s character was shocking and concerning when it was released decades ago, Martin Scorsese believes the world is filled with Travis Bickles in 2023. 

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In a new GQ video, where he goes in depth on a variety of his biggest films, Martin Scorsese took time to analyze “Taxi Driver.” Yes, he talks about how he framed shots and his desire to keep the audience off-balance while watching. However, he also talked about the character of Travis Bickle, the film’s central focus. He wanted the audience to have a bit of empathy for him but also understand that he is someone quite scary and prone to “acting out.” And while this is a character that was revolutionary when the film was released, Scorsese said society is filled with them nowadays, as tragic as that might be.

“We kept thinking in terms of the character and his loneliness and his acting out, not condoning the acting out, but he does act out and yet an empathy with him, which is really tricky,” Scorsese said. “Ultimately, what stayed with us was the psychological and emotional state of that character. As we know now, tragically, it’s a norm that every other person is like Travis Bickle now.”

READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino Calls Making Harvey Keitel’s ‘Taxi Driver’ Character White “A Societal Compromise”

In terms of other tidbits about the film, the filmmaker talked about his shot composition, as well as the struggle for a young Scorsese to get “Taxi Driver” made. Scorsese and his filmmaking partners even thought about transporting the story to another city, such as San Francisco or Los Angeles. However, as the director put it, “The taxi driving just wasn’t the same. So, we said, ‘No, it has to be Manhattan.’”

Eventually, the studio agreed to finance the film when executives saw a rough cut of “Mean Streets” and said that Robert De Niro would have to star in “Taxi Driver” to get the greenlight. The rest, as they say, is history.