Taxi Driver Film Questions

1. The film, Taxi Driver, is about a regular taxi driver, Travis Bickle, played by Robert DeNiro who is trying desperately to make a living in New York and hopefully find someone to love. The film takes an awkward turn when he gets dumped by a girl, Betsy, he meets who works in for the one of the presidential candidates. Travis realizes that he as nothing left to do with his own life and is going to take the one chance he has at getting her back, assassinating the presidential candidate. This film shows the seedier side to the 1970s. It takes a darker point of view of 70s life of strip clubs, crime, murder, prostitution, and politics. I'm not saying this is how the 70s were, but this is Scorsese's interpretation of the grimier side of the decade. Not many films look at that part.
The films about the 1970s that we typically see, hell, films of almost any decade that we see are typically brighter in terms of the plot line, and this film completely doesn't do that. Everyone down to the main character is an anti-hero. You want to root for them, but they're such bad characters in their own ways, that we really can't relate to them or even root for them. We just sit and watch, and that's what is special about this film. It captures a different side of the decade, the side we read about in the newspapers or see on the news. And it was one of the first films to do this. It's captivating.

2. ?

3. Basing off what I said in the second paragraph of the first question, I do believe this film should be listed as one of the top 100 films ever produced in the US. This film was a completely original look at a horrible event that fictitiously happened. We have had films before all based on the cops or the heroes of a certain event, but this one looked at the bad guy. Not that he was a complete bad guy, but Travis Bickle was a misunderstood character. He was the first film anti-hero. The film showed the decline of the common working man. It was a semi-realistic take about a man who thought he had nothing in his life, and went on to do something about it...although he definitely did not do it in the proper way. When Travis talks to the secret service agent at the first speech by the candidate, he seems polite, but we know as the audience, that Travis is planning something diabolical and cannot be trusted, but we still want to see him accomplish something.
The way the film was filmed is another reason it should be listed. I loved the noir-ish feel of the film, with Travis' semi-constant inner monologue talking about how he feels, what he did, etc. It was a dark film, sort of hard to follow, but DeNiro's narration served as a guide to the characters slow demise into obscurity. A specific scene to look at in this film is when Travis is driving his cab at night, picking up street scum and narrating how he cannot sleep, and is slowly being fed up with society. These scenes are a cornerstone into the mind of the character, and probably many Americans who felt unimportant in that era.

4. The final scenes in the film signify the emptiness of the era. I'll relate this to another film we watched, Saturday Night Fever, where all John Travolta's character wants to do is dance, because there is nothing for him to do in life. He is lost, just like Travis. These final moments glorify Travis because, although he attempts to assassinate the candidate, he ends up fighting off street scum such as pimps and drug dealers and becomes a hero because of it. He accomplishes something better in his life than what he tried to do, but all this is because of the emptiness he felt being in society.
This relates to Bruce Shulman's quote, "What kind of nation has America become?" America is lost in themselves. They have pulled out of Vietnam, not a win nor a loss, and are just sitting in an age of blandness and contemptness. America had no self identity.

In the Heat of the Night Film Questions

1. The film relates to Chapter 25 in the Foner textbook in quite a number of ways, the main two being The entire struggle for civil rights in the south, as well as the emergence of conservative thought that happened in the 1960s.
The film takes place in a small town in Mississippi, a breeding ground for racist thought and civil rights struggles in the 1960s. The film is set in 1967, the tail end of the civil rights struggle, although the film is based upon one man's fight for equal rights. The film is about a black homicide detective, Virgil Tibbs, from the north who is framed for murder because he is black. When found innocent, he uses his detective skills to help the racist white cops solve the murder. Virgil, the main character, is experiencing what millions of African Americans faced in the whole southern US during the years prior: fighting to get equal rights everywhere in the US. Virgil has to endure racist actions and unfortunate circumstances solely because he is a black man in the south. Virgil represents the entire civil rights movement. He has to endure horrible conditions and racist actions against him, fight to prove his worth/innocence, and then make the tough decision of letting it all go and helping out the murder case.
The topic the film looks at is the emergence of conservative thought. Now, regardless of political opinions, this film does this in a fantastic way. The film brings about conservative thinking through the white characters in the film, not because they're racist, but because they view society in a very traditional way. At the start of the film, when Virgil gets picked up and arrested for the murder, it is because he is an out-of-towner and Sam Wood thinks that he committed the crime because of that. But then Sam notices he is black and that makes things a whole lot worse. This is a good example of the conservative thought process of many whites back in the 1960s.

2. The symbolism behind the quote, "You're just like the rest of us, ain't you?" said by Sheriff Gillespie to Virgil, is very representative of many Americans during the 60s. After the whole civil rights era, many Americans began to see no difference in African Americans besides appearance. Gillespie is having a great realization that he can get along with a man of a different race, and respect him as a person, an individual, not as anything else. I feel that this quote represents what many Americans came to realize post-civil rights era.

3. In my opinion, the film has a very hopeful outlook to the topic of racism. The film uses characters like Gillespie who evolve from racist thinkers to understanding the mistakes and stupidity of their thoughts. The writers clearly saw hope for African Americans in this country because of the way they integrated Virgil into the case, without him just being the suspect because he's black. The film shows that a black man in those times was just as worthy of rights as anyone else. A good example of this is when Gillespie is interrogating Virgil and Virgil shows him his badge. Gillespie asks how he got that badge and Virgil tells him that he is a homicide detective from Philadelphia. Gillespie then asks him how much he makes up north and Virgil responds with a number higher than Gillespie's salary. Gillespie begins to start seeing Virgil as an equal, or almost more qualified than himself to solve the case.
The film offers a very realistic version of the way blacks were treated in the south by whites. The whites in the film are conservative thinking racists. A good example is when Sam Wood picks up Virgil for the murder specifically because he is an out-of-towner, and because he is black. The jobs of the civilians in town are pretty normal, as well as the tone of the film. The film also offers a realistic, optimistic outlook on life for African Americans, because, although it took some getting used to, people accepted them and do to this day.

4. Gillespie is my favorite character in the film besides Virgil. Gillespie is the classic sidekick character, though many do not realize this upon viewing the film. Gillespie is the one character that learns something about himself, and attempts to show it to the rest of his colleagues, though they don't seem to care. Gillespie realizes he can be around different races and respect them as people of the earth, not viewing them as animals or beneath him. Gillespie has the most character development in the entire film and I believe the writers used him as the classic southern man example, except they made him into this evolving character who realizes the stupidity of his racism.

Film Answers for "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter)

1. How does this film relate to the Foner text?

This film relates to the textbook in a specific way: Foner talks about how the 1950's were an "affluent society". The film depicts this quite wonderfully. The whole plot of the film, save for the romantic aspect, is about keep one man's affluence going. Rock has to save his company, his own job, his girlfriend, and his niece from all slipping away from him. The film also depicts how much advertising and material goods had and still does have a major effect on society. Rock's idea of a celebrity endorsement connects with the affluent society because they are achieving a newer way to need things.

2. How can you interpret the film as a concept of the American Dream?

This film can easily be interpreted as concept for the "American Dream". The movie shows Rock Hunter, an advertising agent in the creative department trying to come up with a new ad for his company's most prestigious client, a lipstick manufacturer. Rock starts off in the film as a lowly agent, looking up to the agency big wigs and really trying to impress them. He is shunned by the execs and quits his job. Rock is the working American who feels he is being unaccounted for in society. He is constantly trying to impress and become a larger role in his workplace so that he can afford to move out of his apartment and marry his girlfriend. Rock eventually makes it big with an idea he didn't get to present to the big-wig executives firsthand, but is discovered later when he bumps into one of them upon quitting his job. Rock then has to impress the infamous Rita Marlowe in order to get her to dohis agency's advertisement. Rock is the living example of the American Dream that has to work hard to the point of quitting in order to get somewhere, then has to keep control of the success in order to maintain his high status without going under.

3. How is the workplace portrayed in the film? What does the depiction reveal about life in the 1950's?

Rock's workplace seems like a typical workplace of the time, as well as a typical (albeit aged) workplace of today. The film makes light of the office, making fun of the executive bathrooms and how special and secluded they are from the employee bathrooms. Rock's office is typical of an advertising agency copywriter (I am an advertising major and have visited numerous ad agencies in the city, that's how I know.) The office doesn't seem to have many employees besides Rock, his secretary/lover Jenny, his boss, and the executives; that could be because the others are not relative to the film. Because of the way the workplace is set, it shows that they were living in a more relaxed and simpler time. I mean, they could even smoke in offices back then(!). But I digress, the way the film shows Rock's work makes me imagine an easier life, with less stress about deadlines and less employees to bother you while you work.

4. How does this film make a commentary about the practice of advertising?

This film shows a little about the way an agency works and how advertising agencies are run in general. The film does a great job showing Rock, the copywriter, which if you don't know, is basically the person who comes up with ideas and draws/writes/maps/etc. them out. The film depicts his struggle to maintain the agency's biggest client and come up with a new and original idea for the client. Rock, little does the average audience know, basically invents a new style of advertising, one of the first types of celebrity endorsements, according to my PRAD 244 class. The film also shows how meetings in the agency, with the executives or clients, are run, and how important deadlines are. The film also shows the other, more business side of advertising too. When Rock has to meet and get Rita to sign off on the job, Rock has now switched from a copywriter in the creative department, to an account manager. Account managers meet and keep constant contact with their clients to figure out what they want in the ad, or to let them know how things are going. Rock does this, but with the actual endorser. Also, I don't think many account services managers end up hooking up with their clients or endorsers...

The Crowd (1928)

1. How does this film relate to chapter 20. in Foner?

This film, beside the fact that it takes place in the 1920's, same as the chapter, relates to it in many ways. Foner asks, in the first focus question, Who benefited and who suffered in the new consumer society of the 1920's? This is simple, in relation to the film. John and Mary, have failed. They lose their daughter, John his job, their apartment, and their overall confidence in life as the movie progresses. On the other hand, John's friend, Bert, sticks it out at the firm and eventually becomes higher up, earning more money and an overall better quality of life. This was a time when big business was king and getting a job that Bert got meant you pretty much made it. The film represents the image of business that Foner talks about. The film also shows the great downward spiral all Americans felt heading into the Great Depression that Foner shows in the book. The long lines for jobs, poorer areas popping up all over the US, amongst other things.

2. Why is this film titled, The Crowd?

This film is called The Crowd for a number of reasons. I feel that the director/writer/whoever titled it this because it represented what millions of people in urbanized areas of the US we're doing. This "American Dream" idea portrayed in the film was a group thought, and each person in the US at this time went about similar ways that John and Mary did in the film to achieve their own dream. The Crowd, as the title, makes the viewer feel that they are striving for something the same thing that the characters are in the movie, as well as many people in the US at the time. Another reason I feel that they titled the film, The Crowd, was almost a negative connotation. Unlike my other reason before, where the title portrays some camaraderie amongst people striving for the "American Dream", they may have called it The Crowd because they felt that everyone was just a sheep, one of the crowd literally, trying to do the same exact things to get by in life...and it wasn't necessarily working out for anyone. Maybe a foreshadowing to the Great Depression?

3. How are ideas about work explored in the film?

In the film, John gets a job at what looks like a patent firm in downtown New York. He is making enough money to live on, even though him and his wife live in a very small apartment. He laughs at the small-time jobs he sees throughout the day, the most specific being the juggler clown that was advertising for some store when they were riding the bus. John tries to move up the corporate ladder but with to no avail. He then quits his job after having 2 kids, one which dies. He moves from job to job. Later he becomes suicidal, loses his wife, and decides that he will get any job it takes, no matter what. Ironically, he gets a job as the juggler clown on the street that e made fun of earlier in the film.
This idea about working back in the 1920's showed that when you had a solid career, whether or not you liked it or you weren't making too much money, keep going with it. After quitting, someone more eager most likely replaced John at the firm. He then sold vacuums, then had no job. The film conveys the message that it's slowly getting harder and harder for people, and finding a decent job is going to get harder too.

4. Are John and Mary exemplary examples of the "American Dream"?

I believe that, yes, John and Mary are perfect examples of people trying to achieve the "American Dream". John and Mary fall in love, get married and begin their way to living comfortably. They live in a small apartment at the beginning of the film while John works at a patent firm(?). At the end of the film, John and Mary are back together with their son, watching a comedian. They never actually achieve the "American Dream" of a nice house and comfortable living situation, but they seem to realize that they need to work harder than their previous attempt at it, which is what the film is about. I feel like that is the "American Dream". Albeit dark, i think John and Mary are perfect examples because they failed at their idea of this dream, but do not seem to phased and are willing to give it another go-around.