And I don't know why I unknowingly have a lot of dark movies in my HD. The movies I ended up watching so far are disturbing as they portray the dark side of America with its evils: gangs, drugs, prostitution, and worse, psycho people. Well maybe that's what America was like many many years back. I just don't understand why so many people want to live and work there when American society is so dysfunctional that a year doesn't end without someone going berserk and start shooting people around. And these people are mostly disturbed ones who just couldn't take more of society's trashy ways.
Travis Bickle used to be a marine who was honorably discharged although the film does not take pains to elaborate on his backstory. We only know him now as a taxi driver who is making rounds at night because of insomnia. While working, he has got enough of the things that he see, what he calls filth and scum, and wishes for a rain that will clean the city's streets.
He tries to date a woman named Betsy who works as an aide to presidential candidate Palantine. When he took her out for the second time, bringing her to a porn theater, she left him. Witnessing a pimp later on who forced a young prostitute out of his taxi cab, he began to train himself and buy guns. He then befriended the young girl who turned out to be just 12 years old, named Iris. He pretended to be a client to get to know her and took her out, trying to convince her to quit prostitution.
The conversation between Iris and Travis:
Iris: Why do you want me to go back to my parents? I mean, they hate me. Why do you think I split in the first place? There ain't nothing there.
Travis: But you can't live like this. It's a hell. A girl should live at home.
Iris: Didn't you ever hear of a women's lib?
Travis: What do you mean "women's lib"? You're a young girl. You should be at home now. You should be dressed up, you should be going out with boys. You should be going to school, you know, that kind of stuff.
Iris: Oh, God! Are you square.
Travis: Hey, Im not square.You're the one who's square. You're full of shit, man. What do you mean? You walk out with fucking creeps and lowlifes and degenerates, and you sell your little pussy for nothing, man? For some low-life pimp who stands in a hall? I'm square? You're the one that's square, man! I don't go screw and fuck with killers and junkies the way you do. You call that being hip? What world are you from?
(...)
Iris: So what makes you so high and mighty? Will you tell me that?
Travis (shifts topic)
Later on, he attacked the pimp, the brothel owner, and a client to save Iris. He got injured big time but eventually recovered. In the end, we see Travis driving home Betsy to her house for free and as he adjusts the rearview mirror, something he sees seems to disturb him but he drives forward into the night again, in the sinful streets of the city covered with neon lights.
*********************************************************
As we see in the movie, lowly people （小人）do not like people with noble principles. The scene wherein Travis and Iris conversed for the second time reminded me of the many times A called me self-righteous because I often told him how I dislike a large number of people for being shallow and superficial and pretentious. I just don't get along well with those kinds of people.
No comments:
Post a Comment