Sociology

Being an urbanite is not always an enjoyable experience. As Louis Wirth points out, the size and the scope of the urban landscape makes it very difficult for people to develop solid relationships. The mass of urban life forces people into roles and their interactions with others are based on those roles. In mostly all cases, such role based interactions are harmonious. But, what happens when a truly malevolent and dysfunctional approach is taken by one of the peripheral urbanites The result can be a horrible one as evidenced in the 1976 film TAXI DRIVER.

In TAXI DRIVER, the title character, Travis Bickle is a mentally deranged Vietnam veteran trying to find his place in his urban environment. For some, finding acceptance is easy based on their roles in the urbanite world. However, Bickles role of a taxi driver is a frustrating one since it leads to interactions that lead him to becoming more frustrated, angry, and, eventually, dangerous. This is because he seeks to expand his urbanite role beyond its parameters. Worst of all, even within the parameters of being a taxi driver he is unable to succeed in his role.

He simply cannot fit into what Wirth refers to as a mosaic world. Or, more accurately, he cannot break out of the fixed peripheral role he is to play in the mosaic world. He also suffers from Simmels ominous assertion that when society becomes too constricting, the individual runs the risk of becoming a psychopath as a result. While we cannot be completely sure Simmels assumption is completely accurate in all cases, it would seem to be the case in this film.

What makes the light of Travis Bickle so different is the pure isolation that he finds himself. This is a very ironic concept because be is a taxi driver that works in the city of New York. He is never alone since he is always surrounded by the people he

drives around in his taxi. Yet, he remains isolated because he cannot make connections with these people. He is an urbanite for sure since he is one of the most important peripheral items in the urban world of New York City  he is a taxi cab driver. Yet, his social ineptness makes him unable to sustain any type of valid relationship.

This is clearly evident in his date with Betsey that turns into a perverse parody of a bad date. Honestly, when a man is so socially inept and clueless that he cannot understand that a porn theater is not the right place for a first date, the man mental state borders on child-like. As a result, Bickle becomes a stranger in a strange land of urban decay.

The loneliness of the world Bickle finds himself eventually cracks him. This is visible in his attempts to bring down the corrupt system through political assassination and vigilantism. It is also seen in the perverse obsessive and compulsive love that he has for the prostitute Iris. All of these actions are little more that an odd attempt to create a form of his own private Idaho in the urban sprawl of the decayed NYC of the 1970s.

In a way, you could say Travis Bickle is the worst urbanite of all. He is a part of the landscape but he never truly is able to meld in with it. So, he is in the unenviable position of being the isolated urbanite that cannot gel with a society he is surrounded by. This leads to him wishing to change the system through violent means  an anarchistic approach that is never a wise idea.

City life can be known for creating alienation and conflict. This is because of the nature of this type of life. And, in some cases, the roles people play in relation to the roles other people play will have a profound effect on peoples behaviors. The problem with Bickle is that he does not see himself as a cog in a societal social wheel. He sees the world and his sociological place in it from a self-centered perspective. He seeks his own goals and needs and is frequently quite confounded by the fact that he cannot succeed. He bases much of these assumptions on how other people treat him. Yet, he never seems to worry about how he treats or behaves with others. This is a common problem among the obsessive-compulsive when they seek to carve out their niche in an urbanite world.

As Wirth points out, personal interactions can become superficial and transitory. This is not always an accurate assessment because many people are able to develop their own unique and stable niche in the urban world. The key to their success is the ability to make the most out of their interactions and work to make such interactions more meaningful. Bickle does try this but his approaches are disastrous. He fails miserably trying to make a connection with Betsey and this leads him to create a new role. That role is the one of a savior.

In an attempt to break out of the societal paradigms placed on Taxi Drivers, Bickle feels that he can alter who he is by becoming a savior to Iris. This way, she will need him and provide for him the sense of worth that he needs in order to escape the pain and the alienation of such a dark and grim world. This leads to a violent confrontation with Iris pimps that, stunningly, leads to Bickle becoming a hero. The end result of this is that he is finally accepted in society as he has created a new role and paradigm for himself. This is a derivative of the philosophical approach that Tonnies describes in the sense that it asserts city life will create a new life and role for the individual that exists in it.

In a way, you could say that the vigilantism performed by Bickle ties into the Wirth notion of efficiency. Yes, the vigilante will possess an efficient role  albeit and outlaw one  in the world of this film. One thing that needs to be remembered when examining the urban world of this film it is a dystopia and a nightmare realm. There is very little redeeming to the world of NYC in TAXI DRIVER. That is why the dysfunctional and obtuse role Travis Bickle plays can be considered almost normal when comparing his to some of the other transients in the film.

You definitely could say that worth was correct in his assumption that transitions in societal roles are difficult. It took Bickle several acts of violence and vigilantism to achieve such a goal. Of course, TAXI DRIVER is a fictional melodrama and such acts would have sent Bickle to prison for life had the events occurred outside of a film. Within the framework of the cinematic expression, however, the life of Travis Bickle truly does present a frightening allegory of the roles we play as outsiders in a seemingly vast urban realm.

In the end, Travis Bickle does expand his initial role as an urbanite from one that is peripheral to one that plays a vital role in cleaning society up. But, what has he really gained Will his fame be forever or will it be fleeting We never know this although it does appear a drastic change has come over Bickle by the end of the film. He may have the same role, a Taxi Driver, but his relation to others in society has forever changed. Yet, the menace, mayhem, and isolation still remain.