Taxi Driver: The Movie which nearly killed a President

Dear Jodie:
There is definitely a possibility that I will be killed in my attempt to get Reagan. It is for this very reason that I am writing you this letter now.
As you well know by now I love you very much. Over the past seven months I've left you dozens of poems, letters and love messages in the faint hope that you could develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phone a couple of times I never had the nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself. Besides my shyness, I honestly did not wish to bother you with my constant presence. I know the many messages left at your door and in your mailbox were a nuisance, but I felt that it was the most painless way for me to express my love for you.
I feel very good about the fact that you at least know my name and how I feel about you. And by hanging around your dormitory, I've come to realize that I'm the topic of more than a little conversation, however full of ridicule it may be. At least you know that I'll always love you. Jodie, I would abandon the idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you, whether it be in total obscurity or whatever.
I will admit to you that the reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you. I've got to do something now to make you understand, in no uncertain terms, that I'm doing all of this for your sake! By sacrificing my freedom and possibly my life, I hope to change your mind about me. This letter is being written only an hour before I leave for the Hilton Hotel. Jodie, I'm asking you to please look into your heart and at least give the chance, with this historical deed, to gain your love and respect.
I love you forever,
John W. Hinckley

Monday March 30th, 1981. John Hinckley after writing this letter to Jodie Foster attempted his infamous assassination bid on President Reagan. Reagan was shot in his left chest, but fortunately survived.

Hinckley always had an affinity for firearms, and his obsession for Jodie Foster, began after the actress played a teenage prostitute in the Robert De Niro flick ‘Taxi-Driver’.

De Niro’s character in the movie, Travis Bickle, in an attempt to win the admiration of Betsy, his love interest, attempts to assassinate a Presidential Candidate, for whom she worked. Later in the plot, in a bid to rescue Iris (Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute, Travis (De Niro) shoots her client, pimp and a hotel Manager, emerging a hero.

Hinckley is said to have seen the movie fifteen times, and read and re-read the book on which it is based, numerous times. Influenced by the movie, he began to identify and imitate Travis Bickle in real life. He dressed up like him, drank the same peach brandy. He in fact moved to Yale, where Jodie Foster was pursuing a course, and his attempts to be-friend her, was in his mind an attempt to “rescue” her, the way Travis rescued Iris in the movie.

During his trial, the defense actually showed the movie to the grand jury, arguing that his identification with the psychotic Travis Bickle was unconscious. The trial, which lasted almost a year, found Hinckley not guilty on grounds of “insanity”. He has been in Mental Hospital ever since.