American Psycho

I love American Psycho. I also love Patrick Bateman's character, and one of the reasons I love this film and his character so much is because I don't wanna bring this up but people just don't get him or the movie. There's like 3 ways someone's view on this movie can go 1. the idiotic admiration and trying to emulate Patrick Bateman crowd 2. the people who think it's cringe, corny, and let it affect their viewing of this film because of it 3. the people who like the movie, think it's fun, funny, quirky, and one of the best films ever (me) Ask about this film to anyone who hasn't seen it and they'd probably either idolize it, call Patrick Bateman the ideal male, or call it misogynistic, weird, and downright offensive but that's because they have not seen it. To preface, I haven't read the book. I've been meaning to, but I definitely do think the movie does it better even though I haven't read the book. Mary Harron is a master at her craft, and the way she plays out the satire and symbolic tones in this film it would actually make you look like an idiot if you didn't understand the film in the way she intended through her lens. I saw a quote by her where she said, "the film is a gay man's satire on masculinity" and she executed that vision perfectly. But some people can't and actually won't want to see it in that way. Patrick Bateman is a sad, sick, and I would also say very stupid individual. The only reason he has that job as a banker is because his father has a stake in the company. We almost always see him talking about his work, being at work, but never actually working. He's always just watching TV, telling his secretary what to wear, or trying to get a reservation at Dorsia. But the people who watch this film and interpret it the way it really isn't supposed to be interpreted only see the surface of what Patrick Bateman is what he wants to show everyone. And this movie is what I think is an exposé on Patrick Bateman. I can't understand how anyone could admire him like he's some kind of stoic god. And that's why I love the ending to this film to friggin much. The ending of American Psycho might actually be one of my favorite endings to a film ever. Because even after he confesses to the murder of a bunch of people which might or might not be real he still gets laughed at and, to him, humiliated. What he thought would be his grand moment, where he thought he'd receive the thing he's been chasing from the beginning of the film the praise of individuality he realizes he's just as irrelevant, forgettable, and no different than anyone else. And that was his only goal throughout the whole film to stand out, to be recognized as someone who transcends what everyone else is again, the ideal man. Another thing is materialism plays a big role in all of this who has the best business card, who can get a reservation at Dorsia, who has the better apartment, who's had it better with women. In this film, girls are treated as achievements and, more so, accessories to men. The only reason Patrick stays with Evelyn, while he knows she's cheating on him and while he hates her guts, is because she fits his image and how he wants to be perceived the guy with the beautiful girlfriend who throws lavish parties. Women are basically treated as status symbols from beginning to end, and that's what I love about this film so much. It's very much a satire, but truth like this seeps through. In 1980s capitalist Wall Street society, women were treated nearly exactly like how they were treated here as status symbols just so these men could get a point across about how they're better than one another.