Has anybody read the newspaper clippings on Travis’s wall at the end of the movie?

All lnks are not mine but copied from other sources for the benefit of movie lovers.

Taxi Driver Matthew "Sport" Higgins prop newspaper clipping | EstateSales.org https://share.google/FLKIYDDrHkdAEmMl8

For all of the people they claim that the ending of Taxi Driver is Travis Bickles death dream fantasy, Martin Scorsese has spoken about how the ending of Taxi Driver is legitimately real within that movie and it's timeframe, not a dream or fantasy.

https://youtu.be/L6D3bZguz6E?si=5lw2tb2DmvDu5nSR

https://youtu.be/Rq4ucbgrV6U?si=azydWIVe1bSyJDuJ

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/s/ciRHfErsDc

Taxi Driver — Can we talk about the ending? [SPOILERS]

I can't believe I'd never seen this movie before. I had the opportunity to see it in theaters for the first time last night, so I knew I had to take it.

I haven't been that engaged in a theater film in what feels like… well, probably never. Relating to (and then being horrified at) Travis, seeing the irony of his vigilante methods, the wonderful way the city (I just spent the Summer in) was shot and presented.

Anyways, the ending.

I'd heard the interpretations before. That it was Travis's 'dreamlike-state' as he died, a juxtaposition of a happy ending right after the horror that was the shooting (which might be my favorite ""action"" scene I've ever seen in a film yet for reasons I could go on and on about, but if anything, the use of audio in the scene).

Then I saw that Word of God rejects this interpretation, and that instead, the ending was intended to further reinforce the feelings that society has towards a vigilante—that is, Travis, the man who was just trying to assassinate a Presidential hopeful; Travis, the man who tried to blow his own brains out in front of Iris; Travis, the hero.

Now, I do see Ebert's POV on this pretty well:

There has been much discussion about the ending, in which we see newspaper clippings about Travis' "heroism," and then Betsy gets into his cab and seems to give him admiration instead of her earlier disgust. Is this a fantasy scene? Did Travis survive the shoot-out? Are we experiencing his dying thoughts? Can the sequence be accepted as literally true?

I am not sure there can be an answer to these questions. The end sequence plays like music, not drama: It completes the story on an emotional, not a literal, level. We end not on carnage but on redemption, which is the goal of so many of Scorsese's characters. They despise themselves, they live in sin, they occupy mean streets, but they want to be forgiven and admired. Whether Travis gains that status in reality or only in his mind is not the point; throughout the film, his mental state has shaped his reality, and at last, in some way, it has brought him a kind of peace.

When the film ended, I absolutely could not see any other interpretation than "this doesn't actually happen," for several reasons:

1. Travis sits in the chair post-shooting, and holds briefly before the camera cuts to the surreal apartment flythrough. This is the cut from reality to Travis's own mind.

2. The letter from Iris's parents is read in a monotone, slow voice—the same way that Travis has read his own writings throughout much of the film, and the same way that he might imagine his screwed-up ideals of a 'happy ending': Iris is back with her (possibly abusive) family, despite being scarred from witnessing Travis blow a man's brains out.

3. The newspaper clippings themselves are something Travis would fantasize about, rather than would actually exist—all of them present an extremely dark murder scene as though it was an act of heroism. While I know NYC is known for having supported vigilantes ("He who takes, Goetz"), I don't think the law could see this as being the same way.

4. Travis is back to looking like his old self. Identical to his old self. His hair is absolutely identical to what it was at the beginning of the film. The entire post-clippings scene is presented in a location and feeling so far removed from the rest of the film's realistic locale-centric style.

5. Betsy gets in the cab. That's pretty surreal to begin with, not to mention the manner in which she stares into Travis's mirror the entire trip. Travis is recalling an idealized version of her, something he craved and desired. There's no reason for her to actually see him as a hero.

Regardless, I do still see Ebert's view that "it doesn't matter," and I do see that "THE ENDING WAS ALL A DREAM!" is rather silly nowadays, but it's such a perfect setup for that approach I really couldn't believe that it has been rejected.

Anyways, I just wanted a chance to talk about this fucking amazing movie.