30 years ago last February 8th, “Taxi Driver” was released. I asked our correspondent, Matthew, to write a brief review to honor the occasion. Here it is: - Dan
The individual in contemporary capitalist consumer society is subject to a wide range of elements that serve to obfuscate his or her notions of selfhood, position within the social framework, and the factors that constitute the fabric of identity. Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver illustrates this struggle through the protagonist, Travis Bickle, as he is confronted with the intense feelings of alienation offered by life in New York’s postmodern culturescape and he is consequently forced to struggle with the search for his own identity in an environment where the notion of “Ëœthe individual’ is grounded in ephemeral relationships to other people and, more importantly, in consumers’ relationships to the images presented by the media. Bickle is especially impacted by television and the presentation of human interactions therein, as he derives his understanding of socialization from television soap operas and of love through pornographic films (Friedman 71). Furthermore, his experience of the city is rarely direct, but is rather viewed like a television through the windows of his cab and is even further distorted/inverted by his rearview mirror, as he never looks at passengers directly, but only through the inverting mechanism of the mirror which “reduces the world and the people in it to meaningless objects, alike in their numbing sameness” (80). Thus, Travis enjoys a somewhat privileged position of detachment from the events of the city”â€a spectator always separated from the dilapidation that evokes such disgust in him by at least one layer of glass”â€and is able to therefore pass harsh judgment on the scene that perpetually plays out before his eyes. Travis then utilizes his scopophilia to absorb the violence inherent within the city and to reflect it back at the society that has inculcated its membership with a penchant for cold brutality, limitless consumptive urges, and tendency to dissolve into the homogeneity of capitalist sentimentality. However, Travis finds these urges to be problematic, for the environment of the city does not seem to hold a place for him and he finds only revulsion for the city and its inhabitants. Thus, the course of the film develops an increasingly titanic struggle within Travis to discover a comfortable niche in a hostile atmosphere and each step of his journey can be understood as a move towards the establishment of his identity as an individual”â€not merely a “fluid set of effects produced by processes of signification or discourse,” (Dunn 65) but rather an agent in control of his own position on the social stratum. For Travis, the need to exercise his agency accumulates momentum in a variety of areas, from his desire for Betsy, her rejection of him, and his desire to save Iris from a life of prostitution, as well as all of his experiences of the violence inflicted by the city”â€its oppressive imagery, nefarious citizenry, consumption of bodies, and the ubiquitous squalor of urban decay” all of which culminate to the point of his murderous catharsis. Violence functions as a means through which Travis’s identity crystallizes as something more concrete than a dynamic catalogue of images seen on television and appropriated for personal application, for the commitment of violence drastically alters the manner in which society must view Travis (and consequently how he must view himself) by not only transporting him into the media limelight, but also by establishing his personal agency within a world that refutes the notion that a person can truly be an individual or an agent.
Click below to continue reading Matthew’s analysis:
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Check out Gawker Stalker. The all new service from those media overlords, Gawker. The service combines celeb sightings with Google maps to form an OCD, tabloid-loving freak’s wet dream. Here’s a screenshot below.
Now, I figure, “Why should New York have all the fun? What about an LA version of Gawker Stalker?” That’s what I say. And so, below you’ll find screenshots of the super-secret LA gawker stalker powered by C&V.
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The Criterion Collection has finally announced date and details for Richard Linklater’s classic, “Dazed and Confused.” Check it out here. But here’s a summary:
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* All new high-definition digital transfer, supervised by Richard Linklater and cinematographer Lee Daniel
* Audio commentary by Linklater
* “Making Dazed,” a 50-minute documentary by filmmaker Kahane Corn
* Booklet featuring new essays by film critic Kent Jones, music critic Jim DeRogatis, and author Chuck Klosterman, plus character profiles, and memories of the film from cast and crew
* More than two hours of rare on-set interviews and behind-the-scenes footage featuring cast and crew
* Footage from the 10-year anniversary celebration
* Audition footage
* Deleted Scenes
* Original trailer
* Collectible film poster
* Comes out in June
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This past Tuesday, Fox finally released the special edition of “The Sound Of Music.” The DVD gets the full 40th anniversary treatment, with multiple commentaries and loads of extras (including a DVD sing-a-long).
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Rupert Grint, better known to the world as “the red headed dude in Harry Potter,” has his own playlist on iTunes… while Harry himself sticks to Euro-rock, Rupert isn’t afraid to show his inner thug and flaunt his love for the “clean” versions of hits from Dre and Dizzee Rascal.
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