The inspirations of pop culture have been extremely varied,
mostly received from everyday life, as this way the artistic action would be as
close to realism as possible. This has been the tendency of most pop culture artists
from numerous fields, who chose realistic symbols in the cases in which they
would opt for a realistic approach of any art form.
One of the mostly utilized such symbols is the one of the
taxi, which is present in more than one creations of the past century. The taxi
has been introduced in most entertainment art, such as cinematography and
music, and its repetitive usage by others suggests the interesting impact the
movie or song has to the public if it contains this symbol.
The taxi actually offers a wide perspective of meanings. On
the one hand, it may be regarded as a safe place for the action, having been
used with this connotation many times before, while it may also be regarded as
an element that suggests danger or extreme action, such as in the example of
“Collateral”, a thriller movie that uses the latter meaning of the taxi symbol.
There are also artistic forms in which the taxi has been referred to by a love
connotation, and one reliable example for this is Vanessa Paradis’ song “Joe Le
Taxi”, in which the theme surrounds the story of a taxi driver.
In its entirety, we may regard the symbol of the taxi as a
very complex one, since it has been offering the artist or director the chance
to create various scenes and situations based on a common place. This has been
a generous approach in creating new and varied perspectives that would suit for
both positive and negative plots or ideas. In the movies or music that contain
the symbol of taxi, the human psychology of the characters is also very well contoured
around this symbol, and so are human typologies. For example, a cliché
character that appears in numerous movies is the taxi driver, who is a rather
standard type of personality that tends towards positivity or neutrality,
rather than to negativism.
At the same time, the symbol of the taxi offers a very
mobile way of organizing the plot, as the taxi in movies in many times on the
run, which also helps create a complex image for viewers. This attribute of
movement is sometimes the key factor that changes the action plan, for example
in thrillers or action movies that contain climax situations that may occur
during the drive of the taxi.
All in all, the great popularity of the taxi as artful
symbol is to be considered in the contemporary pop culture. This is due to
various reasons, of which the most important is the multiple meaning that this
symbol offers, thus offering the creators with a wide spectrum of imaginative
choice in terms of action.
