Travis Bickle Comes Back to Haunt Robert De Niro Again

From Hollywood Woketopia

Some of you might know I have a second Substack here called Hollywood Woketopia. I started it because not everyone here is interested in film and Hollywood. This time around, I tried my hand at making a video.

In the video, I take a closer look at 1981 and the shooting of Ronald Reagan by John Hinkley and how Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, and Robert De Niro suddenly had a strange situation on their hands where their film seemed to inspire a psycho to do something stupid.

Robert De Niro was tumbling around in my head after the Trump assassination, and at some point, all of this came together for me into a story. Matthew Thomas Crooks is a Travis Bickle-like figure, though he would have no idea who that was or why he would turn out to be kind of similar. The list of weird loner dudes who shoot presidents isn’t very long.

What made me want to write this, however, was De Niro’s words against Trump, which seemed to become almost like an obsession. He had nothing to do with Crooks or the shooting, but I thought I would use it as a framing to talk about the movie, about Hollywood, and about storytelling.

If you’re interested, check it out by clicking here.

The right side of the piece contains links to the podcast (which I hope to do more of). And you can subscribe to Hollywood Woketopia if you are so inclined. Right now, nothing is pay-walled. But should it ever be in the future, and you are a paying subscriber here, that will extend over there.

I’ve also started a YouTube channel where I will post videos I make. Hopefully, I will make more. I’m just learning this stuff, though, so go easy on me.