I couldn't find a submit button on Canvas, so this is here, at least for now. Peace.
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Robert Jaye
Professor John Lennon
ENG3113: Film as a Narrative Art
15 April, 2014
Taxi Driver and PTSD
The 1976 film, Taxi Driver, by Martin Scorsese, follows Travis Bickle, a lonely
taxi cab driver in New York City who grows increasingly dissatisfied with the
state of the city and nation. Eventually, he decides it is his duty to
eliminate the “garbage” from society himself, and focuses his efforts on
attempting to get a child prostitute, Iris, to go back home to her parents.
Throughout the film, Travis becomes increasingly more unstable and dangerous.
He hallucinates, has public outbursts, attempts to assassinate senator and
presidential hopeful Palantine, and kills several people. It is apparent that
Travis’s thought process is different from the average person’s. Travis
Bickle’s actions and thoughts—and, by extension, the movie—can be better
explained and understood when considering Travis’s atypical mental state. This
is commonly assumed to be either post-traumatic stress disorder or abnormal
behavior with no cause that is simply the result of Travis’s unqiue
perspective. It is apparent from the context of the film that Travis Bickle is
not a typical person, but does not have post-traumatic stress disorder.
The majority of viewers who notice Travis’s
unusual mental state and analyze it accredit it to post-traumatic stress
disorder. On the surface, this makes sense. Some victims of post-traumatic
stress disorder (especially those whose stress was involved with their time in
the
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military) may demonstrate similar characteristics to Travis. In popular
media, post-traumatic stress disorder victims are often depicted as being
disenfranchised by the government and the people of the country they return to
from war. Another iconic example of a character that is a Vietnam War veteran
and is driven into a violent, anti-societal rampage can be seen in the
character John Rambo in the Ted Kotcheff-directed, 1982 film, First Blood. The realm of fiction often
depicts sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of a tragic
past event intended to explain a character’s brooding behavior. In real life,
however, post-traumatic stress disorder is a far more specific disorder that
Travis Bickle does not appear to have.
The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders IV lists six stipulations that must be fulfilled to
consider someone as having post-traumatic stress disorder. Travis Bickle does
not demonstrate these stipulations. The first is an exposure to a traumatic
event. Travis was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marines after his time
spent serving in the Vietnam War. While it is possible that he witnessed or
even participated in a traumatic event in the war, the film does not provide
evidence to support this. Travis often wears his Marine jacket, showing his
unwillingness to move past his military life. Travis is disgusted with modern
American society. He preferred life as it was during his time in the military.
If he experienced a great trauma during his service, he would likely try to
escape from his past by integrating into society. The movie would then focus
more on his attempts to adapt to a United States to which he was unaccustomed,
rather than on his attempts to help people in society by eliminating those who
he considers a detriment to society. He does not mention a trauma specifically
or make a general statement that his time serving permanently altered his life
in some way. While there are other sources of trauma than just war, such as
genetic predispositions or abuse, none of these are
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mentioned or present in Taxi
Driver, so his time in war is the only possible cause to reasonably declare
as the source of a traumatic event Travis may have experienced. In fact,
Travis’s military experience is far more relevant in the film as a way to
explain his proficiency with weapons than as a way to explain his thoughts or
behaviors. Writer Paul Schrader has stated that he decided to make Travis
Bickle a Vietnam War veteran to emphasize of the trauma experienced by the
entire nation. Travis is no more affected by the war than by any other
character in the film, as they are all meant to act as if it impacted their
lives in a way they can all relate to. Rather than distancing Travis from
others, his time in the war was only a factor in the film to alert the audience
that the America depicted was intentionally created with the national effects
of the war in mind.
The second stipulation listed in the DSM-IV
is a persistent re-experiencing of the traumatic event. Travis never has
flashbacks to any traumatic event. Being insomniac, he does not have
reoccurring and distressing dreams. He does not react with intense negativity
of physical distress at any mention of the military.
The third stipulation listed in the DSM-IV is
a persistent avoidance or emotional numbing. This means that someone suffering
with post-traumatic stress disorder is likely to avoid reminders of the trauma
or situations that might lead to reminders of the trauma. They might not recall
parts of the trauma or participate in significant life activities anymore. They
will show less of a capacity for emotions and feel as though their future is
constrained in ways others’ are not. This is the stipulation that Travis is the
least representative of so far, as he actively reminds himself of his time in
the military by wearing his Marine jacket often. He willingly prepares for and
actively seeks out situations which give him an opportunity to be violent with people,
carrying guns and a knife with him and attacking the brothel. He even practices
with his
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weapons. His mohawk hairstyle has been interpreted by some as a symbol
of his self-perceived similarities to the native Americans who fought against
the expanding United States. It has also been seen as a reference to Vietnam
War soldiers who wore their hair that way. Scorsese has confirmed the latter
analysis, saying, "Magnotta had talked about certain
types of soldiers going into the jungle. They cut their hair in a certain way;
looked like a Mohawk... and you knew that was a special situation, a commando
kind of situation, and people gave them wide berths ... we thought it was a
good idea." In either case,
Travis Bickle is taking great to care to remind himself of the military. If he
had been involved in a traumatic experience in the military, he would not
behave this way, as his inability to overcome the event would lead him to avoid
thinking about it at all costs. Travis also does not forego major life activities.
He engages in a rigorous exercise routine and a strict diet. He still spends
time with his friends and makes and pursues his personal goals of purging New
York City of “trash.” Travis is also not incapable of emotion. Though he shows
difficulty relating to people, it is not on an emotional level. He feels
sympathy for Iris, affection (and later, hatred) for Betsy, concern for his
city, anger at prostitutes and gangsters, and pride in his work and resolve.
Lastly, he does not act as though he feels like his future is constrained.
During his conversation with the Wizard at 46:30, Travis says he wants “to go
out and, you know, really do something.” It is implied that he meant the
phrase, “go out with a bang.” He is uncertain of how to he wishes to die, but
he knows he wants and can make it a significant event.
One stipulation deals with the duration of
the symptoms. Symptoms that end before a month passes are more indicative of
acute stress disorder.
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The only stipulation Travis exemplifies is
the persistent symptoms of increased arousal. Travis is unable to sleep, is
prone to outbursts, and has trouble concentrating on his friends because he is
focusing on a hallucination.
The final stipulation is that any symptoms
must lead to significant impairment of major life activities such as social
interactions and occupational activities. Even the symptoms Travis does
demonstrate do not impair his life activities. He works more than ever, working
long hours six days out of the week, tries to start a romantic relationship
with Betsy (albeit unsuccessfully), and spends several scenes eating with and
talking to his friends.
In conclusion, Taxi Driver’s only contextual evidence that suggests that Travis
Bickle suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder is that he served in the
Vietnam War, which offers many possibilities for traumatic experiences, and
that Travis is an insomniac who is incapable of forming meaningful
relationships with most people. The symptoms he demonstrates do not drastically
impair his social interactions, attempts at being intimate, or his occupational
activities, and as such could be just as easily—if not more
accurately—attributed to a different disorder, if any, such as schizotypal
personality disorder, delusional disorder, or major depressive disorder. While
his past in the Vietnam War leads many viewers to assume it was intended to
make the audience connect Travis Bickle to the veterans who did return from
Vietnam permanently changed, writer Paul Schrader has stated otherwise, saying
that he intended to ensure audiences that the America depicted in the film was
intentionally based on the national impact of the war. Schrader has also said
that Travis has a “paranoid psychosis” intended to make his actions more
“intense and threatening,” and that the national effects of the Vietnam War
blended with this personality, as Travis drives around the changed America to
feed
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his hatred. The common analysis asserting Travis Bickle behaves the way
he does because he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder is inaccurate. Taxi Driver does not provide contextual
evidence that supports the notion that this was the filmmakers’ intent and
Travis’s behavior does not fulfill the stipulations of having the disorder, be
it realistic or dramatized. Acceptance of this common analysis limits viewers’
capacity to develop their own conclusions about the causes of Travis’s behavior
and, by extension, limits their understanding of the film.
