You talkin' to me?

"You talkin' to me?" is a catchphrase delivered by Travis Bickle, a character played by Robert De Niro in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver. The quotation and the scene it was featured in have become a pop culture icon. In 2005, it was chosen as #10 on the American Film Institute list, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.

In the scene, Bickle is looking into a mirror at himself, imagining a confrontation which would give him a chance to draw his gun. He says the following line:

“

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"

”

Roger Ebert called this quotation "the truest line in the film." This line was also described by Ebert as "Travis Bickle's ... desperate need to make some kind of contact somehow - to share or mimic the effortless social interaction he sees all around him, but does not participate in."

Screenwriter Paul Schrader does not take credit for this line, saying that in that scene his script only read, "Travis speaks to himself in the mirror", and that De Niro improvised the dialogue. However, Schrader went on to say that De Niro's performance was inspired by a routine by "an underground New York comedian" whom he had once seen, possibly including his signature line.

In his 2009 memoir, saxophonist Clarence Clemons said De Niro explained the line's origins when Clemons coached De Niro to play the saxophone for the movie New York, New York. Clemons says De Niro had seen Bruce Springsteen say it onstage at a concert as fans were screaming his name, and decided to make the line his own.

The larger scene from Taxi Driver has since been referenced numerous times. A notable one by De Niro himself in the role of Fearless Leader in the The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle 2000 film, when he replies a videophone call from Jason Alexander as Boris Badenov.

This line was first used and repeated by the chacter of Jackie Rhoades, looking into a mirror in The Twilight Zone episode Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room, broadcast on October 14, 1960.

Other uses

• In Back to the Future III, Marty McFly, finding himself alone with a gun and a mirror, quotes De Niro's character while imagining a confrontation with "Mad Dog" Tannen (comically, he is dressed only in long johns).

• Another reference can be found in the CSI: NY episode "Unusual Suspects".

• It is covered by the actor Vincent Cassel in the French film La Haine.

• In Aladdin, the Genie, voiced by Robin Williams said the line in the same mannerism as De Niro.

• It also made an appearance in The Lion King; Pumbaa, voiced by Ernie Sabella, says the famous line upon entering a cave to assist his friends in a final battle for Pride Rock. He clusters De Niro's line with a parody of the famous "They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!" from In the Heat of the Night, after feigning offense to being called a pig.

• In the British comedy series That Mitchell and Webb Look, a sketch called "Polite Taxi Driver" involves a similarly dressed character looking in a mirror, saying "Terribly sorry, was it me you were talking to? No? Oh, very sorry."

• In the episode of The U.S. Office titled "The Fight", after Michael defeats Dwight in a fight, he says the famous line, following it up by saying, "Raging Bull....Pacino."

• Moe Syzlak quotes it, dressed like Travis Bickle, in The Simpsons episode "Burns' Heir", while standing in front of a mirror. When he tries to catch the gun, he misses it and it breaks his mirror.

• In The Sopranos episode, "College", Father Phil Intintola muses that De Niro, in the role of Jesus (instead of Willem Dafoe in The Last Temptation of Christ), would have said, "You talkin' to me, Pilate?"

• The line is also referenced in the South Park episode, "Weight Gain 4000", when Mr. Garrison is in front of a mirror while purchasing a rifle.

• In the film Wise Guys, the main character Harry Valentini (played by Danny DeVito) practices this phrase in front of a mirror before going to his "work" for local gangster Anthony Castelo.

• In the X-Files episode, "Small Potatoes", shape-shifter Eddie Van Blundht misquotes the line while appearing to be Fox Mulder. David Duchovny, who normally portrays Mulder, plays Eddie as Mulder in this scene.

• In the WWE Wrestlemania XXI promo, featuring superstars like Batista, Big Show, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Candice Michelle, Carlito, Heidenreich. WWE had parodies on several successful films along with the Taxi Driver, for Wrestlemania XXI, such as Dirty Harry, Braveheart, Basic Instinct, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, Pulp Fiction.

• In the film True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino, one of the Sicilians is seen using that line during preparation of a raid.

• U Talkin' to Me? is a song by Australian dance duo Disco Montego released in late 2002.

• In the show Hey Arnold! after Arnold gets robbed, he takes self-defense lessons from his grandma. The line comes up as Arnold is looking at himself in the mirror pretending to talk to the man who robbed him.

• In the movie The Parent Trap , Lindsay Lohan's character uses this quote while talking to her father's fiance, Meredith. Meredith responds with,"What are you, Robert de Niro?"

• The line is referenced in the Polish film Kiler.

• In the movie Zapped! while Barney Springboro Scott Baio was looking at the mirror saying "You talkin' to me?"