Then, when Travis sees this anxiety of female infidelity visualized on his program, he lashes out and ruptures his only connection to the outside world. The anxiety of the husband character in the sitcom towards his wife leaving him resembles Travis’ psychotic break after Betsy neglects him following their date, leading to the visually striking scene of Travis at the payphone where the camera wanders off to look down the hall. It seems then that once Travis shatters his T.V., he loses his only real connection to the outside world, thus allowing him to act without inhibitions, leading to his violent outburst. It is after this moment in the film that Travis meets Iris and Sport, and goes on to hatch his violent plan. As she pleads for forgiveness, Travis pushes over the television, and it crashes to the ground. On the program, a wife confesses to her husband her love for another man. His foot is pressed up against the T.V., as the set leans backwards precariously. Travis is now holding his gun in his lap, allowing the barrel to point towards the television set. This time, the sitcom is not a real television program, but rather one shot for the purposes of using it in the film. Just three minutes of runtime following this scene, Travis is again in his apartment during the day watching a sitcom. The empty pair of shoes in the middle of the dance floor suggests Travis’ exclusion from both the couples within the program, as well as the social norms they represent. Thus, Travis’ anxiety of black male autonomy may act as a commentary on the American psyche of the post-Vietnam era, if Travis is read as a character representing the nation itself. His anxiety about being separated for the normative social order represented by American Bandstand, as is suggested by his concerned expression and the camera’s zoom into a lone pair of shoes in the middle of the floor, representing Travis’ exclusion, is exacerbated by the autonomy exercised by black men in these two scenes. The presence of black men in this scene and the previous one greatly concern Travis, causing him to lash out violently in the convenience store and stare angrily at the television set. Travis stares with what seems to be an expression of concern and resentment as the camera pans across various dancing couples, the first couple being black. Immediately following the scene in which Travis kills the black man robbing the convenience store, the film cuts to Travis in the daytime intently viewing American Bandstand on his television set as he rests his gun barrel against his temple. If the character of Travis Bickle is a substitute for America in the mid 70’s, as is a common interpretation of the film, what does his consumption of media reveal about the American psyche of the era? While the adult films which Travis views at night “show all,” it is the other pieces of media that Travis consumes which reveal more, or at least as much, about his character as the adult films he watches. However, I believe that the television and film programs which Travis views provide a more nuanced insight into Travis’ psyche, and how the film is thinking about Travis’ representation as America. It can be easy to read these different pieces of media as simply replicating this contrast between the filth of the city and the optimistic outlook of popular media at the time, a difference which is repeatedly shown through visual cues and costume design. The porn theater which Travis frequents nightly contrasts with the uplifting and family-friendly appeal of the two television programs he views during the day: American Bandstand and another sitcom. Much like how the dark filth of nighttime in New York City is contrasted with the sunny exterior shots of Betsy and the Palantine campaign headquarters, so too is the television programming which Travis Bickle consumes within his apartment.
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