The King of Comedy (film) character fails to differentiate between his fantasies and reality in much the same way. Scorsese sought to achieve the same with the film so that, in his words, the "fantasy is more real than reality". Rupert Pupkin has been compared to Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver": both characters have serious issues with reality testing, that is drawing the line between outer objective and inner subjective reality. In her review, entertainment columnist Marilyn Beck approved Johnny Carson's refusal to participate in "The King of Comedy", supposedly because he feared the film could inspire psychopaths like John Hinckley. Beck considered "The King
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro Director-actor duo Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have frequently collaborated throughout their careers, making a grand total of nine feature films together since 1973, along with one short film. Most of the pair's films were in the crime genre. Some of the pair's films are often ranked among the greatest films of all time. In 1967, Scorsese made his first feature-length film, the black and white "I Call First", which was later retitled "Who's That Knocking at My Door", with fledgling actor Harvey Keitel. The film was intended to be the first of