From Robert De Niro’s masterful performance, to its influence on the neo-noir genre of filmmaking, few movies in American cinematic history have been as lauded as much as Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.
The Descent of Travis Bickel
Taxi Driver (1976) tells the story of Travis Bickel (Robert De Niro), a 20-something alienated and psychologically troubled Vietnam War veteran who works as a night-shift cab driver in New York City. Living in isolation, Travis becomes increasingly disillusioned with the city’s moral decay and descends into paranoia and violent fantasies. The film depicts his encounters with a variety of street characters, including an underage prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster), whom he wants to “save” from her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel). Meanwhile, Travis fixates on a political candidate and attends a rally armed, contemplating an assassination. Ultimately, his violent rampage against Iris’s “oppressors” turns Travis into a media-proclaimed hero, though the film’s ending leaves the morality of his actions and his psychological state ambiguous.
Why do I like the movie Taxi Driver so much?
From least to most important:
I spent two years driving a cab at night (and almost four years working in a psychiatric correctional facility mostly at nights)—though not in New York City. This experience helps me to empathize with Travis’s nocturnal perspective, frequently witnessing and interacting with humanity when it is on its worst behavior.
I also visited NYC during that era, experiencing its raw and gritty reality firsthand. Many years later, I lived in New York. This experience deepened my connection to the city’s ever-evolving street culture and character. But more than these personal ties, it’s the film’s ability to capture the city’s eccentricities—like Bernard “Bernie” Barlow’s memorable drum performance on the streets—and its unflinching portrayal of NYC’s chaotic alienating urban landscape and challenges that resonate with me most.
New York City in Crisis
Taxi Driver is set during a period of profound crisis in New York City’s recent history, marked by escalating violent crime and pervasive urban decay. Neighborhoods like the South Bronx and Harlem, plagued by poverty and neglect, were home to numerous abandoned buildings, crumbling infrastructure, widespread arson, and an active graffiti scene.
This decline was compounded by the city’s struggling economy, as the collapse of manufacturing left working-class and minority communities facing unemployment and despair.
These conditions created a city where fear and lawlessness prevailed. The police, overwhelmed by crime and corruption, appeared unable to do their job properly and this fueled the publics’ fear.
This backdrop of decay and alienation (e.g., Times Square filled with theaters screening pornography films, and pervasive illicit activities) facilitates Bickel’s growing disconnect from society and his violence.
By weaving New York City’s collapse into its narrative, Taxi Driver not only reflects the city’s struggles, but also critiques the broader economic, political and institutional failures of 1970s NYC.
Enduring Legacy
Watching Taxi Driver now in 2024 may seem a little hackneyed and out of place. Although many aspects of 1970s New York have evolved, the city still grapples with systemic issues of inequality, crime, and disconnection. Taxi Driver remains a stark reminder of these enduring struggles, its gritty realism serving as both a time capsule and a timeless cautionary tale.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2024-11-24-at-10.01.38 AM.png1078968Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2024-11-24 15:34:282024-11-24 17:26:14The Lasting Significance of Scorsese’s TAXI DRIVER
What do Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Al Diaz, and Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe all have in common?
Not only are they well-respected artists, musicians, photographers, and poets, with partnerships that led to a considerable body of impactful work, but their initial introduction was through a random encounter on a subway platform.
Although the examples provided above are not the only ones in which two well-known creatives (in most cases strangers) met in an unlikely and inauspicious place, a few valuable lessons can be learned from these situations.
The Nature of Collaboration
To begin with, there are all types of collaborations. They run the gamut from forced partnerships, like the one mandated by your teacher or your boss, and then there are ones that happen by chance.
Also, there are people and organizations with whom you may co-create with only once, and there are entities that you work with for your entire career or life.
Then again there are people and organizations with whom you may collaborate on some types of projects, but not on others.
Undoubtedly there are better and worse places to seek out a potential collaborator. For example, numerous on-line spaces and platforms provide a mechanism for creators to search for partners, and many formal in person networking opportunities (e.g., professional conferences), are designed in whole or in part to facilitate collaboration.
How to Foster Serendipity That Leads to Co-Creation
That being said, we don’t need to spend more time on subway platforms, hoping that we will run into someone with whom we can have a lifetime of productive and rewarding co-creation, but we should avail ourselves of the multiple opportunities for collaboration that serendipity may bring us.
How do we enable this? I’m not suggesting that you should interact with ever single person you meet in random places.
But we should occasionally let our guards down and keep our eyes open for the chemistry we may have with another person.
We should not operate with tunnel vision, but instead be open to opportunities that these situations may present to us.
This includes:
Follow Your Interests and Passion/s: Eventually this brings you into contact with like-minded people and organizations, increasing the chances of discovering someone with similar goals and complementary skills.
Take Initiative: Don’t wait for others to approach you- take a risk and reach out to those who inspire or interest you.
Nurture Relationships: Spend time building and maintaining your connections (i.e., send a quick e-mail, have coffee, meal, etc. with them), even if this interaction does not lead to anything.
Be Open to the Unexpected: Avoid tunnel vision. Sometimes the come from people and contexts you least expect.
The lesson
Overall, the lesson is to be open, proactive, and receptive to unexpected opportunities and connections that may come our way.
Photo Credit:
Photographer: Susan Jane Golding
Times Square Shuttle
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/32465897617_2a746caeab_o-scaled.jpg17152560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2024-11-17 13:39:252024-11-17 13:44:52Subway Platforms, Serendipity, and the Power of Chance Encounters
Over the past two decades, tech billionaire Elon Musk—pivotal in the creation of PayPal, and founder of Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, as well as owner of Twitter (now X)—has been both lavishly praised and sharply criticized.
Many tech aficionados, consider Musk to be a genius and similar to the Starship Enterprise, in the television series and movies Star Trek, idolized as someone willing to “boldly go where no one has gone before.”
But while some view Musk as a brilliant visionary, others see him as hypocritical in his words and actions.
Musk’s success is also intertwined with protracted labor struggles, negative environmental impacts, and the embodiment of unchecked political power.
He is frequently criticized for being reckless and attention-seeking, behaviors that led to his ousting from leadership roles at both PayPal and Tesla.
For a figure as polarizing as Musk, such alignments only make him more controversial.
Thus, it’s no surprise that Musk has become a subject of graffiti and street art, (not to mention negative light projection images), not just in the United States, but in selected cities around the world.
Much of this visual communication is not flattering.
Anti-Musk graffiti and street art is more than mere vandalism; it critiques the systems Musk represents—extreme wealth, inequality, labor exploitation, unchecked technological advancement, and environmental harm.
The Development of Anti-Musk Graffiti and Street Art
The rise of anti-Musk graffiti/street art is part of a broader trend where this type of urban art serves as a visual counter-narrative to the unchecked power of people, states, and things.
Throughout the world, in large urban centers, graffiti and street art has emerged as a tool for expressing public dissatisfaction, that also challenges the constant slick public relations and advertising campaigns supporting Silicon Valley elites and their corporations.
Musk’s ascent to global fame cast him as the “cool billionaire” — a maverick who wasn’t just in it for the money, but claimed to be changing the world. As Tesla became the leading manufacturer of electric cars, his net worth increased exponentially, as did public attention directed towards the negative business practices of his companies and his lifestyle.
The contradictions surrounding Musk, and his erratic behavior brought him under greater scrutiny. Many critiques, including numerous articles and respected books, began to challenge the previously flattering media narratives surrounding him.
Tesla’s drive to dominate the electric vehicle market initially garnered environmental praise, but labor practices, the environmental toll of lithium mining, and Musk’s controversial social media postings created a negative backlash.
As early as 2018, anti-Musk/Tesla graffiti could be seen in the Bay area (including Palo Alto, Freemont, and San Francisco). Initially graffiti writers were critical of Tesla’s work culture. Tesla factory workers facing grueling hours, difficult conditions, racism, sexism, and there were allegations of union-busting, Musk became a symbol of corporate exploitation.
In 2023, in San Francisco, graffiti writers responded by painting “Musk = Greed,” ”Elon Gentrifier,” and “Elon Sucks,” on all manner of surfaces, especially as Tesla’s expansion symbolized gentrification, income inequality, housing pressures, and social disruption attributed to the local area’s tech boom.
For environmental activists, his lifestyle — marked by private jets and opulent mansions — the support of lithium mining (used in the batteries of Tesla cars) in various countries represented a hypocrisy at odds with his public image of a planet-saving visionary.
In Berlin, where Tesla’s Gigafactory looms as both a symbol of technological advancement and environmental destruction. Although Tesla commissioned well-respected graffiti, street artists and muralists to paint large pieces on the side of the buildings, in 2021 graffiti, some of which included “Stop Tesla,” appeared questioning the factory’s impact on the local ecosystem.
In 2022, in Austin, Texas graffiti near Tesla’s headquarters, graffiti criticized the factory’s impact on local water and housing, with phrases like “Water for People, Not Profits.”
In 2022, when Musk was attempting to buy Twitter, he tried to portray himself as a free speech advocate. But after purchasing a controlling interest in Twitter (now X), this claim was quickly undermined when he banned certain accounts and individuals from the platform while removing guardrails on racists and other groups promoting harmful content. (Not to mention enabling Trump to return to this social media platform). His inflammatory posts on X did not serve to burnish his reputation. In 2022 anti-Musk street art started appearing in Hong Kong 2022) following his shifts in X policy, that would effectively censor anti-PRC content. In 2023, graffiti emerged in Brooklyn (2023) critiquing Musk’s layoffs and management style at X.
More recently, his private exchanges with Vladimir Putin (ostensibly an enemy of the United States), and involvement in the Ukraine conflict — particularly through his provision of satellite technology to Ukrainian forces (but denying access in certain strategic zones— have added to the animosity.
In June 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, 34 Tesla Cybertrucks were vandalized with graffiti, each one marked with the expression, “Fuck Elon.” It’s unclear whether the animosity was aimed specifically at Musk, Tesla, or a combination of both.
The anti-Musk graffiti and street art do more than critique Musk as an individual; they critique the broader systems of capitalist (more specifically corporate) exploitation that he represents.
In this sense Musk, is not just the founder of numerous prominent tech companies, but the face of a new era of tech-driven capitalism in which billionaires like him accumulate vast amounts of wealth while the workers who make it possible remain underpaid and overworked, and environmental degradation is ignored (or minimized).
The slogan “Musk = Exploiter” scrawled on a wall is not just about Musk; it’s a condemnation of the entire model of labor and wealth generation that has come to define Silicon Valley. In this sense, the graffiti serves as a rejection not just of Musk’s persona, but of the societal framework that elevates billionaires like him to god-like status.
Graffiti and Street Art as a vehicle to call attention to Society’s Contradictions
Anti-Musk graffiti and street art isn’t just a protest against one man’s actions—it’s a critique of people and organizations like him, where the rich grow richer, and the planet’s resources continue to be depleted in the name of innovation.
It’s also a push back against the broader neoliberal system that enables figures like him to rise to prominence. Musk isn’t merely a tech mogul; he represents the contradictions central to modern capitalism: how acquiring wealth is often done at the expense of inequality, environmental degradation, and labor exploitation.
Some, but not all, graffiti and street art attempts to draw public attention to these contradictions.
In a world where the divide between the ultra-wealthy and powerful interests and the rest of the world grows wider, graffiti and street art remains an important weapon of the weak to offer a modicum of resistance to the people, organizations, and movements that threaten wider society.
photo credit
Photographer: Eden, Janine and Jim
Title: Musk Lightyear
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/50827407973_7b170b68ef_o-scaled.jpg25601920Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2024-11-10 12:56:302024-11-10 18:43:23Anti-Musk Graffiti & Street Art as a Rejection of Power, Capitalism, and Celebrity
The Lasting Significance of Scorsese’s TAXI DRIVER
/by Jeffrey Ian RossFrom Robert De Niro’s masterful performance, to its influence on the neo-noir genre of filmmaking, few movies in American cinematic history have been as lauded as much as Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.
The Descent of Travis Bickel
Taxi Driver (1976) tells the story of Travis Bickel (Robert De Niro), a 20-something alienated and psychologically troubled Vietnam War veteran who works as a night-shift cab driver in New York City. Living in isolation, Travis becomes increasingly disillusioned with the city’s moral decay and descends into paranoia and violent fantasies. The film depicts his encounters with a variety of street characters, including an underage prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster), whom he wants to “save” from her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel). Meanwhile, Travis fixates on a political candidate and attends a rally armed, contemplating an assassination. Ultimately, his violent rampage against Iris’s “oppressors” turns Travis into a media-proclaimed hero, though the film’s ending leaves the morality of his actions and his psychological state ambiguous.
Why do I like the movie Taxi Driver so much?
From least to most important:
I spent two years driving a cab at night (and almost four years working in a psychiatric correctional facility mostly at nights)—though not in New York City. This experience helps me to empathize with Travis’s nocturnal perspective, frequently witnessing and interacting with humanity when it is on its worst behavior.
I also visited NYC during that era, experiencing its raw and gritty reality firsthand. Many years later, I lived in New York. This experience deepened my connection to the city’s ever-evolving street culture and character. But more than these personal ties, it’s the film’s ability to capture the city’s eccentricities—like Bernard “Bernie” Barlow’s memorable drum performance on the streets—and its unflinching portrayal of NYC’s chaotic alienating urban landscape and challenges that resonate with me most.
New York City in Crisis
Taxi Driver is set during a period of profound crisis in New York City’s recent history, marked by escalating violent crime and pervasive urban decay. Neighborhoods like the South Bronx and Harlem, plagued by poverty and neglect, were home to numerous abandoned buildings, crumbling infrastructure, widespread arson, and an active graffiti scene.
This decline was compounded by the city’s struggling economy, as the collapse of manufacturing left working-class and minority communities facing unemployment and despair.
These conditions created a city where fear and lawlessness prevailed. The police, overwhelmed by crime and corruption, appeared unable to do their job properly and this fueled the publics’ fear.
This backdrop of decay and alienation (e.g., Times Square filled with theaters screening pornography films, and pervasive illicit activities) facilitates Bickel’s growing disconnect from society and his violence.
By weaving New York City’s collapse into its narrative, Taxi Driver not only reflects the city’s struggles, but also critiques the broader economic, political and institutional failures of 1970s NYC.
Enduring Legacy
Watching Taxi Driver now in 2024 may seem a little hackneyed and out of place. Although many aspects of 1970s New York have evolved, the city still grapples with systemic issues of inequality, crime, and disconnection. Taxi Driver remains a stark reminder of these enduring struggles, its gritty realism serving as both a time capsule and a timeless cautionary tale.
Subway Platforms, Serendipity, and the Power of Chance Encounters
/by Jeffrey Ian RossWhat do Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Al Diaz, and Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe all have in common?
Not only are they well-respected artists, musicians, photographers, and poets, with partnerships that led to a considerable body of impactful work, but their initial introduction was through a random encounter on a subway platform.
Although the examples provided above are not the only ones in which two well-known creatives (in most cases strangers) met in an unlikely and inauspicious place, a few valuable lessons can be learned from these situations.
The Nature of Collaboration
To begin with, there are all types of collaborations. They run the gamut from forced partnerships, like the one mandated by your teacher or your boss, and then there are ones that happen by chance.
Also, there are people and organizations with whom you may co-create with only once, and there are entities that you work with for your entire career or life.
Then again there are people and organizations with whom you may collaborate on some types of projects, but not on others.
Undoubtedly there are better and worse places to seek out a potential collaborator. For example, numerous on-line spaces and platforms provide a mechanism for creators to search for partners, and many formal in person networking opportunities (e.g., professional conferences), are designed in whole or in part to facilitate collaboration.
How to Foster Serendipity That Leads to Co-Creation
That being said, we don’t need to spend more time on subway platforms, hoping that we will run into someone with whom we can have a lifetime of productive and rewarding co-creation, but we should avail ourselves of the multiple opportunities for collaboration that serendipity may bring us.
How do we enable this? I’m not suggesting that you should interact with ever single person you meet in random places.
But we should occasionally let our guards down and keep our eyes open for the chemistry we may have with another person.
We should not operate with tunnel vision, but instead be open to opportunities that these situations may present to us.
This includes:
The lesson
Overall, the lesson is to be open, proactive, and receptive to unexpected opportunities and connections that may come our way.
Photo Credit:
Photographer: Susan Jane Golding
Times Square Shuttle
Anti-Musk Graffiti & Street Art as a Rejection of Power, Capitalism, and Celebrity
/by Jeffrey Ian RossOver the past two decades, tech billionaire Elon Musk—pivotal in the creation of PayPal, and founder of Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, as well as owner of Twitter (now X)—has been both lavishly praised and sharply criticized.
Many tech aficionados, consider Musk to be a genius and similar to the Starship Enterprise, in the television series and movies Star Trek, idolized as someone willing to “boldly go where no one has gone before.”
But while some view Musk as a brilliant visionary, others see him as hypocritical in his words and actions.
Musk’s success is also intertwined with protracted labor struggles, negative environmental impacts, and the embodiment of unchecked political power.
He is frequently criticized for being reckless and attention-seeking, behaviors that led to his ousting from leadership roles at both PayPal and Tesla.
Recently, Musk has transitioned into one of second-term President Donald J. Trump’s most prominent and vocal supporters.
For a figure as polarizing as Musk, such alignments only make him more controversial.
Thus, it’s no surprise that Musk has become a subject of graffiti and street art, (not to mention negative light projection images), not just in the United States, but in selected cities around the world.
Much of this visual communication is not flattering.
Anti-Musk graffiti and street art is more than mere vandalism; it critiques the systems Musk represents—extreme wealth, inequality, labor exploitation, unchecked technological advancement, and environmental harm.
The Development of Anti-Musk Graffiti and Street Art
The rise of anti-Musk graffiti/street art is part of a broader trend where this type of urban art serves as a visual counter-narrative to the unchecked power of people, states, and things.
Throughout the world, in large urban centers, graffiti and street art has emerged as a tool for expressing public dissatisfaction, that also challenges the constant slick public relations and advertising campaigns supporting Silicon Valley elites and their corporations.
Musk’s ascent to global fame cast him as the “cool billionaire” — a maverick who wasn’t just in it for the money, but claimed to be changing the world. As Tesla became the leading manufacturer of electric cars, his net worth increased exponentially, as did public attention directed towards the negative business practices of his companies and his lifestyle.
The contradictions surrounding Musk, and his erratic behavior brought him under greater scrutiny. Many critiques, including numerous articles and respected books, began to challenge the previously flattering media narratives surrounding him.
Tesla’s drive to dominate the electric vehicle market initially garnered environmental praise, but labor practices, the environmental toll of lithium mining, and Musk’s controversial social media postings created a negative backlash.
As early as 2018, anti-Musk/Tesla graffiti could be seen in the Bay area (including Palo Alto, Freemont, and San Francisco). Initially graffiti writers were critical of Tesla’s work culture. Tesla factory workers facing grueling hours, difficult conditions, racism, sexism, and there were allegations of union-busting, Musk became a symbol of corporate exploitation.
In 2023, in San Francisco, graffiti writers responded by painting “Musk = Greed,” ”Elon Gentrifier,” and “Elon Sucks,” on all manner of surfaces, especially as Tesla’s expansion symbolized gentrification, income inequality, housing pressures, and social disruption attributed to the local area’s tech boom.
For environmental activists, his lifestyle — marked by private jets and opulent mansions — the support of lithium mining (used in the batteries of Tesla cars) in various countries represented a hypocrisy at odds with his public image of a planet-saving visionary.
In Berlin, where Tesla’s Gigafactory looms as both a symbol of technological advancement and environmental destruction. Although Tesla commissioned well-respected graffiti, street artists and muralists to paint large pieces on the side of the buildings, in 2021 graffiti, some of which included “Stop Tesla,” appeared questioning the factory’s impact on the local ecosystem.
In 2022, in Austin, Texas graffiti near Tesla’s headquarters, graffiti criticized the factory’s impact on local water and housing, with phrases like “Water for People, Not Profits.”
In 2022, when Musk was attempting to buy Twitter, he tried to portray himself as a free speech advocate. But after purchasing a controlling interest in Twitter (now X), this claim was quickly undermined when he banned certain accounts and individuals from the platform while removing guardrails on racists and other groups promoting harmful content. (Not to mention enabling Trump to return to this social media platform). His inflammatory posts on X did not serve to burnish his reputation. In 2022 anti-Musk street art started appearing in Hong Kong 2022) following his shifts in X policy, that would effectively censor anti-PRC content. In 2023, graffiti emerged in Brooklyn (2023) critiquing Musk’s layoffs and management style at X.
More recently, his private exchanges with Vladimir Putin (ostensibly an enemy of the United States), and involvement in the Ukraine conflict — particularly through his provision of satellite technology to Ukrainian forces (but denying access in certain strategic zones— have added to the animosity.
In June 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, 34 Tesla Cybertrucks were vandalized with graffiti, each one marked with the expression, “Fuck Elon.” It’s unclear whether the animosity was aimed specifically at Musk, Tesla, or a combination of both.
Ironically consumers can purchase a Cybertruck with a “graffiti wrap,” a eye-catching paint job that resembles hip hop style graffiti (another reminder of the co-optation and commodification of graffiti and street art).
Graffiti and Street Art as Resistance
The anti-Musk graffiti and street art do more than critique Musk as an individual; they critique the broader systems of capitalist (more specifically corporate) exploitation that he represents.
In this sense Musk, is not just the founder of numerous prominent tech companies, but the face of a new era of tech-driven capitalism in which billionaires like him accumulate vast amounts of wealth while the workers who make it possible remain underpaid and overworked, and environmental degradation is ignored (or minimized).
The slogan “Musk = Exploiter” scrawled on a wall is not just about Musk; it’s a condemnation of the entire model of labor and wealth generation that has come to define Silicon Valley. In this sense, the graffiti serves as a rejection not just of Musk’s persona, but of the societal framework that elevates billionaires like him to god-like status.
Graffiti and Street Art as a vehicle to call attention to Society’s Contradictions
Anti-Musk graffiti and street art isn’t just a protest against one man’s actions—it’s a critique of people and organizations like him, where the rich grow richer, and the planet’s resources continue to be depleted in the name of innovation.
It’s also a push back against the broader neoliberal system that enables figures like him to rise to prominence. Musk isn’t merely a tech mogul; he represents the contradictions central to modern capitalism: how acquiring wealth is often done at the expense of inequality, environmental degradation, and labor exploitation.
Some, but not all, graffiti and street art attempts to draw public attention to these contradictions.
In a world where the divide between the ultra-wealthy and powerful interests and the rest of the world grows wider, graffiti and street art remains an important weapon of the weak to offer a modicum of resistance to the people, organizations, and movements that threaten wider society.
photo credit
Photographer: Eden, Janine and Jim
Title: Musk Lightyear