Taxi Driver The Rewatchables
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Taxi Driver

Picking Nits

Betsy flirting with Travis

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:06Read transcript
  • The biggest nit is whether Betsy would really flirt with Travis, since someone so gorgeous must have been swatting men away for years.
  • A reply argues he has something charming and deep, echoed by her saying he is not like anyone she has met, before he self-destructs like athletes who blow it when it's working.
  • He is running a Neil Strauss 'The Game' pickup routine, negging her, and can say these things because he is a full-on stalker.
  • The film never presents Travis as a good guy yet makes viewers relate to his anger, like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, a bold, very 70s move.
  • Joker with Phoenix is the modern version, which may have needed to be an overt homage to get made.
  • Documentaries now show such behavior directly, and the Jeffrey Epstein documentary is what Taxi Driver would be today.