Iris' Number One Fan

Jodie Foster as Easy Iris -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Anyone 40 or older probably remembers an urgent news bulletin from March 30, 1981: "Young man tries to assassinate President Ronald in Washington D.C.". The young man was John Hinckley Jr., a deranged 26 year-old. Hinckley was also an aspiring song-writer and vagabond who periodically resided with his wealthy parents in Evergreen, Colorado.

His gunplay didn’t kill anyone although it did plenty of damage. Press Secretary James Brady, policeman Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service man Tim McArthy were all directly struck by the hail of bullets. The President sustained a chest injury from a ricocheted bullet. By far the worst injury was sustained by Brady who was paralyzed for life on the left side of his body. Hinckley didn’t try to run; in fact he viewed the shooting as a photo op. He wanted his "lady love" to view his rageful behavior with a Rohm revolver on TV.

Hinckley was a Texas Tech drop-out who tried however briefly to be a song-writer in Los Angeles in the mid 70’s. When that didn’t pan out, the disturbed young man withdrew into a macabre fantasy world which blurred movie plots, historical assassinations, and other acts of desperate violence into a macho, psychotic “alterverse”.

The movie which so obsessed Hinckley was 1976’s Taxi Driver which portraits an equally psycho (albeit fictional) Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro. De Niro plays a would-be assassin with a bizarre crush on Iris, an under-aged teen prostitute. Hinckley is said to have watched Taxi Driver hundreds of times and somehow imprinted himself with the Bickle character. So thorough was the imprinting, he began stalking Jodie Foster (age 18 in 1981), who portrayed Iris in the actual '76 movie. In the “creepy facts file”, Hinckley actually dropped notes at Foster’s home and talked to her briefly on the phone. In 2010, one must hope that celebrities can be more unreachable and anonymous with regard to wack job stalkers.

Hinckley decided that, like Bickle, he should kill a president to impress Jodie/Iris. He first tracked Jimmy Carter but was arrested on weapons charges in Nashville. His wealthy family managed to get him psychiatric care for what was clearly to them just untreated clinical depression. Shortly thereafter, Hinckley “succeeded” in his bizarre quest – he completed the 1981 violent assault against Reagan and his team. What followed was a slap-on-the-wrist trial where Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. One cannot dissociate the verdict from other significant circumstances; the Hinckleys were wealthy, staunch Republicans – good friends with V.P. George H. W. Bush. Hinckley’s brother Scott was even scheduled to have dinner with Neil Bush the night of the assassination attempt. Hinckley was remanded to the care of St. Elizabeth’s hospital where he has remained (more or somewhat less) since 1981.

So great was the public outrage over this verdict, several states modified state laws to restrict expert psychiatric testimony. Three states -- Idaho, Montana and Utah did completely away with the insanity defense. This was much ado considering that wealthy citizens frequently can side-step the established writ, no matter how passionately it’s supported by the general public.

For “tough love”, three-strikes advocates you should quit reading now. Hinckley’s incarceration at St. Elizabeth’s has unfolded more like a Club Med vacation stay than any typical inmate story. He summarized his daily routine as:

“See a theapist, answer mail, play guitar, listen to music, play pool, watch TV, eat lousy food and take delicious medication”.

In addition, he’s been granted increasingly long (two week) visits with his family which have given him the liberty of a driver’s license and opportunity to date two women on the outside. He was almost sprung completely in 2007 but public outcry, buttressed by the concerns of Reagan’s family kept him in St. Elizabeth’s where he surely belongs.

There is much to mull over in this tale and much impact to the national psyche..
- The insanity plea was reconsidered and reworked in several states
- Gun laws were strengthened
- Censorship advocates were emboldened by a clear case of copycat behavior
- Public advocates argued about privileged treatment for wealthy people

Reagan himself couched the event humorously in '81: “Honey, I forgot to duck”. He also was surprisingly benign about Hinckley himself saying only that he, “hopes the young man gets help”. In point of fact, Hinckley was given the help of a cushy hospital and lengthy outside visits. It would be hard to assert that his help was corrective or meaningful in any significant way. Whether his outburst was an insane lark or "rational" choice, he needs to be kept away from a world which is an action movie blur in his addled mind.

CINEMATIC ADDENDUM -- 1/8/2011

Today I actually watched Taxi Driver from 1976; the last time I watched it was as a college sophomore in the theater. The movie is a tour de force, easily earning its position on the AFI’s list of all-time great movies. It is Martin Scorsese’s dark vision of Travis Bickle, a disturbed and mentally deteriorating Vietnam Vet. Travis is played by a handsome, lean and then-young Robert De Niro. The cast is a stellar one where even bit roles are played by future luminaries like Harvey Keitel and Albert Brooks. Jodie Foster is amazing as the street-smart Iris and Cybill Shepherd is equally great as Betsy.

It puzzles me that John Hinckley saw Travis as a role model -- the entire screenplay presents Travis as an unhinged loser, living in a violent, adolescent fantasy world. The last three minutes of the movie are controversial -- they suggest that Travis has been received as a hero for “rescuing” Iris and brutally killing Iris’ pimp, bordello bouncer and Mafia john.

This is arguable from a couple of standpoints …
1) The last 3 minutes are gauzy and surreal like something in the dream sequence of a dying man.
2) It wouldn’t make sense factually. The pimp, john and bouncer were unsavory people but they had done nothing to provoke the attack. Bickle would be guilty of 2nd degree homicide if nothing else, he wouldn’t be received as a hero.

However you see the ending, please see this incredible film. The gritty essence of New York’s mean streets have never been more brilliantly shown than in this timeless masterpiece.

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