03-30-2025 - on This Moment in Film History
Mar 30, 2025•2 min
Episode description
On March 30, 1981, an attempt was made on the life of President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. Hinckley fired six shots at the president, hitting him once in the chest and also wounding three others, including Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty.
Interestingly, this event has a connection to cinema history. Hinckley's motivation for the assassination attempt was to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had become obsessed after watching her in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver." In the movie, Robert De Niro plays a disturbed loner who plots to assassinate a presidential candidate.
Hinckley, who had a history of mental illness, stalked Foster and even moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to be closer to her when she attended Yale University. He wrote numerous letters to her and tried to reach her by phone, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
The assassination attempt sent shockwaves through the nation and led to significant changes in the way the Secret Service protected the president. It also sparked a debate about the influence of violence in movies and the media's role in glorifying such acts.
President Reagan, known for his acting career before entering politics, quipped to his wife Nancy, "Honey, I forgot to duck," and later to his surgeons, "Please tell me you're all Republicans." He survived the attack and served two full terms as president.
The incident remains a chilling reminder of the power of obsession and the blurred lines between fiction and reality in the minds of some individuals.
Interestingly, this event has a connection to cinema history. Hinckley's motivation for the assassination attempt was to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had become obsessed after watching her in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver." In the movie, Robert De Niro plays a disturbed loner who plots to assassinate a presidential candidate.
Hinckley, who had a history of mental illness, stalked Foster and even moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to be closer to her when she attended Yale University. He wrote numerous letters to her and tried to reach her by phone, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
The assassination attempt sent shockwaves through the nation and led to significant changes in the way the Secret Service protected the president. It also sparked a debate about the influence of violence in movies and the media's role in glorifying such acts.
President Reagan, known for his acting career before entering politics, quipped to his wife Nancy, "Honey, I forgot to duck," and later to his surgeons, "Please tell me you're all Republicans." He survived the attack and served two full terms as president.
The incident remains a chilling reminder of the power of obsession and the blurred lines between fiction and reality in the minds of some individuals.
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