Clapp,A . ""Are You Talking to Me?"" Visual Anthropology [0894-9468] 18.1 (2005). 1-18.

This article examines urban alienation, and the “overdeveloped, overcontrolled” city as the epicenter of social alienation. The author argues that New York has become the main cinematic setting for depicting urban alienation because of its intensity, diverse social world, sheer size, spatial structure, and its dominating skyline. Clapp asserts this belief started with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1926), in which a futuristic giant city was based on New York.
For almost all of human existence, people have had some knowledge of those with whom they had social contact and ties with. Clapp argues the city changed that condition, and, as cities became larger and more socially heterogeneous, the number of people who were strangers and alien to one another increased exponentially. To the author, Travis Bickle’s menacing demeanor in Taxi Driver has become the “face” for the culture of urban alienation and an abstraction of the anonymity, loneliness, social disengagement, and moral detachment for which the big city is regarded as the prime cause of.
Although the article does not specifically focus on Taxi Driver in particular, its perspective gives the audience a vehicle through which they could partially sympathize for Travis Bickle and better understand his character. From the sociological viewpoint of the author, Travis is likely emotionally damaged from his Vietnam experience and is lonely, bitter, and extremely alienated from society. When we first come across Travis on the screen or in the streets, he seems suspended somewhere between our pity and our revulsion. After reading this article, one can not help but think that maybe the daunting metropolis is to blame for Travis’ severe alienation from society and that he is just another lost and helpless lonely soul searching for an answer or a solution. For Clapp, Travis Bickle’s line “well, I’m the only one here”, which is his personal response in the mirror to the more famous line “Are you talking to me?”, sums up his alienation and estranged madness.

"New York City on film defines edgy director Martin Scorcese." New York Amsterdam news [0028-7121] 95.45 (2004). 10-.

 

This article basically talks about Martin Scorsese and his portrayal and direction of New York City on film. Not limiting itself to just Taxi Driver, the article discusses a number of Martin Scorsese movies which are all based in New York City, such as: the aforementioned Taxi Driver (1976), New York New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), New York Stories (1989), Goodfellas (1990), and The Age of Innocence (1993). Through his cinematic brilliance, Martin Scorsese effectively captures the relentless energy and the bold grittiness of the city, making him the archetypal New York City director.

According to the author, Scorsese is the master of the big city movie and his vision in presenting New York to people all over the world is unparalleled. The author also points out that Scorsese has appeared in most of his films, including Taxi Driver, in which he plays one of Travis Bickle’s passengers who wants to shoot his wife with a .44 magnum.

            Although this article does not specifically mention Taxi Driver with great detail, it brings attention to an otherwise overlooked element of the film: Scorsese’s use of New York City as the setting for Taxi Driver functions as an unnoticed, albeit essential supporting role in the movie. If it could, the setting of the film should get its own credit in the cast of characters for Taxi Driver. The movie would not be the same if it wasn’t filmed in New York, for the city enhances Taxi Driver’s dark and murky atmosphere and provides the perfect backdrop for Travis Bickle’s loneliness and alienation. Starting with the opening hazy shot of a steaming sewer underneath a yellow checkered cab to scenes of porno theaters, looting junkies, and corrupt pimps, and even if the movie did not mention the city at all, any average viewer would recognize that the film had to be made in New York City just by the ambiance and vibe it projects, which Scorsese manages to luminously and cleverly capture for the screen. The aura of New York City lurks in the background of every scene and shot in Taxi Driver, sort of playing the role of the ultimate supporting character, giving the film its distinct look and feel. Can you think of a better and more fitting location for this film? I sure can’t.

            Additionally, in a city that’s famous for its diversity, heterogeneous social worlds and distinct boroughs it’s plain to see how one distressed veteran, such as Travis Bickle, can get so alienated and estranged from society that he turns to violence to fight the corrupt moral decay of the city.