Robert De Niro and his characters' disconnect to the rest of the world

Not so sure if this is what I want to write about at the end of the year, but, I don't know, maybe this is.

Robert De Niro is often considered as one of the greatest actors, though I personally feel that he has not played a great role for the last several years. The most striking thing about Robert De Niro is his characters' disconnect to the rest of the world. I was just watching Once Upon a Time in America, and I notice that David 'Noodles' Aaronson (played by Robert De Niro) represents one's disconnect to the rest of the world. The night before Deborah Gelly (played by Elizabeth McGovern) leaves New York for Los Angeles, Noodles takes Deborah out to a restaurant that Noodles reserves just for them; there is no other customer but them. They spend a very romantic night for the most part, but Noodles who really does not know how to communicate with women ends up raping Deborah. If you interpret the scene literally, it is a very violent scene and it shows Noodles's recklessness, but what the scene really represents symbolically is Noodles's disconnect to the rest of the world. He simply does not know how to communicate or how to establish a relationship. Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver is another fantastic character. When Travis takes Betsy (played by Cybill Shepherd) out on a date, he takes her to an adult movie theater; the scene represents Travis's isolation and his disconnect to the rest of the world once again. He is alone and he is unable to participate in the society.

Robert De Niro's characters are not ugly, extremely over weight, physically sick, lacking intelligence or dyslexia. The disconnect is not created by their lack of a certain ability; it is not their wish or hope, but it is their inescapable attribute. This is why Robert De Niro's characters speak to our heart, and Robert De Niro is often considered as one of the greatest actors.