Taxi Driver Masculinity Theory analysis
Released in 1976, the screenplay is set in a post-Vietnam War America. Robert DiNiro, the main character in the movie by the name of Travis Bickle, claims to be an ex marine and a Vietnam War veteran who drives a taxi at night in NYC. In his screenplay, the Taxi Driver, Martin Scoses suggests Travis Bickle a main character who undertakes the role of a cowboy, to be someone who embodies the masculine and violent traits in pre counter culture America, but also someone who represents elements of western mythology. In order to support his argument Scoses uses Travis need to fulfill his masculine cowboy persona, by making him the hero of his own life.
Travis unclearness with what his country has become requires him to construct a masculine cowboy persona for himself and become societies savior in order to survive. Similar to a gunman riding alone in a corrupt town seeking justice, Travis sees himself as this person needing to “clean up” the downfallen city of New York. After his death in the end of the movie, newspaper headlines “A man who stood...
It was incredibly difficult to not to pick one of my favorite films for this project, such as A Clockwork Orange, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and Jaws. However, I went out of my comfort zone and picked a genre of film I’ve never become familiar with- Western. The 1974 film Blazing Saddles was a hilarious frontier/Wild West twist about road worker named Bart, played by Cleavon Little, becoming part of character Hedley Lamarr’s (Harvey Korman) evil plan to out-run the small town of Rock Ridge by appointing an African American sheriff to the massly single-minded small town of racist’s. With the plan to destroy the town to make way for a new railroad, Lamarr is convinced that they town would be so appalled that they wouldn’t stand having an
Society in general has a way of assigning men and women with individual roles that need to be complied with. To clarify, in the 1950s and 1960s, American women were required to maintain their homes while raising their children and making sure the husbands were happy. On the other hand, American men had to provide for the family and protect them. Displaying characteristics not parallel to one’s gender is rarely unobserved and almost always has negative consequences because society seeks to maintain order. In reality, the people cannot conform to society’s “norms” because people have the right to be independent of society, yet be a part of it without sacrifice. An example would be how American society views masculinity as a man who is strong,
For centuries, the ideal masculinity has been seen as the provider, the macho man, the cowboy and the emotional rock, but new representations of manliness in the media have been challenging this idea (Watson 2015, p. 270). Within these new depictions, there lies a hierarchy where one form of masculinity is more accepted than the rest (Kluch 2015). Macho masculinity has been seen as being dominant in the hierarchy for generations, however, in recent years, there have been an influx of new representations of masculinity that disrupt traditional hierarchal ideas. The masculinity of the twenty first century includes emotions, sensitivity, discipline, and intelligence. These new aspects of the hierarchy have been introduced by movies such as Brokeback Mountain, 22 Jump Street, The
Once the fighting is over, the camera calms down and follows Travis as he pulls the trigger of the gun bellow his chin. His calm attempt at suicide is reflected by the stagnate camera and both act in interesting disparity from the thrilling action scene just seconds ago. It’s almost as if without that intense violence, Travis reverts back into is dispassionate self, resting on the bed, seemingly waiting to
Contemporary Society's Crisis of Masculinity Works Cited Not Included Masculinity is the word used to describe the broad stereotyped traits traditionally ascribed to all males in British society and the notion of how men should appear and behave. It is more accurate to refer to 'masculinities', to reflect the complexity and diversity of masculinity today. There are important differences made between 'hegemonic' and 'subordinate' masculinities; hegemonic masculinity is the dominant western image - white, heterosexual and middle class, subordinate the diverse masculinities - homosexual men, black men and the working class. David Beckham is a modern icon who has expressed and challenged some of the dominant assumptions of masculinity and identity. He is a talented and committed footballer yet his experiments with fashion and his posing for shoots are taken by some as an affront to the conventionalities of traditional masculine behaviour.
Vietnam veteran Travis Bicklea finds that his life has been turned upside down after returning America from the battle-field. He suffers from the insomnia and sense of isolation, which leads him to take a job as taxi-driver at night; many of his customers represent the people from the lowest class of society: prostitutes, adulterous husbands and wenchers. Since Travis has promised the cab company that he will drive anywhere, at anytime, his likelihood of seeing the best of human nature is fairly slim. So, he tries to create an extra-occupational life for himself. He befriends Betsy, a beautiful girl working at a Senator's campaign office. Unluckily, with on possession of the slightest amount of social skills, Travis takes her to a porn movie on their first date, so Betsy rejects him and refuses to see him anymore. Then another girl bumps into Travis¡¯s life. One day, a prepubescent prostitute who is desperately trying to escape from her pimp named Sport (Keitel). Travis is touched by her plight and resolves to assist her, despite her later unwillingness to cooperate. Meanwhile, Betsy refuses to accept his repeated attempts to apologize, and he begins to go psychotic under the force of various pressures. Travis purchases several semi-automatic guns, takes up a rigorous physical training, shapes his hair into a bristly-looking Mohawk, and decides to assassinate the candidate for whom Betsy is working. After his attempt to assassinate the senator failed, Travis then goes after Sport, killing him and a Mafioso who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in a spray of bullets. After this massacre, Travis tries to kill himself in Iris's room, but has wasted so many bullets that he has none left with which to commit suicide. Nevertheless, his bloodbath turns him into a media hero, and Betsy suddenly discovers an interest in him. In turn, Travis rejects her, and he drives off into the night toward an uncertain future.
Travis is forced into the home of Leonard, a man convicted on drug charges and fired from his teaching job, yet despite the man's shady past Travis say "He's a better man than you...he's treated me better than my blood kin have," (Rash, pg 231) to his father during a dispute. The civil war's affect on the American people North Carolina is a heavy topic for the characters, Travis' father expresses the weight of the past upon the region by tell his son within the same argument, saying "That's kindly ironic, ain't it...His momma's great-granddaddy helped kill off near ever member of your family." (Rash, pg 232) This toxicity to holding to the past is a constant throughout the book, yet Travis moved forward, something that is fundamentally important the the United States. so that her individuals can progress to make a city upon the hill far better than the one Winthrop
Masculinity and Race Historically, masculinity in the United States has been constructed as being White Protestant Anglo-Saxon, furthermore heterosexual and in charge of all matters, and this definition sets standards against which other men are measured an evaluated. Michael Kimmel provides a good definition: […], Young, married, white, urban heterosexual, Protestant father of college education, fully employed, of good complexion, weight and height and a recent record in sports(271). This definition refers to a so-called „hegemonic masculinity“ because it describes a man of power, in power and with power(272). Racially and ethnically other men have always been equated with characteristics that symbolically effeminate and disempower them. Those other men are African Americans and Asian Americans as well as Latinos and Native Americans, which are not my concern in this essay.
The definition of masculinity; Is the fact of being a man or having qualities considered typical of a man.
The character of Travis Bickle roams the nights in his taxi cab, and witnesses all of this “open sewer”, loathing the people who live within it’s realm. Travis is a complex character in his hate for the world in which he works. The streets on which he works are the same streets that he makes his living, and pays his rent, buys his booze, and eventually buys his guns. He is a victim of the world that he hates, because it is the only world he knows. This is viewed best in the scene where Travis takes Betsy to the “movies”.
Germaine Greer, The author of the article, is a very is inflammatory writer who is known very well around the world for her feminism. She is most famous for her book The Female Eunuch, noted as a key text of the feminist movement in the '70s. Germaine Greer is a feminist, she wrote this article in order to create an alternative female out look on a male tendency, but also to show society what was wrong with their thought about masculinity and that it is determined by biology. In the book The Female Eunuch, the last chapter was called Masculinity. There were several but the three main essential attributes of masculinity, according to the minutes off their career are that they need to be extremely strong, they also need to be in control come and they have to always feel better than women.
We live in a world where society has defined masculine and famine characteristics and features that have influenced our culture. Men are seen as:
The root of both Travis' and Raskolnikov's problems is their complete and utter disgust with the world around them. Travis is a New York City cab driver who drives everywhere and picks up anyone. It doesn't matter to him if the customer is a prostitute who uses his backseat as her workplace. He just drives around with a glazed look of indifference in his eyes, while inside, his heart is overflowing with rage. In contrast, Raskolnikov is an ex-student living in St. Petersburg during the mid 1800's. He is extremely poor, and therefore lives in an area called the Haymarket, where all the whorehouses and bars were located. Every time he goes out, he walks past the dregs of society, which fills his heart with hatred for everyone and everything. Both characters see the world to be completely evil and devoid of all goodness, and this existential view drives them to become exactly what they so desperately hate.
Sex and gender are attributes to our identity. Sex describes the physical and biological factors we are born with, for example male or female genitalia, as quoted from blackadder “A boy without a winkle is a girl” (Elton and Curtis 1998). Whether we have oestrogen or testosterone hormones also tells us if we are man or woman. Gender however is in relation to stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, and expectations of what characteristics men or women should portray. Anyone given the opportunity to describe men, they would say words like dominant, non emotional, macho, aggressive, and to be the provider and protector of his family. This essay sets out to examine if masculinity is socially constructed and to do this the theories of gender, media, historical societies and even sexuality will be analysed throughout.
Masculinity and femininity are two terms, which have been interpreted differently throughout history. Both the males and the females have responsibilities and duties but these duties differ based on one’s gender. Gender has played a prodigious role in the economy, politics, and the society. Everyone starts making interpretations of the strengths and weaknesses based on one’s gender. These interpretations are not always based on his or her ability but is usually based on his or her gender. Males tend to be judged as extremely strong and unfashionable in terms of appearance. Whereas, females are judged as expensive and very fashionable. Males and females both differ in their abilities and their enjoyments. Fashion, entertainment, and strength are three topics, which are used to define masculinity and femininity in the 21st century.