TAXI DRIVER.. an equal opportunity civil rights insult

[MoviePosterBid.com]

watching Taxi Driver again for the first time in a few years.. I had forgotten that the film insults every possible group yuo can think of

I'm only up to the part where he's trying to kill the politician, but so far someone in the film has insulted blacks, jews, gays, hispanics, immigrants and even midgets.. At the same time almost all the women in the film are shown as sluts  and whores...

Being from NYC (I was 19 when it came out) I can tell you.. Scorsese did indeed get the right flavor of the attitudes of the populace durng that time.. What a racist city I grew up in.. (in the 60s-70s. seeing as I haven't lived there in almost 30 years, I have no clue what it's like now.. I'll bet it hasn't changed much)

[Harry Caul]

You'd be surprised... seems like no one that lives on the island is actually from NY anymore!  The transplants are actually quite nice folks

[Ari]

your post reminds me of a friend at University, who wanted to make a film about, Black, Lesbian/gay, hermaphrodite, Midget, amutees, (non porn), he thought it would have a niche market. cripes.

[kauaitx]

I've had this DVD for years now but have not had the desire to watch it.  Good to know there's no need to change that.



Jeannie

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Jeannie you should watch it..
it's a great film and if people did not see movies because of content, films like Brokeback Mountain would never have been successful

you take it all in as an artistic endeavor the same as a Robert Mapplethrope photograph..

[kauaitx]

OK, I'll try.   It always seemed to me, though, to be one of those movies that you have to be in the right mood for.   Thanks for the recommendation.


Jeannie

[MoviePosterBid.com]

well that is true my sweet.. You DO indeed ned to be in the right mood

[brude]

Yes, "Taxi Driver" is something special.
I saw it when it first opened in NYC, my hometown.  I remember reading reviews that said Scorcese painted a pic of New York that was untrue. I also remember stepping out of that theater onto the streets of the Big Apple and feeling like I was still in the movie.
He certainly has a knack for fleshing out unsavory characters, doesn't he?

[Dr Hackenbush]

The NYC portrayed in Taxi Driver was no different than most big cities of that time.  It's gotten better of late, but Chicago was one of the most segregated cities for decades.  I believe Milwaukee officially holds that title. 

[Harry Caul]

I'm from the Milwaukee area and it is definitely very segregated to this day.  Today I wouldn't say that there is a higher occurrence of racist mentality there as compared to other cities... but it definitely exists in the housing.  A lot of that can be traced back to post war population migrations north (Civil/WWI/II) during the industrial boom days.  Cities like Milwaukee attracted minorities of all kinds (Irish, Polish, Mexican, African-American) during a time when people were still very and openly prejudice.  This led to a lot of isolated communities which persist to this day.  Culturally, that can have some benefits (Polish-fest, Oktober-fest, etc...), but unless your community is wealthy you usually get the short end of the stick in terms of city services, education, etc... leading to MAJOR inequalities which have persisted.

I believe there is some quote from George Wallace (yes, the "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" Alabama Gov.) saying that if he ever had to leave Alabama that he would move to Milwaukee because they did it right! 

Sigh.

[CSM]

Milwaukee eh?

Go Brewers!  And specifically Ryan Braun!

[Dr Hackenbush]

Chicago's the same way, Harry.  It used to be worse, where ethnic groups were literally divided into neighborhoods, but there's still certain streets that act as lines of division (a Mason-Dixon line of sorts).  Speaking of Polishfest, Chicago has the second largest Polish population in the world next to Warsaw and I grew up in a largely Polish neighborhood where A Taste Of Polonia was an annually event.

[Ari]

Racism is everywhere, most, and I mean MOST (white) Australians are scared of Aboriginals, whether they admit it or not, most (white) Australians say that Asians are bad drivers, Jews are greedy, whatever, I see it every day, I work for Chinese and they (the ones I work for) hate Indians, Middle eastern, and for a white aussie myself I get a fair bit of words, KANGAROO, WHIGHT GHOST,  etc.
I think there IS a cultural difference, but thats how we are raised, EG, any Indian will ask for a discount, and thats after ten years working in the industry, thats fine, its part of the culture to barter. I don't care.
A good mfriend of mine, says that every one is racist in their own way, we debate, I see differences but I think its cultural, not race. another example, I have been researching my roots and I strongly believe my grand mother was aboriginal, I am yet to find proof, but it seems so,  a lot of Aboriginal people have come up to me and said I was, something to do with my eyes. I dunno.
Sorry for the rant/rave/whatever, I find racism a very interesting subject, regardless, Taxi Diver is worth a watch, and as said before, want a racist film? try the Indiana Jones movies.