I loved the movie, gave it a 9/10, but there is one thing I didn't understand...
*spoiler*
Why did he suddenly almost try to kill the guy that was going for president? (Pallantine, I think[?])
Because Palentine was going to improve the world and make people happier which Travis didn't want
shareHe's unhinged.
The Maltese Falcon: https://youtu.be/hp7130Bjec4
By what exactly? It just doesn't look 100 % plausible to me
I agree, it isn't exactly plausible. We are to assume he was in combat in Vietnam because we hear he has a medal (Purple Heart?), so he could have had PTSD. It's a bit confusing because he doesn't portray the role with enough craziness to explain his violent actions. An actor needs to reveal the justification for actions, unless another character explains it in dialogue.
The Maltese Falcon: https://youtu.be/hp7130Bjec4
Disagree completely. How exactly do crazy people act before they do something violent? Do they actually act crazy where people can see they're crazy? Did Adam Lanza act crazy before he shot up the school? How about James Holmes before he shot up the theater? Or do they just keep to themselves and behave relatively "normal" until they kill?
shareMy take on it is that Travis was upset that Betsy rejected him and saw Palantine as a father figure to her. Therefore, Travis saw Palantine as responsible for the way Betsy was. When that failed he then turned his anger on Sport who was also a sort of guardian to Iris and was bad for her.
shareThe 2 real life shooters mentioned certainly didn't act normal. They were obviously crazy to all who dealt with them, but people didn't anticipate the potential danger to the public enough to take action.
shareAttempting to kill Palantine was (at least subconsciously) a way for Travis to get attention from Betsy. While (probably) not involved with Palantine personally in any way, the fact that Betsy admired and respected Palantine must have grated on Travis' ego. Killing Palantine would have been his way of getting back at Betsy for the rejection.
Also, Travis probably resented Palantine's condescending conversation in the taxi, and (rightly) saw him as an opportunistic politician who doesn't really care about him or his troubles but who humors him for the sake of another vote.
Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes! At best, Travis wanted to get back at Betsy. The look on the face of Palantine's assistant during his autocrat's cabbie-banter with Bickle is priceless! It's also amazing what a guy any guy will do for a gal.
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others WHENEVER they go.
Possible reasons (some mentioned already):
1) Jealousy, because Betsy admired Palantine, but rejected Travis.
2) A belief that Palantine is dangerous because:
(a) his influence has made Betsy (in the mind of Travis)'cold' and destined for hell; and/or
(b) T has been reading P's political views (off camera) and finds them objectionable.
3) T is psychotic, so his motivations and rationalisations evade our best efforts to understand them.
I basically agree with what's been said. I mean for someone as mentally unbalanced as Travis, it would make sense to get back at Betsy by "taking care" of the guy she admired so much. Now whether Travis was jealous or disgusted with Palantine, in the end there's a good chance he blamed Palantine for Betsy's rejection.
You want something corny? You got it!
I felt that he wanted to kill the politician because he became convinced in his warped mind that he wasn't going to improve the cesspool.
It seemed like he wanted to make the area better but was confused on the way to go about it..
Ignore the people who think it was a political move. He didn't disagree with Pellantine at all. In fact I think he actually agreed with his policies. He did because he wanted to impress Betsy. Its apparent that he's mentally ill. So he thought killing the future president (who Betsy works for) would impress her and she'd, I guess fall in love with him.
Notagreatplan!