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Serious post: I know people like to make fun of people with autism on this forum and elsewhere, but in all seriousness don't you think Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver had Aspergers? Granted, now there is only Autism Spectrum Disorder in the latest DSM, but I still feel the word is applicable. As per DSM IV-TR: DSM posted:(I) Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following: Of course Aspergers did not "exist" when Taxi Driver came out. Paul Schrader is simply a brilliant writer and I feel he happened to channel a real thing. Criteria he meets:
Taxi Driver is one of my favorite films and it only dawned on me the other day when watching it that he has Aspergers syndrome. Does anyone else agree or am I off the mark? What are your theories into Travis psychologically?
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 01:55 |
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# ? May 28, 2024 14:17 |
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DeNiro did research mental illness for the role, so Travis was always intended to have some sort of mental disorder. Although I don't think they [Scorsese & co.] ever defined what it was specifically.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 02:23 |
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I don't go in for the trendy diagnosis. Inadequate, assassin-type personality.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 02:29 |
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aspergers doesn't exist OP. severe PTSD does
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 03:06 |
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icantfindaname posted:aspergers doesn't exist OP. severe PTSD does What about mild PTSD. Does that exist?
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 03:19 |
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he`s got it like putins got it
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 03:55 |
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Swartz posted:What about mild PTSD. Does that exist? yeah
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 03:58 |
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TrixRabbi posted:DeNiro did research mental illness for the role, so Travis was always intended to have some sort of mental disorder. Although I don't think they [Scorsese & co.] ever defined what it was specifically. The character was also based heavily off Arthur Bremer's diary, so whatever the gently caress is wrong with that guy.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 12:29 |
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girth brooks part 2 posted:The character was also based heavily off Arthur Bremer's diary, so whatever the gently caress is wrong with that guy. I've always liked this witticism from Bremer: quote:According to 1997 parole records, psychological testing indicated releasing him would be risky. He argued in his June 1996 hearing that "Shooting segregationist dinosaurs wasn't as bad as harming mainstream politicians".
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 13:11 |
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icantfindaname posted:aspergers doesn't exist OP. severe PTSD does There is also Acute vs Chronic. Also Complex PTSD, which is actually a separate diagnosis and is specific to survivors of certain scenarios of protracted powerlessness, usually as a child. Bickle could also have Schizoid Personality Disorder.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 21:07 |
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I'm no pusher, OP. I never have pushed.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 21:25 |
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icantfindaname posted:aspergers doesn't exist OP. severe PTSD does My headcanon is that being a Vietnam veteran is just an elobarate fantasy Travis has built for himself. He's not a nobody from the bad part of town, he's a war hero!
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 21:59 |
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He had some form of mental illness I think because I remember reading somewhere that the director said Travis was living in a fantasy world and a lot of the events in the film happened only inside his head.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 22:15 |
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:I've always liked this witticism from Bremer: He had a point
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 23:41 |
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Fish of hemp posted:My headcanon is that being a Vietnam veteran is just an elobarate fantasy Travis has built for himself. He's not a nobody from the bad part of town, he's a war hero! That wound fit the Schizoid hypothesis perfectly.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 23:51 |
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Fish of hemp posted:My headcanon is that being a Vietnam veteran is just an elobarate fantasy Travis has built for himself. He's not a nobody from the bad part of town, he's a war hero! But then, he did have specific details figured out, that other vets grill him on and he is able to answer. He could still have fabricated them, of course, but he's 26 in the mid-1970's...it's not like being in the military was an unlikely reality. I assume he actually was in the military, but that the motivations you list are why he did it. My headcanon is that he joined voluntarily, to explore the kind of violence he craves in a context that encourages it. As you say, he's not a weird loser, he's a war hero. Of course, a social situation where he's forced into a structured dynamic with other soldiers also sounds like it'd appeal to him. The civilian world is unstructured, socially unforgiving; the military is a place where decisions are made for you, and you're not isolated because you're part of a platoon. You'd think he'd still be in the military, which suggests to me his instability proved a problem there, too, honorably discharged or not. As for whether he's autism spectrum or not: well, who knows? An answer to that doesn't address why his loneliness pushes him so directly to violence. He could've become obsessed with trains or baseball cards, but he chose guns.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 00:34 |
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:I've always liked this witticism from Bremer: Amazing. Dude owns.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 00:42 |
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It's definitely come to mind before, op.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 00:43 |
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The fun part of armchair psychology: it doesn't just have to be one, and differential diagnosis can be really hard even for actual professionals.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 00:55 |
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Yaws posted:He had a point He did his time and was vindicated by history.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 01:13 |
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:I've always liked this witticism from Bremer: I can't find it in myself to disagree with this.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 16:10 |
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Xealot posted:
Excellent point - that makes sense to me. That being said, I feel like his inclination toward violent thoughts was not really present before the beginning of the film, or maybe even before joining the military. But it's been a while since I've watched it.
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# ? Apr 30, 2015 17:43 |
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# ? May 28, 2024 14:17 |
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As long as we're doing speculative diagnoses on fictional characters I would say more schizotypal disorder, as far as Travis fits any DSM definition.Wikipedia's article on schizotypal posted:Inappropriate or constricted affect (the individual appears cold and aloof); Autism doesn't cover the undercurrent of psychosis, and I think Travis exhibits more of a desire to connect with people than objects, he's just certain that he'll fail, and deeply frustrated about it. Also in schizotypal you have the obsessiveness, aggression, paranoia, alienation, his mode of expression being coherent but closed or vague, and the derealisation you see over the end of the film. I think that's a pretty strong overlap. Although obviously what's on screen is mid-70s Martin Scorsese's direction of Robert DeNiro based on a script inspired by Paul Schrader identifying with Arthur Bremer, so that's off the charts in terms of psychological issues.
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# ? May 1, 2015 20:15 |