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Taxi Driver question
12/28/2011 12:42:15 AM
First a quick statement: if you have a bluray player get the bluray of Taxi Driver. Very well done, they did an awesome job on it. And it's been running in the $10-12 range on Amazon.
Anyways my question is: In the beginning at the job interview when the boss guy asks Travis about his driving record, Travis says "Clean, like my conscience." Then the guy gets huffy and says something along the lines of "I don't need any smartasses if you're gonna be a smartass get lost" basically. I've never been able to figure out what I'm missing there, why did he get pissed?
Anyways my question is: In the beginning at the job interview when the boss guy asks Travis about his driving record, Travis says "Clean, like my conscience." Then the guy gets huffy and says something along the lines of "I don't need any smartasses if you're gonna be a smartass get lost" basically. I've never been able to figure out what I'm missing there, why did he get pissed?
12/28/2011 4:11:30 AM
What do you want to hack for, Bickle?
I can't sleep nights.
- There's porno theaters for that. - I know. I tried that.
What do you do now?
Ride around nights mostly. Subways, busses.
Figure if I'm gonna do that, I might as well get paid for it.
Wanna work uptown nights, South Bronx, Harlem?
- I'll work anytime, anywhere. - Will you work Jewish holidays?
Anytime, anywhere.
Let me see your chauffeur's license.
- How's your drivin' record? - It's real clean, like my conscience.
You gonna break my chops? Trouble with guys like you breaking my chops.
If you're gonna break my chops, you can take it on the arches. Understand?
Sorry, sir. I didn't mean that.
12/28/2011 8:12:59 AM
Maybe thought he had a joker on his hands.. 
12/30/2011 11:19:03 PM
I would venture to say that he was trying to get a feel for TB. When he asks where he wants to work (uptown, Bronx) or the holidays it appears as though he is baiting him but TB doesn't fall for it. However, when he says 'clear' and ads the extra comment, finally the guy has something to work with––and put TB in his place. That way there is a guy asserting more power over the new hire.
Most of Scorsese films are about men asserting their power over others which defines their characters and the relationships with the others in the story.
Most of Scorsese films are about men asserting their power over others which defines their characters and the relationships with the others in the story.
1/1/2012 1:35:51 AM
Originally Posted By flyhack72:
I would venture to say that he was trying to get a feel for TB. When he asks where he wants to work (uptown, Bronx) or the holidays it appears as though he is baiting him but TB doesn't fall for it. However, when he says 'clear' and ads the extra comment, finally the guy has something to work with––and put TB in his place. That way there is a guy asserting more power over the new hire.
Most of Scorsese films are about men asserting their power over others which defines their characters and the relationships with the others in the story.
I would venture to say that he was trying to get a feel for TB. When he asks where he wants to work (uptown, Bronx) or the holidays it appears as though he is baiting him but TB doesn't fall for it. However, when he says 'clear' and ads the extra comment, finally the guy has something to work with––and put TB in his place. That way there is a guy asserting more power over the new hire.
Most of Scorsese films are about men asserting their power over others which defines their characters and the relationships with the others in the story.
I agree with what you say about Scorsese films being about asserting power, but I think a huge part of almost every one of his films is the inability of men and women to get along with and understand one another.
1/3/2012 4:43:27 PM
The movie is set in the early-mid 1970's with DeNiro's Travis Bickle character as a Vietnam vet. My guess is that DeNiro's "clear conscience" remark was a pointed comment suggesting that he had done his national duty by serving in Vietnam, whereas the job interviewer quite obviously had not. At least that's how I interpreted Bickle's remark and the interviewer's overly-defensive reaction. Bickle essentially called the interviewer's manhood into question.
1/3/2012 5:53:48 PM
Originally Posted By Bartok5:
My guess is that DeNiro's "clear conscience" remark was a pointed comment suggesting that he had done his national duty by serving in Vietnam, whereas the job interviewer quite obviously had not.
My guess is that DeNiro's "clear conscience" remark was a pointed comment suggesting that he had done his national duty by serving in Vietnam, whereas the job interviewer quite obviously had not.
I like this...
