In a discussion that much of our longrunning Joker analysis has built to, we do a deep dive into Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976). We explain the foundational place of Scorsese’s film in the feedback loop between media and spectacular crime that we call the Joker Cycle. Looking at other relevant films and filmmakers, we speculate on the possible role of Brian de Palma in the Taxi Driver psy-op, discuss Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets (1968) as an early entry into the feedback loop, and explain the over-the-top revelation of the method in The Last Horror Film (1982). Breaking down Taxi Driver, we talk about the manufactured profile of the lone wolf spectacular criminal, Travis Bickle as proto-incel, and how the movie is a paradigmatic example of MK-culture reality/fiction breakdown.

CORRECTION: The Terror was released in 1963 rather than 1968.