American Psycho: A Brief Review

 So, I just watched American Psycho this past week, and it was quite interesting to compare the online community surrounding the film (that has gone through a resurgence as of late) with the actual contents of it. A quick summary of the movie (spoilers): Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, is a young and handsome Wall Street hot shot in the 90s, who socializes in rich white circles and is obsessed with materialism. He also has homicidal ideations and is a sociopath, which results in him killing several homeless people, prostitutes, and even a business associate named Paul Allen who he is jealous of. His murder of Paul Allen and the investigation that comes after it kickstarts the main conflict of the movie, however, Patrick is never actually caught. Patrick falls deeper into a killing frenzy and eventually confesses his crimes to his lawyer over the phone, but nothing results from it.

To me, the main point of this movie was to show and satirize the hyper-materialistic, surface level, and non-accountable nature of the business class in America. All the characters in the movie (besides Patrick Batemen's secretary) are obsessed with flaunting their wealth and connections, showing off their address, clothing, and business cards, and obsessing over getting into a highly exclusive restaurant called "Dorsia." Patrick Bateman takes this mindset to the extreme. He has a breakdown when he sees that Paul Allen's business card is better than his and decides to murder him, he constantly tells his peers whenever he leaves an event that he must "return some videotapes" to show that he has the money and status for them, and he obsesses over his physique and appearance. He is the true epitome of the narcissist business man. His psychotic behavior becomes more obvious throughout the film, but nobody seems to notice, except for Patrick's secretary. They just think he is dorky, and for the whole movie, most of the characters mistake him for someone else entirely, speaking to the anonymity and sameness of Wall Street America. 

I looked up other people's opinions of American Psycho after I finished it, and I was interested to find that some think that Patrick imagined all of his murders, explaining why no one reacts to his strange behavior or straight up confessions. However, I disagree with this theory. While there are certain surreal aspects of the movie, I think the lack of acknowledgement of his actions by the people around him is supposed to exemplify the freedom and power the upper business class has to do whatever they please.

It's interesting how many memes were made from this film. Patrick Bateman's character is definitely comedic at times in his complete material-obsessed idiocy, but he also is shown dismembering women and other innocent victims, so its definitely a bit jarring. But, I did enjoy the film and found it to be thought provoking, so I would rate it an 8 out of 10. That's all I have for today!