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Re: I take issue with 2 points

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In Reply to: Re: I take issue with 2 points posted by AudioHead on October 21, 1999 at 14:13:04:

You both bring up some good points. However, here's my interpretation on a few things. First off, you must realize that Travis is NOT a sane man. As far as the porno theater goes, we know Travis loathes "scumbags." However, he's not a hypocrite. I don't think he viewed the porno movie as "scum." He's screwed up, so the correlation between porn and scum was never made. He thought nothing of it. It was not a "test" for Betsy. He just brought her along for his "everyday routine." As far as the ending is concerned, Scorsese may not give us a definitive answer...but Herrmann does! First, I think all that happened really happened. Of course it's possible it was in Travis' mind, but I doubt it. That double take in the rearview mirror is rather creepy to me. But the definitive answer comes from Bernard Herrmann's music. The final three chilling notes are the exact same notes from Herrmann's Psycho. This tells us that Travis is a very disturbed and dangerous man. The movie ends, but Travis' story does not.

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Re: I take issue with 2 points AudioHead 07:55:16 10/22/99 (0)
In the final analysis, I too feel Travis was not a hypocrite, I mentioned
it as a point of speculation, and that's exactly a lot of what this is.
Obviously he is not sane and doesn't think like a normal person; however,
it can be argued he suffered from "doublethink"; this is not uncommon, not even for sane people; lots of people, including myself, have
committed this type of fallacious thinking, it can go on indefinitely if
not exposed for what it is through rigorous argumentation from others as
a number of people simply don't have the capacity for deep, objective self-
analysis.
As for Herrmann's ominous "three notes"; this portentous indicator points
to what I had in mind when I stated that Travis had received a catharsis
from the climatic battle and ironic resolution, but qualified the statement
by saying "at least temporarily", implying that Mr. Bickle indeed might not
have completely exorcised the demons from his tortured soul. - AH
Re: I take issue with 2 points monsanto 06:52:11 10/22/99 (0)
wow. thanks for adding that bit about the last three notes. i really have to watch this film again.

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