The Ending Of Taxi Driver Explained

Near the end of Wes Craven's horror comedy masterpiece Scream, the cinephile killer lets everybody know that "Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative." And that's definitely true for John Hinckley Jr. A lonely and mentally disturbed man, Hinckley was absolutely obsessed with Taxi Driver, a movie he watched at least 16 times.

Hinckley dressed like Travis, he ate the same disgusting food as Travis, and he listened to the film's soundtrack constantly. Most disturbingly, he started collecting guns. When he was later asked why he bought so many firearms, Hinckley replied, "I bought so many handguns because Travis bought so many handguns. Ask him. Not me." And just like Travis, Hinckley grew obsessed with wreaking vengeance on the world he despised.

Worse still, he grew obsessed with Jodie Foster, who played 12-year-old Iris. A few years after the film, when he learned Foster was starting college at Yale, Hinckley began stalking her — sliding notes under her door and constantly calling her on the phone. And just like Travis wanted to free Iris, Hinckley wanted to rescue Foster from the "scum balls" controlling her life.

So naturally, he borrowed another Travis Bickle move and decided to murder a politician. When his plan to kill Jimmy Carter didn't work out, he decided to take aim at President Ronald Reagan, and on March 30, 1981, Hinckley shot Reagan and three other people, and while nobody died, press secretary James Brady was partially paralyzed for life. 

Needless to say, people don't act the same way when you shoot the president as they do when you shoot a pimp, and Hinckley was immediately arrested. But in a weird twist of events, Taxi Driver was actually screened during Hinckley's trial, and he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Over 30 years later, Hinckley was released in September 2016, but of course, part of the deal is that he can never contact Jodie Foster again.