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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.