Reading Chapter 9 of the Stone/Kuznick book The Untold History of the United States
I realized that it barely mentions George Wallace. Just a 2 sentence mention
and that’s it. Nothing more. What the book doesn’t even say that Wallace was
shot by a gunman. But Wallace was. George Wallace was shot by Arthur Bremmer in
Laurel, MD on May 15, 1972. Growing up near Laurel I know the area well. It’s
the open shopping center that contains the Giant and even as child I remember
my parents telling me the story. But what my parents never told me or didn’t
know was that event inspired the movie Taxi
Driver. Considering the site where Wallace was shot and the scene from the
movie are very similar.
While I can find many references that have been made by
Scorsese, nothing that has any validity until I found an article from the
University of Pennsylvania library. The entry states “He also confirms the fact that Arthur Bremer and Dostoevsky’s Notes
from Underground influenced Paul Schrader’s script.” (UPENN 2005) What might be
the most interesting of all is that the Bremmer shooting Wallace inspired Taxi Driver, Taxi Driver inspired John Hinckley Jr. to shoot Ronald Reagan. What
crazy world we live in.
Bibliography
UPENN. PENNTAGS
tags/dreams?arthur+bremmer. october 11, 2005.
tags.library.upenn.edu/tag/dreams/arthur+bremmer (accessed march 2005).
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