In the years since its release, "Midnight Cowboy" has become a classic of American cinema. The film has been recognized for its cultural and historical significance, and it has been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The film's influence can be seen in many other works of American cinema, from Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" to the films of Quentin Tarantino.
Released during a volcanic era of social upheaval—the Vietnam War, the Stonewall riots, the death of the "Hollywood Code"— Midnight Cowboy shattered every convention Hollywood held dear. It remains, to date, the only X-rated film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture. More than fifty years later, Jon Voight’s naive Texan and Dustin Hoffman’s ragged "Ratso" Rizzo remain two of cinema’s most unforgettable losers. Midnight Cowboy
The famous opening montage—Joe buying his cowboy clothes in Texas—is saturated in fantasy. The moment he steps off the bus at 42nd Street, the color drains. Everything is beige, grey, and sickly green. New York doesn't just reject Joe; it physically repulses him. You can smell the urine and cheap whiskey through the screen. In the years since its release, "Midnight Cowboy"
The answer, according to John Schlesinger, is you keep walking. Even if a taxi is coming. Released during a volcanic era of social upheaval—the
Midnight Cowboy is a deep critique of the American Dream. Joe Buck is a "man-child" whose naivety is his downfall. The film explores the "homosexual frame of reference" that caused significant controversy at the time of its release, showcasing the loneliness of gay men in that era.
Harry Nilsson’s ethereal cover of Fred Neil’s "Everybody’s Talkin’" is inseparable from the film. The song plays over the opening credits—montages of Joe on the Greyhound bus, his face reflecting in the window, hurtling toward his doom.
It is a song about loneliness disguised as a breezy folk tune. "Everybody’s talkin’ at me / I don’t hear a word they’re sayin’ / Only the echoes of my mind." Nilsson hated the song. He recorded it under duress. Yet, the film propelled it to a Grammy and a Gold record.
