Taxi Driver, Purposeless Jobs and Alienation

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[@user-ey8yc7st7k]

If someone hasn't yet pointed this out I think there's a lot of significance to travis being an ex marine. A longing for a greater purpose is a huge reason people join the military, and he probably got a feeling of importance out of it. So know that he feels he has no purpose, he seeks to gain it in the way he found purpose before: violence. Travis may have been a war hero or a war criminal or something in between, but either way, he was conditioned into thinking that violence and killing gives him purpose. now that he's out the military he still longs for purpose through violence, but since there isn't an enemy that wears a uniform that he knows he is supposed to kill, travis invents new villains for himself to kill.

[@rubenvasquez8750]

I'm a former U.S. Army(Medic), I spent six years preparing for a war I never fought in, to treat patients I never had, and to serve in a way I never did. I drive a city bus now and only see other people being happy and fulfilled in a way I never was. It wears on me in a way few can understand, but I'm still young and I intended to leave my job to do better things with my life.

[@codygreene9067]

It’s true. I was a Paratrooper in the Army for close to seven years. I went to Iraq and Afghanistan during my time in the military. Ever since I got out I’ve struggled to find purpose and I currently work night shift in a warehouse. It seems to be a recurring theme for veterans. Most guys go into the military right out of high school so they’re taught to act and think a certain way. Then once they’re out the military effectively turns it’s back on them and says “good luck”. They spend all this time training you to be a member of the military and then spend no time training you to re-enter the civilian sector.

[@user-ey8yc7st7k]

​@@codygreene9067 I've heard variations of this a lot. I'm sure there are many elements of going back to normal life that are super difficult for veterans, but a big one is the feeling that you've become just another worker again. I remember hearing a story about a veteran who started working a fast food drive-through, and just feeling completely demeaned by it. Having all the people who you were told you were protecting, who said "thank you for your service" yell at you because they got lettuce instead of the extra pickles they ordered.

[@avaruusmuukalainen]

On the other hand he said he was in the marine special forces which makes him sound a bit weird.

[@avaruusmuukalainen]

@@rubenvasquez8750 I spent a year in the army preparing for the war that Ukrainians fight now.

[@fci1]

Retired now but hated every damn job I ever had.

[@strike7210]

我也是，我来自中国大陆……不过我才28岁

[@danielmzlos1895]

I'm a depressed person but I find simple things like good wheather, taking a swim in the ocean worth living, you might think your life sucks, but when you are laying down in a hospital bed waiting for your last moments, maybe life didn't suck so much

[@JustaNobody2004]

I thought I was the only one

[@teresas8173]

@@JustaNobody2004no your not alone by any means

[@teresas8173]

Having depression makes you realize that happiness, as we struggle to find and feel it, can be found in the most simple things in life. A job does not define you, nor will it bring that much happiness to a good portion of people. For many the people you work with will do that. Decent pay also helps! And EVERY job should pay well. Loving and respecting yourself, no matter your job will bring happiness. Some people can’t work, they deserve happiness and respect as much as anyone else.

[@Bruno-gl9oz]

Doing ket with coke on a winter day... Thats happyness

[@jackalope2302]

Ironically enough, it was driving a taxi that showed me my purpose in life. Service to my fellow human is purpose enough for me. I learned that the thing that makes me happiest is making people around me happy. Granted, I was in a small community in the 2010s instead of New York City in the '80s. I got frequent customers again and again and got to become a sort of friend to them

[@anarchodolly]

I'm reminded of that scene in Monty Python's Meaning Of Life where one of Eric Idle's characters gives his life philosophy: "When I was a small boy my mother said to me, "You must try to bring happiness and contentment wherever you go!" - so I became a waiter." It's a wonderfully wholesome approach and I endorse it fully.

[@jackalope2302]

@Veikko idk, perhaps it's because I was raised Catholic and therefore have a bit of a martyr complex. 🤪 But even now, four years after I quit, when I struggle with my problems, I remember the faces of specific people I helped and I feel a bit of the good feelings their joy brought me. I'm not saying it was always idyllic. There were many many frustrating and infuriating incidents, but I do my best to not dwell on them, unless I can make a joke out of them to entertain others. But the good stories, I don't have to make jokes of them. Long story short I became the change I wanted to see in the world and a little bit like the kind of people I wish this world had more of.

[@TheEyesThrone]

@Veikko For me helping others and making others happy keeps you in people's good books, a good memory. The more service you do for people the more you get back. When you're known as the guy who is reliable and can give a hand at a moments notice even if you're sick as a dog, people respect you. And while yes some people can take the piss and try to take advantage of that, you get far more respect when you set boundaries as then you become VALUABLE. The community (which in todays social media haze is somewhat lacking) notices you, you'll be invited round for coffee, you'll get exclusive deals at people's shops. It's like being famous but with less hassle! You wave to people on the street and they're reminded of good moments and so you get a great big smile when they wave back, imagine everyone you walk by having the same reaction! Why would comedians exist if it didn't give them purpose to make people happy? At the end of the day me personally I want to be the father who cannot deny a request on his daughters wedding day, godfather type shit ynamean?

[@regretlater929]

@@jackalope2302 Clearly from what you have been telling, you do have such a beautiful heart coupled in with a divine soul. That to me is like almost a perfect human being. Hell yeah we need much much more of that. Today!

[@regretlater929]

@Veikko to him his own purposes, and to you your own. There's no other way to explain it. And also, how dare you to came out with that kind of question? How dare this video to put down on Wizard? He at least didn't go out and shoot people. No credit for that huh? How narcissistic this world has become, can you all see?

[@robertjohnburton9775]

The tragedy of many people is that they do not understand it is their connections that creates a quality of life, and that keeps moving as different people come into your life. Work is only a part of it, if one disconnects from others because of hurt, dissatisfaction, or even poor health then life is a horrible prospect. It is our connections that make living bearable. Yes, I agree one can give up a lot to earn a living or even to be accepted by others. However, making destructive choices is no solution to such misery. Instead, making social connections, even just a few makes one resilient. I don't need a lot of people, but I am reliable to those who make an effort as I do to them. Excellent and thoughtful video spoken with charm - I look forward to your work

[@hugh2hoob668]

People are trash mostly

[@dafriendlyghost]

“If one disconnects from others because of hurt, dissatisfaction or even poor health then life is a horrible prospect.” - artfulasipe

[@tinafoster8665]

@@dafriendlyghost I agree, this person is quotable 1st rate👍

[@101......]

Well, to quote a certain someone, "Happiness is real when it is shared." You have a really valid point there.

[@christopherrobyn1748]

This makes lot of sense. I don’t talk to anyone literally 😂🤪you spot on I think.

[@lynnpehrson8826]

He's not (really) analyzing Betsy, he was projecting. If what he is saying is accurate, it's only because what he's saying is pretty non-specific.

[@YungPollock]

I think part of it is that what he sees in her is the loneliness and discontentment that he feels but he just doesn't have the self-awareness to realize that he just sees himself in her.

[@average_enjoyer]

Yeah, I'm sure most people would relate to that analysis in some way or another.

[@William_995]

I think he is empathising and doesn't realise he's doing it, because he isn't consciously aware or able to connect those dots and also isn't aware or doesn't want to be aware that he's also projecting, it's partly why he's lonely and feels disconnected because he lives in a system and a society that never really encouraged people to develop empathy and openness with emotion, with one another. He's disolushined with how are things are but doesn't have the awareness of it being a systematic, capitalism issue, when he's driving that candidate and he's talking about "clearing the streets" he's reacting and seeing things the only way he's able to, he blames the poorest parts of society and reacts with rage, because he doesn't know how to react in any other way. He like most other people are disconnected from others and themselves.

[@ahobimo732]

I relate to Travis Bickle more than I'm comfortable admitting. I'm not heading down the same destructive path that Bickle did, thankfully. I commit myself every day to finding my way towards the light and away from the darkness. But it's a constant struggle, and I absolutely understand how people like Travis Bickle lose their way.

[@krunkle5136]

The writer of the script intended for him to be an uncomfortably relatable character, to show people they're not alone or that special.

[@ahobimo732]

@@krunkle5136 Either no one is special or everyone is. These two claims might seem equivalent, but they could scarcely be further apart.

[@ahobimo732]

@Chris O'halloran Life is extremely difficult for a great many people. I think it was Henry David Thoreau who wrote: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." I don't know if this describes MOST men, but it describes a goddamned large number of them, and women too. Travis was wrong about a lot of things, but he was right about a lot as well.

[@ahobimo732]

@Chris O'halloran Yep. I think most people have issues. The question is whether or not they're facing them or not.

[@ahobimo732]

@Chris O'halloran Also... good luck. I hope you survive and overcome whatever obstacles you have to face.

[@benk4088]

Brilliant film, I enjoyed listening to your perspective. For me the final sequence is a manifestation of the ultimate fantasy of a lonely disillusioned male. The world doesn’t appreciate him, the girl spurns his offer of love. But, in demonstration of his strength and bravery, he does a heroic and dangerous act, getting injured in the process. The world now knows who he is and praises him (validation) and the girl comes back to him, but he now he gets to reject her in a show of false modesty. This is the deepest satisfaction of all for travis. But the final shot is so important because his eyes darting in the rear view mirror shows that, even in the completion of his impossible fantasy, he is still the same paranoid lonely man in a soulless job. He looks outward for purpose but never inward for understanding. He never falters in his belief that he is an original man with greatness in his future, it’s intolerable to him that his destiny is the same as most other average men. This film is the tragedy of the unoriginal man who dreams of greatness, in a world that can’t even offer purpose

[@BrotherMalMusic]

Damn I watched this movie last year to see why it’s so acclaimed, but it didn’t really hit me in the way I see it hyped up (I’m only 26, so that might be part of the reason); but your explanation makes it make more sense. I’ll probably rewatch it because most of my favorite movies have a similar, slightly “depressing” theme of some everyday person struggling internally and being hyper-aware of how unhappy or lost they feel. _American Beauty,_ _Seven Pounds,_ _What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,_ _Panic_ (The one with William H. Macy released in 2000) Edit: *movie

[@tinafoster8665]

@@BrotherMalMusic seven pounds was surreal, you don't get till the end why he's so crazy about everything he's doing, n then, it's completely sane. The man can't live with the consequences of what he's done, so he sets things as right as he can, and then picks the one mode of death that will kill only his brain but no other organ. And although the movie is kind of overly emotional and stuff, it's an interesting study in how one man's mania might seem crazy but is actually the sanest thing that could be done under the circumstance

[@BrotherMalMusic]

@@tinafoster8665 Right! It’s crazy because _Seven Pounds_ is considered one of Will Smith’s worst movies, but it’s one of, if not my favorite movie ever. Probably tied with _American Beauty._

[@Crabbadabba]

It could also be that he internalized the scum of the world a bit as he exhibits some degenerate attitudes like watching porn and wallowing in his misery, but more imporantly he was drawn to ousting the underworld and taking matters into his own hands. Vigilantism is another theme in this movie. Great comment, Ben.

[@gninja92]

capitalism alienates ppl.

[@isardonic8601]

When I was 18, my family instilled that after high school, I had 3 options: Work, college, or the military. Currently 24, I've failed at all 3. I work in a city where everything is expensive, my job sucks, college and the military didn't work out, and I'm in debt. My environment is filled with crime, madness, and nonsense. I grew up with moral values in which I believe not only have I failed, but the environment I live in does not value and in some ways punish. I've exhausted my options, and honestly think I'm doomed to fail. I work myself tirelessly, just to let years of depression pull me down again. Life sucks, but it doesn't have to. Please don't be like me.

[@shaunsteele8244]

I'm 42 now. When I was 18 my family gave me the same choices... after finding that college wasn't for me, I decided to start working and stumbled through a few tedious mind numbing jobs. I also got myself into debt I couldn't pay back, and I basically lived on friends couches for almost a decade. By the time I was 30 I accepted a temp job that turned into a promising career in healthcare management. At 35 I was finally paying off my debts, met a girl and got married and lived happily ever after. I feel like I got lucky, but I know a lot of guys like me couldn't handle life like this. I really feel for people who feel like they have no place in this world.

[@juandager5220]

Life is full of failure. You fail one thousand times before succeeding. And it repeats again. But no one talks about failure, it's not on social networks. We only see utopian fantasies. Madness is trying the same experiment but expecting different results. Change your formulas and keep failing until you succeed in your goals. Actions produce change.

[@saveyourhero3307]

Don’t waste your life. Maybe it’s time to move somewhere else.

[@danhectic5629]

@@saveyourhero3307 i'm gonna start selling all the crap i've accumulated in my 40 mostly miserable years on this earth- and do SOMEthing, someWHERE... wish me luck- i need it. being full of hate every day for years is not healthy.

[@saveyourhero3307]

@@danhectic5629Good luck. Don’t let hate consume you. It’s time to move on somewhere new

[@andrewcarson5850]

A point not brought up in this excellent video, or in the comments that I've read, is that Bickle is at a point in his life, as with all men between the ages of 24-35, that his most likely cause of death is from suicide. I would suggest that this is from a realisation of the purposelessness of the prescribed lives so many of them are trapped within, particularly as the rush of earning your own money and starting romantic relationships and family is over. What next? Where is happiness? Where is the purpose and attainment of value that everyone else seems to have so naturally? What's it all about, when you get right down to it?(TP)

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

Bone chilling

[@shaunsteele8244]

all he had to do was take Betsy on a normal date, and he could have probably married her and had kids and lived a happy life. Travis was an idiot

[@blakelip3]

@B Babbich not always true

[@blakelip3]

@B Babbich you can have a purpose before any of that comes into the picture (helping people yes) but before ppl plan on bringing kids into the world, people who were for themselves had dreams, goals, aspirations, passion that drove them. But I guess we live in a pro create society. You can still have that burning motivation/reason to live without kids

[@totesmagotes3688]

@B Babbich biologically, people are wired to procreate and continue their bloodline. When you don’t have children to worry about, there are a few ways your future can go in a positive way. You can focus on work, and I use the word ‘work’ loosely. Find something to be passionate about. Another thing would be to become a hedonist. If you don’t find purpose through religion, or having children, you’ll see there really is no purpose in this world and that you have to impose purpose to keep yourself sane.

[@MatimoreAgain]

Yes. My best paying job, at an office, felt like a stabbing of the soul.

[@officialthomasjames]

Yup. It’s because most of these jobs don’t contribute to society or serve people at all. We get the most fulfillment from helping people, not trading our time for money to serve ourselves.

[@God-Emperor_Elizabeth_the_2nd]

I work in a cement paver factory, I’m all but mentally disabled from lead poisoning as an infant. It’s nice to see a video explaining what I feel. Giving words to my feelings, I guess. I work a purposeless job because I am mentally unable to do the jobs I day-dream about having.

[@albertoftasmania]

I hope you aren't breathing in too much silica gel, my friend.

[@darlalathan6143]

I am an heiress, formerly living on disability, unable to make money from my dream job, because I'm autistic. Fortunately, my inheritance is not rich but comfortable and I draw and sell 'zines as a hobby!

[@gamdanyunizar7849]

What's your dream job?

[@cornhorn280]

"what if you become a warehouse worker?" He says as I'm putting the on my gloves and boots for my warehouse job lmao

[@johnbullock8885]

It sucks to know that at 35, I still have about 30 more years of work. I just want more time to spend with my son and practicing my hobby. I’ve noticed even with just 2 days off in a row, I almost become a different person and if I take a week off, I completely change.

[@davidgsings5064]

I've noticed this too. I took a few months off in 2020 due to the pandemic, and honestly I didn't miss my job one bit. I felt so happy getting to wake up and practice guitar, enjoy movies and games with my friends, go out into nature, take time to cook meals. i never felt rushed or like I was missing out on life if i didnt use every bit of my free time. At 29, working in hospitality management has left me angry, depressed, and frankly confused as to what my options are. It seems to be an aimless and cold world, getting worse by the day.

[@naniyotaka]

This is why I believe 4 hour work days would be the best for everyone. We can’t focus for 8 hours a day anyway so why keep us in work if the actual job could be done in 4 or 5 hours.

[@shiptj01]

All of you are right.

[@ma3stro681]

Escape the city to the country and live the good life with your son …

[@AyoOdimayo]

AI is here dude, give it 3 years max

[@ameridesign]

I relate to Bickle and this video a lot. I work in a supermarket, and my job is so monotonous and alienating. I feel dissatisfied and disattached from the labor I produce to the point I feel numb/nothing like an npc. For a long time, I've been wanting to write a novel but been putting it off to the side, something I can feel that I created something.

[@mikegrill9078]

start writing down pieces of it as they come. I've been trying that at the warehouse, either words or characters or fragments of story. each piece counts. see if you can scratch some down in a notebook or on your phone. maybe duck into the bathroom for a couple minutes to get the idea out, that's usually where i find refuge.

[@isardonic8601]

I understand that 100%. My job is the same. Some wouldn't complain about an easy job, but I never wanted easy. I applied for promotions just to get rejected. I look at the smaller things that I never pay attention to, and realize the impact that it has. No matter what you do, everybody has a purpose.

[@sethsmith6042]

Creative writing is a great way to find purpose in my experience. You should push yourself to try it, it's a very rewarding hobby, though it is hard to get started

[@ralphwarom2514]

Write it. Don't wait. Go for it. Good luck.

[@woman2251]

Write the novel please.. just write it

[@Lordoftheswollen]

The "you become the job" speech scared and stuck with me as a teenager. Now after working a job that I don't enjoy or get fulfillment out of for almost 10 years, I can't imagine doing anything else.

[@martinoland1]

What do you do?

[@Lordoftheswollen]

@@martinoland1 Sell cars

[@cantinhodocafe4087]

Your videos are criminally underrated. And not even a year later you're already over 350K subscribers, just as the people foretold!

[@ejdolo]

I just found him about an hour ago and i been binging ever since

[@genesis697]

he will have 1 mill subs in a 3 years time. hopefully even less

[@P1MPST1K]

Wow the algorithms rlly starting to bless this dude

[@onebilliontacos3405]

10:57 Indeed

[@BetrayerSlayerMusic]

Same with my pant bulge

[@carolynr570]

I didn’t realize this is exactly how I feel about working.. I just turned 22 and I’m in college but I feel like my degree is useless, because I don’t care to use it anymore. I’ve always dreaded having to go a traditional route of graduating and having a career, not because I’m ‘lazy’ but I don’t want to sit at a desk all day just to survive. My dad does flooring and repairs and I help him sometimes and though it’s not the most pleasant work, I feel like I’m actually doing something and I can see the fruit of my efforts and I’d rather do that for a living than any of the many mundane jobs out there.

[@hairohukosu433]

@carolynr570 I dont know the context of your life and relationship with your dad, but I can suggest that you do exactly that. Ask around, talk to the people that could employ you in that field, get started sooner rather than later. If you can learn that trade and enter that industry, one that feels purposeful to you, you should absolutely try it. Too often we get caught up in the cogs of the wrong machine, so if you have a way out in sight, jump on it.

[@snowfrosty1]

miss you should do what your father does, it'll be good for you & womynz like you beneft more via more tradionally, stereotypically & conventionally 'masculine' blue collar vocations than say becoming an HR Karen.

[@shortycareface9678]

I worked a sales job for a brief while. Figured I'm definitely not cut out for it. They even gave us literal scripts of how we were supposed to interact with the customers, specific lines we were supposed to say. Nope, couldn't do it, it was absolutely soul-sucking.

[@carlosrivas482]

“Purposeless job…” You didn’t had to personally attack me like that man 😔

[@osaji922]

When you take into account of what he says in its entirety, every job that doesn't express your true authentic self is purposeless. It doesn't matter whether you're a doctor or warehouse worker. There is no individual expression in being a doctor. You're just there to help the patient with their health condition. With that said, a person could very well have a liking for being doctor and performing those duties, but if one resigned, then the hospital would just fill that opening with the next doctor. I mean unless you were an atrocious doctor, in which case you'd have your license revoked, is it really a big loss? Are they not just a cog in the machine?

[@BDDDDDDDD]

most of the jobs are purposeless to self but meaningful to others

[@gabrielserrano5054]

The purpose is some kind of social acceptance. I mean who really is proud of someone else? Maybe an entertaining person maybe get famous and remembered by someone. Other than that people come and go

[@virginiaappleman9401]

This is an excellent analysis of this particular guy -- but I think there's more to it than the 'purposeless job' tag. When I was 18-20, I had a lot of jobs -- taxi driver, dog catcher, shipyard worker, ship's cook. Each one, however, was an education -- probably because I was after experiences. Taxi driver was my second-most educational job (with the most educational job being the one I did for 20 years, public school teacher). Driving taxi taught me 3 really important things: 1. Drinking until you're drunk is really, really stupid and dangerous; 2. There are philosophers and creative minds across all economic spectrums; and 3. You should never ever judge someone by their external appearance. I picked up a dark brown dude from a Latino cantina one night -- when I asked him where he wanted to go, he said (in a really thick Dutch accent) "Seevay dock". He was Dutch-Indonesian, with a quirky appreciation for Norteno music. It's the classic old woman asking for a drink of water on the side of the road from the fairy tale. She could be just a beggar. She could also be a powerful fairy, or even a saint. The 'purposeless' job is really just a manifestation of the purposelessness of the individual. Bickle was damaged already. He could have had a job as a fireman saving lives on a daily basis, and still devolved into despair.

[@brainiac.computer]

Your last sentence says it all: we, as individuals, bear some freedom in choosing what gives our lives meaning. Call it destiny, fate, whatever. It’s better than giving into pessimism.

[@canadiansoviet]

Best analogy

[@killval849]

You sound like someone that absorbs life lessons like a sponge. I too try to do that, to the point of writing various helpful quotes down in a notepad on my computer for example. Thanks for the lesson.

[@BrokenTreeProd]

One thing I always loved about this film was that if Bickel had killed Palantine he would have been a villain but his plan was foiled and in saving Daisy he became a hero.

[@malashebad6181]

Word. the way he could have 1.) Saved Daisy any other way. Even just with a little more patience and 2.) killed Palantine without killing himself. He wanted to die like a story book hero and that's one of his awful traits. Like actual heroes want to live if they can help it.

[@PolishGod1234]

What Daisy? Wasn't her name Iris?

[@shrimpflea]

Her name was Iris. Her street name was Easy.

[@MrDrezzy007]

This movie taught me something i already knew but consciously never thought about, that true happiness comes from within. Yes, connection with people and purposeful job is important, but if you're empty inside, nothing will ever satisfy you.

[@MatthewMS.]

💯

[@gabrielserrano5054]

Yes our own Self worth is better than other people's opinions of you. It's all perspective you could take their insult as a compliment.

[@DanTarrant1]

Solid video, but you do leave out that the purpose that Travis finds for himself is not really "shooting up a brothel" but rather his mission to rescue the teenage Iris from a life of prostitution. Once he feels like he has succeeded in this, by killing Sport (her pimp) and the other men in the building who are exploiting her, he feels that his life is complete and attempts to kill himself, only to find he's run out of bullets. So it's like he can't even do that right...

[@macatron2744]

quite possible the greatest evaluation of this film i have ever heard. incredible work

[@tonycairns6728]

I think it's notable that Travis not only chooses to drive the cab, but wants to work the times and places other cabbies won't. It's really the other cab drivers in 'Taxi Driver' who have conformed to the limitations of their job. For Travis, the taxi provides an access point into the darkest recesses of big-city life, which he has a morbid compulsion to view.

[@buckadillafilms]

I'm a cameraman and I really, really feel this. I've been working at an ad agencey since the pandemic got bad and I feel the difference in the way creative people are treated here- we are cogs in a machine.

[@snickle1980]

Marketing has always been known to be a souless career. oddly enough, these agencies continue to draw in all the creatives! It pays well, but you'll pay too! We _ALL_ pay down here. 😁

[@derrick7648]

Well yeah it’s an ad agency

[@dashw900i]

Worked on some big studio productions and I felt exactly the same.

[@antonioalvarez9343]

Sometimes you're not even the cog in the machine, you're just the grease that keeps the machine turning those cogs.

[@totesmagotes3688]

Creative people are a means to an end for soul sucking corporate bastards. Just look at the owner of Spotify.

[@tycrane2539]

“Here is someone who stood up” *Lays down*

[@petergorm]

I used to be a taxidriver. It didn't give me a purpose, but I enjoyed the insight to the customers. I was never afraid of anyone. Always ready to take any fight, but nothing ever happend in about 20 years. Actually the opposite. A lot of the' bad guys' were actually pretty soft in my cab, and I am NOT a big muscular guy. I'm a good listener, and also a good talker. It was like therapy, both for me and whoever was in my taxi. I miss those days. Great times.

[@albertlamar5938]

Wizard's: you become the job" philosophy made sense to me when the movie first came out, and it still does. I never aspired for greatness, or if I ever did, I long forgot. Having a job to pay for housing, food, clothes, etc., IS a purpose in itself. Not much to show for my life approaching age sixty, but I have accomplished that. Odd, thinking about it after watching this video, I suppose I grew up to be Wizard. Nothing to boast about, but at least I did not grow into Travis Bickle. Great video. Thank you.

[@Lily-ep6qv]

Personally, I think Wizard's speech was convincing and that Bickle found it convincing too. You can tell from his expression and his response about it being "the dumbest thing I ever heard" is surprising and not an accurate interpretation of what he is thinking and feeling. It's more that out of some masculine bashfulness, he finds the truth and the possibility of connection with another person, embarrassing. Maybe he sees himself as superior to Wizard too so doesn't want to acknowledge they are thinking and feeling the same thing. Wizard's observations aren't 'dumb' at all, they're very insightful and convey a justified sense of malaise at the state of things (which is partially, what Taxi Driver is all about.) Wizard is far more eloquent than Bickle and, in a way, is the one who says what Bickle is thinking but can't express because he lacks the language to do so. Bickle ends up acting and Wizard remains inactive but that doesn't mean they straightforwardly represent the polar opposite decisions to be complacent or revolt. Maybe Wizard has processed his situation better than Bickle so doesn't need to 'act out in a manner which is ultimately futile? Anyway, nice video man!

[@ma3stro681]

You’re more insightful than than the guy making the video … 😅

[@Darkhart09]

This definitely applies to randy stair or mass shooters in general, they were a cog in the machine and had enough.. Very sad world we live in

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

Nah..most mass shooters are young dudes who haven't even had time to be a cog. They are just clowns who serial killers but use guns instead.

[@2.7petabytes]

This video hits hard for me, especially from the goings on of the last few years, both politically, culturally and how it has affected me. I haven’t made art or music in a few years now. When I make the attempt it goes nowhere. My job which I have always felt gave back and was enjoyable to me, now really feels pointless. I’m now in middle age and that could be a part of my feelings as well. I very much appreciate this video as it helps me recognize where I am presently. I will continue on as best I can and hopefully find those things that bring me pleasure and a sense of meaning.

[@2.7petabytes]

@B Babbich interesting you say that, as that’s what I’ve been doing all weekend. It’s definitely helpful!

[@sambridhathapa4313]

Meditation for self awareness and gratitude helps as well. Follow your hobbies and interests and try to take pleasure in the small things by being present in the moment. Life is a struggle, make no mistake but we do not have to suffer.

[@user-ov8qv3hp9d]

Loneliness brings the gift of the highest knowledge, self sacrifice. Don't get trapped in the dream called physical existence.

[@eugenemurray2940]

Being a taxi driver is not a purposeless job... You move people from A to B... 'Nothing happens unless something moves' Albert Einstein

[@markmace1824]

I can relate to this I was a taxi driver desperately trying to get back to my passion of art but the job wore me down! I couldn’t paint I had no energy. The job made me miserable was the furthest thing from being who I really a.m. I had to deal with the assholes all the time! I felt trapped in that thought there was no way out because I was broke . finally I saw an opportunity and I jumped on it and left that business for a security guard that after two years that too is draining me and I didn’t like it will last year so I left after I started working again as a nurse and thought things would work out and they did for a while and then things got rough but I didn’t care. I was free from there. Bullshit people are miserable and driving them around. Sucks! Things are better now, but my days of a cab driver I felt what is the worst ! Thank God I don’t do that anymore!

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Very true.

[@martyo4241]

This video is one of my favorite prices of entertainment I’ve ever consumed , thank you sir , put a lot of feelings I couldn’t describe at my dead end job into perspective, and am proud to be perusing my goal in life and reconfirmed I left. Lost weight life improved overall follow your dreams and find a purpose people.

[@tinafoster8665]

Hugshugshugs ❤️

[@grishnackh194]

I would like to add something about becoming the job you perform: look at peoples' names and especially last names. At least here in the West one or both of them will most likely be about an occupation. The fact that this is true even on first names says a lot.

[@fishstix6976]

Elaborate please?

[@Vicarius2309]

I always loved taxi deiver, my top 1 movie, i always identified with travis, but i had no idea why, and now, while on lunch break of my work, you showed me what is wrong in my life, thank you

[@mattnoort]

Miserable people is a result of a toxic environment and a toxic environment is a result of miserable people, it goes in cycles. How do we get out of a meaningless job and find something we truly love? Just push on through and rise above it, that's all we can do.

[@brandonmiles8174]

I don't know how I've missed your channel up until this point, but damn I'm glad I'm here now. This analysis of Taxi Driver and a story of alienation and its effects on the psyche is spot on. Can't wait to start watching more videos. Great work, keep it up.

[@nathanheeren560]

You don't need purpose to live. I love being a cab driver in chicago. I love talking to strangers. I also believe I provide a necessary service for those who are unable or incapable of driving for one reason or another.

[@Delectatio]

I am a taxi driver. The fact this job is absolutely uninteresting and unpromising is unpleasant one, but it doesn't bother me much. I wouldn't even call this a real job - you just install corresponding app on your phone and make some money, without even really talking with your "employer". Anytime you want you can just delete the app and forget about your taxi past, lol. Anyway, I'm kinda outside of bourgeois concept "high position in big corporation = life lived fine". Reading books, listening to classical music, learning piano etc. - that is the real filling of my life. After all, salvation is in the Art, as Vladimir Nabokov once said. Basically, I think of myself as of someone like Harry Haller (Steppenwolf), but forced to work:)))

[@imnezx5013]

that's the difference between A Growth Mindset and A fixed one, Fixed mindset people won`t find any purpose or value from any small or big things, and it's extremely hard for them to do things without letting their Ego and Jealousnes involved they think they can`t Grow there for they see people get ahead of them and it gets worse with time, you, on the other hand, I believe that you have a Growth Mindset, in most aspects of life *(you might look at things in Fixed mindset on things and Growth on others) that what I think the differences you from him (other than the bad habits he had, for example, his self-denial, lying, pornography, and ego)

[@tasfa10]

You found purpose outside of your job and that's great and what most of us need to do, as most really work to subsist. But that doesn't erase the fact that we waste the greatest part of our waking lives doing something we wouldn't voluntarily do and, worse than that, someone else gets to own it. That is still a crime and a tragedy. Revolt is the appropriate reaction. But the aimless revolt we see in the movie is pointless and harmful to yourself and society, as the video explains. It's the lack of understanding of one's own position and why it is that we feel alienated, insignificant and inconsequential that originates aimless violence and misdirected anger. It's lack of class conscience.

[@krunkle5136]

That's not a taxi driver that's an Uber. Real taxis have stations with dispatchers that aren't apps made by a big tech company. They get benefits and need insurance.

[@Delectatio]

@@krunkle5136 yeah. But there are no such a taxies with stations etc. in underdeveloped countries like Russia, only Uber scheme (named Yandex here). Still, the essence is the same.

[@krunkle5136]

@@Delectatio I'm hopeful there's a return of brick and mortar institutions after people realized how apps have given us a cheap substitute.

[@scruffy4743]

Thank you for this, so much of this distilled what I’ve been feeling recently. I’m on my last weeks at a job that I think some people might enjoy but makes me feel very much like an easily replaceable cog in a machine, and while I’ve been struggling to define what I want and what comes next when I finish up here, essentially all of my thoughts cycle back to expressing myself and searching for a vocation that has purpose for me.

[@Gielderst]

I'm pretty much like this. And do the same job. What i like is that i'm alone and do a simple job and i couldn't be bothered any less with dealing dealing with others. I think i've become content with that and what that guy said to Travis. And i'm 28 and don't want anything else pretty much, just to be left alone and undisturbed.

[@packersnerd]

This straight up explained my life as someone who gambles away every paycheck, working a job I hate, whilst doing absolutely nothing and hating myself.

[@yoshi9538]

My life ala Sage, "Depression and Angst are a lifestyle choice my friend"

[@bundleaxe1922]

This video is maybe the best thing I have ever seen. I will never be able to say how much it means to me. If I tried, I wouldn't be able to. Human existence isn't human when it is a commodity.

[@hanchiman]

I loved Taxi Driver during my time of aimless roaming with no proper purpose as I just finished College and couldn't find a job from my degree in 2003. Mostly spend my night taking the night buss around the city late at night

[@sagarroy8679]

I don’t think the jobs themselves lead to the sense of purposelessness, but rather the narrative that some jobs are more useful than others when in fact both are in demand.

[@AstronautMan_]

It's almost midnight, its pitch black in my room, I'm on my bed, this video hits different.

[@SecretAgentBob2123]

I’ve been having a lot of struggles with purpose and jobs recently. Committing to a regular job and making money just to scrape by makes me feel like life isn’t worth living, because I’m denying myself the pursuit of my dreams, and don’t feel alive already because of that. I have no inclination towards violence towards others, and on the path of healing, but I just got to say I get the tribulations of being without purpose.

[@Yoshiling]

This is so well done. Thank you so much!!

[@471444a]

This was astounding inspiration, thank you dude

[@callumcrean292]

This video needs way more views for how great it is!

[@Agusdiablo]

This is probably the best taxi driver analysis i ever seen

[@bubbagumpa8951]

There are some videos that give you a new outlook on life and this was one of them Props to you man! Great video

[@user-jw5yk2uk1q]

Great video, thank you! The final part with conclusions and direct appeal to the viewers seemed to me very strong.

[@zeitgeist5134]

Uh-h-h...DeNiro's character is a vet who was traumatized by his experience in Vietnam. It's been a while since I saw the movie, but that was my takeaway. American soldiers in Vietnam talked about returning to "the World". They saw the war as creating a condition where the ordinary rules of decency and morality had been suspended. They thought of "the World" as a place where those rules of decency and morality were still observed. When DeNiro's character returns to New York City, he is dismayed to discover that this is not true. His bitter disappointment increases until he is enraged.

[@bdml77]

Thank you!

[@zeitgeist5134]

@@bdml77 It does so surprise me that people don't get it, even pretentious "film critics" like The Canvas. Maybe they are too young to know anything about the American soldiers in Vietnam. In any case, I won't be watching any more videos by The Canvas.

[@jamesboulger8705]

This is one of the best, and most important in my mind, CONCISE summaries of this movie. Certainly, people can ramble on and on about this film, but you give it in particular, excellent historical context. A tight, 17 minute analysis.

[@geminiintraining2306]

Fantastic video! Thanks so much for making it.

[@hoorayforme6276]

Thank you. I've related to this character for decades. You are extremely insightful and the video has done more for me than therapy has so far.

[@Lopfff]

Back in my day (including when Taxi Driver was made), a lonely guy was just a lonely guy. Calling Travis an “incel” is putting a whole load of Gen Z crap that comes with that label where it doesn’t belong. Taxi Driver is 1970s, and incel is 2020s. You might as well be talking about dandies or rakes. It’s anachronistic

[@evanwhyman8057]

Never thought about the aspect of purpose in taxi driver, amazing video, it’s really developed the way that I view the film

[@indepthliterature]

So glad my mom showed this movie to me when I was in middle school. Way too young to be watching such a movie but it still sticks out in my mind all the time and I recite lines from it all the time

[@adariesa]

i love your videos!!! thank u for making them!

[@chrismanzanarez5049]

Your words are heavy and very close to home with me, i really connect with the alienation. My problem is that I've been too comfortable alone that the attempt of making connections exhaust me and it bothers me to the core. We need connection, we are social animals but the lack of drive i have to build it angers me. Guess i have to power through the uncomfortableness to make it comfortable, idk I'm tired of being lost mate.

[@bhones459]

I found out about your channel yesterday through Magritte's "Why is the reproduction prohibited?" video and I must say your channel is gold and underrated af. I've been binge watching some of your videos and the work you put into them, along with the informations you provide and the editing, should have way more recognition than it does. I really hope that your channel will blow up because it seriously is comparable with those with millions of subscribers and views, in terms of accuracy, editing, VoiceOver, ecc. Keep up the good work!! You've got plenty of anonymous admirers of your hard work, such as myself :)

[@TheCanvasArtHistory]

That's such a sweet comment! Thank you so much for the encouragement and the support. It's super appreciated! Thank you again :)

[@garrycowan4394]

Really thought provoking, I love videos that give me new perspective on things and this done just that

[@portcorner_noise]

Great video on Taxi Driver, one of Scorsese's greatest. I have watched it first time back in 1988, when I started Uni. My father had watched it before me, I could see memorabilia around the house pertaining to Taxi Driver and movies of the same ilk. My father was a war veteran so this sits high in his rank, next to Apocalypse Now or The Deer Hunter. I appreciate how you connect the scenario of revolt with the violent side, the power through guns, I had myself made this connection a long time ago and have put it forward as an example when discussing America's school shootings with friends. I used Taxi Driver and Bickle as a fitting example. Those nobodies that decide to kill innocent people in schools or supermarkets are all known to be outcasts, often bullied youngsters that had enough of being alienated, so they go for a violent aimless revolt just to affirm their individuality and place in the world. I understand gun culture and ease of purchase play a critical role in these mass shootings in the US - as they do in Scandinavia (notably Norway) where they often happen - and this dictates the divide between going for option 1: Wizard resigns, becomes the useless, purposeless nobody and option 2: Bickle plans an assassination, loaded with guns, goes out on a rampage, with very likely devastating results.

[@Comesailaway]

He has TFL - True Forced Loneliness. He's not an incel. TFL has happened to many men due to social engineering by the gov. through media or programming. They call it different things so it not be known that the purpose is to destroy families/depopulation.

[@aeopmusic]

the concept of nobodies, somebodies, affirming existence etc. is the unhealthy sense of self / ego that pervades modern society. If we weren't surrounded by others achieving feats, fame, riches, and recognition, there would be no overwhelming need to do so. As Charlie Munger cleverly put it: "Envy, Not Greed, That Runs (Ruins) The World". Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism figured all of this out, thousands of years ago, before society's pivotal clash with it these past decades.

[@greyinsight]

Well put, I agree.

[@zapify6999]

your explanation about individuality, purpose, how your proffession defines who you are and travis' incorrect way of finding purpose, really blew my mind! great video

[@Johnnysmithy24]

This is probably the best analysis of the movie. Martin Scorsese truly is one of the best American artists. His films are pure poetry of the human condition.

[@Coconutscott]

Travis Bickle should have started a Fight Club.

[@peekfinder]

That made a lot of sense for me, thanks for your work man

[@alisterfolson]

New sub! Nice video and a great voice to listen to as background music at work or driving. You're POV is spot on.

[@Sandra-hc4vo]

I think this was an excellent breakdown. I have seen this movie, but I feel this very important theme is one that I didn't fully consciously grasp till you laid it out here and it's like of course!

[@nateo6518]

To me there's more purpose in being a taxi driver than any of the (quote, unquote) purposeful jobs listed. A lawyer who gets innocent people out of jail or takes down corporate greed is great, but the other 98% are pretty much purposeless.

[@raulquiroz7492]

True. I have more respect for a taxi driver or uber driver that gets me where I need to go (if I needed it) than most of these so called "youtube and social media influencers" who don't even know I exist.

[@Crabbadabba]

Agreed, especially when he used his own intel on the matters of the underworld and took it into his own hands. A modern hero, or anti-hero.

[@shaunsteele8244]

the vast majority of lawyers aren't doing anything noble, they're working for the other side and protecting corporate greed

[@patrickbateman312]

Somehow, I don't think a teacher or a doctor especially has less purpose than a taxi driver.

[@Jinars.]

@@patrickbateman312 cope

[@eoncatalyst]

Your reviews are amazing! I hope you get more views in the future!

[@matiasenriquemaldonadoruiz5216]

What a fantastic video. I truly and sadly relate to this.

[@melu0o]

Living purposeless is hell. I would lose all my sanity if i’ve had a job like that. Constantly taking in all the soul suckers and negativity. That’s hell on earth.

[@madlymaddog]

This video is a needle in a hay stack. It’s crazy that many people feel this way but they usually cure this with having a family or getting a job that takes up the majority of your time but this is sometimes a temporary fix and then they pop off like the taxi driver did.My words are probably coming out incomprehensible but I am worried I might be this way. if I don’t a job I like or a wife I actually am attracted and loving towards. I might just go insane and do something insanely crazy just so I can have a name for myself. I know I’m just saying stuff he said in the video but that shit hit me really deep.

[@tinafoster8665]

In other words you have a bunch of crazy ideas going through your head, I don't blame you when you look at the world around you it's almost like it's begging for people to do crazy stuff. But even making your post you went farther than bickel went, so I think there's hope for you. In fact I know there's hope for you, where even if you don't attain that tranquil married life or the tranquil career, you can still find that center in yourself like you did now, and reach out and find someone who will affirm to you, yes you are alive ❤️🌈

[@matiasenriquemaldonadoruiz5216]

I get you. Lots of people have these thoughts, until they can distract themselves away from them, right?

[@Kareena1988]

I think you are one step further than most of the people due to your aloneness. At least you have space and time to think of how you will make an impact in the world. Others cannot THINK. They just function.

[@snowfrosty1]

@@tinafoster8665 fuck that tranquil domestic Dhimmi status & lifestyles, get a woman/man/[insert here] & have kids if YOU REALLY WANT TO!. Don't expect them to be your sole salvation though.

[@Noah-ln7zc]

Commenting for my feed, love these videos!

[@NemoK]

Amazing video. Just dead-on with the analysis

[@andyokus5735]

I am Travis Bickle.

[@tr1ppyh1ppy]

15:26 this hit home really hard. Toxic relationships will destroy you

[@dshoec]

I can relate to the video. I was fortunate to get a Masters degree and worked in a career for 6 years. But I was laid off during the pandemic and still to this day am a lyft driver until I finally get a job for my career again. So this video is very relatable for me at least in this moment.

[@Serizon_]

this is so so so gold!!!! You got yourself a subscriber the movie is also very very nice what a beautiful observation. this is one of the reasons why I didn't think of becoming an accountant but rather a computer scientist. To have my individuality.

[@amampathak]

absolutely brilliant analysis mate, looking forward to seeing you covering more movies, shows and perhaps even some anime.

[@AWalkingHat]

I believe the recent pandemic changed this perspective of purposeless jobs. I work in a renovation centre as a day job, and suddenly, we had become essential workers and were some of the only people allowed to go out and work, along with grocery store cashiers, nurses, etc. Celebrities and white collar workers had lost their importance.

[@impetuousbastard]

Honestly awesome. I like your videos because through your point of view whether I agree or not, I learn. Please make more movie analysis !

[@you_cifer]

That was fantastic, thank you

[@gamezswinger]

Great analysis! Thanks for sharing.

[@palerider2890]

Excellent analysis. I would add that Travis Bickle is an expression of the sufferings that Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of this masterpiece, went through while writing the screenplay. He has said in interviews that when his wife kicked him out of the house, he lived in his car, went to porno theaters to pass time, and that's where he got the idea of a taxi driver who was spiritually dead floating around in a moving coffin. Schrader, born into a Calvinist family in Michigan, put a lot of the frustrations he had gone through in his strict family, into this script. All that you say is spot on, but I think that first and foremost, Taxi Driver is a personal expression of a man who was living on a razor's edge, and his psyche tapped unconsciously into a set of broader social issues that you articulated so well.

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Taxi driving has a purpose mate

[@ashley3k]

this is so well done. kudos

[@jack.hellinga4289]

Such a great video man ♥️

[@vivianworden2706]

My purpose was never centered around a job.

[@Sunny91169]

young people in their 20s and 30s are the Taxi Driver of today. There is no hope or a dream left.

[@Movingforward2000]

So they go out & shot people in schools malls & what not?

[@moveamuscle]

What a fantastic video. Bravo!

[@MarkHeather]

Excellent analysis. Thank you.

[@sopretty43vr]

the true issue is that we shouldn’t find happiness in life through a job. you shouldn’t work a job that kills you but you also shouldn’t base your happiness on any job. find your value and happiness through life not work, use work to fuel your life. most ppl don’t have passions or hobbies and that’s why they become the stickler that only cares about work, or depressed bc they can’t find a good job. again stop finding happiness from your job or career. we shouldn’t have to depend on those for happiness in the first place but that’s how life is set up, work is more important than your own life and peace. finding a good job won’t bring happiness. you have to be a human and enjoy life and earthly things while you are still here for that.

[@jasonb4321]

Helping someone reach their destination with a taxi has meaning. Life is packed with things to give gratitude. A deep sense of gratitude is what gives quality to life. There are plenty of extremely talented, wealthy, famous people who are depressed and suicidal. . . There are loads of people washing dishes in third world countries who are singing songs with joy in their hearts. We see the glass as half full or half empty. . . I believe we choose each day.