Taxi Driver

On a long easter weekend where i have not much to do, i woke up really late today, like about 3pm and cleaned up around the house, went for a walk, cooked dinner and ate it, and looked forward to my small event or attraction for the day which was to watch "Taxi Driver" directed by Martin Scorcese, featuring Robert DeNiro-back when he was a really good looking young man.

I liked that movie heaps, it's funny that every movie/story/song set in New York always include so much of the city as part of what it is. In a way, the plot IS of NYC, told through the eyes of a cab driver. But he's just the middle man, really the story is about New York, and less about him.

What does NY do to him? It drives him a little nuts. Well, first he's too smart and too deep for his taxi driving job. His surroundings, going to all the bad neighbourhoods including Harlem and Bronx, engulf him, and he smells it. There's two ways to go, let the shit city swallow you, or try to stick to your true self and do something good to regain some balance or satisfaction in your miserable boring taxi driving life. So, when his attempt at some more meaningful happiness with the blonde uptown Betsy doesn't work out. His next mindful yet somewhat accidental project and shot at something BIGGER in life was to save the young Iris (Jodie Foster) from falling too deep into the world of dirty dirty prostitution. He does this, and his life is fulfilled, not even Betsy was good enough for him anymore, and he didn't need her. He could feel more of a person simply by doing some small good deeds, rather then being in love with her.

That was a great story, told well, in some lost city. Finding some meaning and satisfaction in your routinely boring life- its not so much the act of gaining it that's hard, its figuring out WHAT would give you meaning and some sense of satisfaction. Well, i personally certainly wouldn't fall for religion, that's for sure. There are many other options.