You Talkin' To Me?

Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, 1976

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Well, who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here..." ~ Travis Bickle, Taxi Driver, 1976. Robert Di Nero. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Paul Schrader.

Explorations have lead me in a rather unexpected direction. As a fan of old films, iconic moments, and the magic of the cinema; these illustrations have been a labor of love. And I thought I'd share.

Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, 1939

The characters, of course, are not real: they are flickers on the screen that rivet your brain to a train wreck so much so you can't look away; mesmerized and at times, yes titillated. We don't care. Because real to us is standing for an hour waiting for a bus, being regularly verbally abused by the lady at the pizza take-out counter, paying bills, wondering if you're overly fat, worrying about those you love and can't do anything to help.

Jackie Gleason in The Hustler, 1961

Pathos, passion, drama. What we relate to in performances are periods that surprise us, garner feelings that we didn't know we had, things that don't make sense but they do somehow, seeing happy endings or sad endings both deservedly or undeservedly won, sharing a moment with others who have an imperfect life but not having to do anything because the whole thing is written down in advance (like fate) and the ending is there and it has nothing to do with you. There is solace in that. And trust. Trust that what you're watching may mess with your mind to get your juices flowing but won't do any permanent damage. In fact, certain fictional moments become... indelible.

Because on some level of our consciousness, they talk to us.

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For those interested, this is the reference for the De Niro illustration. I have no idea where it originated. I'd be pleased to accredit it.