(spoilers for the film “Taxi Driver”)

In 1975, the Vietnam War ended. Roughly spanning over a period of twenty years, during which America evolved arguably more than any country in the world, the war directly influenced major peace movements all around the world and inspired numerous great pieces of art, all in an effort to protest and cease the conflict. Theoretically, a soldier who went to Asia in ’55, having left a racially segregated, conservative and discriminatory country, would return to find the sexual revolution, hippies, drugs everywhere, Civil Rights; a general distancing from traditional “Americanism”. However, some crowds did not agree with this modernism, and tried to cling to the classical American Dream. These people often glorified the war, hailing it as a labor of patriotism, and praising the Army as war heroes.

 Seeing this reaction and the tension created between the two polarized groups, Martin Scorsese, a film director, relatively new to the scene, decides to offer his take on the subject, and creates one of the most iconic character studies of all time. I am, of course, talking about the emblematic 1976 production, “Taxi Driver”. 

 Travis is a retired Marine and Vietnam veteran, suffering from insomnia in post-war New York. His ailment and his poor economic state lead him to becoming a night-cab driver in the bustling metropolis. His interaction with the lowlifes of the city and his frequent encounters with criminality and various twisted instances of debauchery and depravity slowly drain his hope for his country. That’s until he meets Betsy, who’s working as a campaign manager for a politician running for the Presidential position. He views her as the polar opposite of the dirty world he roams; pristine, beautiful, educated, economically secure. At first, he hesitates to approach her, watching her from his taxi. But eventually, he does, and they seem to make a connection. However, it soon becomes apparent that nothing truly can bridge the gap between these two worlds, and when she gets a glimpse of his unstable mentality, she flees. 

America is a great power, defeater of Germany in the last World War, but something troubles her. The rise of Communism in the wake of the Red Army’s taking of Berlin. When, in 1954, communist troops in French-occupied Northern Vietnam defeat the French Army, leading to the signing of the infamous Geneva Peace Accords, the American leadership was infuriated. The treaty, according to them, favored the communists. Indeed, Vietnam was partitioned into two separate entities. Northern Vietnam, which was communist, and Southern Vietnam, supposedly libertarian and backed by the West. Operations were immediately put into action to undermine the North Vietnamese government. However, in South Vietnam, things were already corrupt. From 1956, the CIA and the staunchly anti-communist regime started arresting and executing many suspected communists. Tensions between the two fronts began to increase. It was clear that America could no longer “help” without violence.

 The same is true for Travis. After he loses all hope, he arms himself with half a dozen weapons, crafting satchels and hidden mechanisms for them under his clothes. He starts talking to himself, breaking things, collapsing. After the attempts of JFK to temper the conflict, America starts to do the same. 

 After being provoked by the communist troops, Lyndon B. Johnson decides to fight a war “in cold blood”, striking quickly and dominating Indochina, with minimal impact and limited knowledge in the American mainland. This, of course, failed, as soon as the death toll started mounting. When the government understood that this was not to be an easy operation, they started drafting. They, of course, faced the full might of anti-war protests, and international scorn for their poor handling of the situation. The conflict, over the next decade, got so out of control, that American political scientist Guenther Lewy proposed an estimated death toll of 1.353.000 people. The “swift” operation turned into a bloodbath. 

 Travis likewise snaps, going on murder spree and shooting three lowlifes without care or regret. He also gets shot, but survives, and wakes up weeks later… being hailed a hero by all the newspapers. Being saluted on the streets. Being admired. Being loved. 

Such is the story of Vietnam. After the loss of the war, society convulsed on itself. Most hated the war, but rightly welcomed the men unjustly drafted to fight in it. They, however, also branded them heroes, and the government a bastion of justice. The anti-war movement fizzled out in the wake of the war, and the true scale of the unrighteous conflict downplayed. A massacre had become a cause. 

 A madman going on a murderous rampage, was interpreted by the gullible crowds, as a hero dealing justice to criminals and pedophiles. A threatened nation, trying to put a stop on their encroaching foe, who killed millions of innocent people (women and children included), was made out in the West as a force of good. And herein lies Scorsese’s social commentary.

 Travis the taxi driver is America. A killer for no good reason, painted as an avenger. And while in the Vietnam War, none of the two parties were entirely innocent, those bystanders were. And they lost their lives in an illegal war that went against international law, a war of unique brutality and violence. This is why Scorsese chooses to make his film so graphic, so vulgar, so raw. 

 The film faced enormous backlash. The message was not lost to the crowd. However, the sad thing is that today, even though we might not attempt to crucify Scorsese for his view, we still think of “Taxi Driver” as a thriller, a horror movie. It’s not; it’s reality. And the message has still not reached a lot of ears.