American Psycho

[Fenderplyr]

Having thought the movie was great and also thinking it was funny I would tell people how I thought pat bateman was such a great character. Then I read the book and quickly shut the hell up considering its much more brutal and twisted than the movie.

 

[Joffrey]

Love and own the film but I'm not sure I would've gotten the reference either.

 

[bgoodwi]

Both the book author and movie director have said that Patrick did murder all those people. Interpreting it as a big hallucination pretty much misses the entire point of the story, though I would agree that the ending is not very well written and leads the reader in the wrong direction.

 

[kayhill]

Both the book author and movie director have said that Patrick did murder all those people.

Would you happen to have a link? Would be interested to read those thoughts.

Having said that, the brilliant thing about interpretation is that the author's is not necessarily the only one, nor the correct one, nor even the best one.

Considering the name of my blog, I feel I am somewhat obliged to weigh in. I have to say that I find inspiration precisely in the fact that the book is tongue-in-cheek as well as the general aesthetics of Bateman. Fashion can be excessive and a lot of people in fashion can be fake, but at the end of the day, dressing up and looking good is a fundamental part of the human psyche -- it's why we have to have the debate about what substance lies beneath fashion, style and clothing.

 

[diadem]

Not gonna lie, Oliver Peoples glasses are pretty swagged out...

And no, that is not all that I gleaned from the movie. I just thought this thread needed another light-hearted post.

 

[dusttruffle]

I don't think ... some are being ironic in their admiration for Bateman.

Whilst Bateman in the full glare of sunlight is a disgusting character, perhaps some recognise aspects of themselves in him (albeit exaggerated / magnified) that ,whilst perhaps not ideal, are still a reflection we recognise.

Both the book author and movie director have said that Patrick did murder all those people. Interpreting it as a big hallucination pretty much misses the entire point of the story, though I would agree that the ending is not very well written and leads the reader in the wrong direction.

I would expect them to say this, but do not necessarily take an author's word at face value (especially when dealing with a source such as American Psycho or an author such as Ellis).

Take the interpretation that it was fantasy (that nobody was murdered), and that this fantasy progressed into madness.
It would be true to say that Bateman thought / believed the murders were happening (although it was hallucination / psychosis); that the narrator did "murder all those People".

 

[bgoodwi]

Would you happen to have a link? Would be interested to read those thoughts.

Having said that, the brilliant thing about interpretation is that the author's is not necessarily the only one, nor the correct one, nor even the best one.

Considering the name of my blog, I feel I am somewhat obliged to weigh in. I have to say that I find inspiration precisely in the fact that the book is tongue-in-cheek as well as the general aesthetics of Bateman. Fashion can be excessive and a lot of people in fashion can be fake, but at the end of the day, dressing up and looking good is a fundamental part of the human psyche -- it's why we have to have the debate about what substance lies beneath fashion, style and clothing.

This is true, I didn't mean to sound like a snob, I just feel like the social commentary carries so much more weight if he gets away with all of his crimes. When I look at it as a big dream sequence, it turns into a dark retelling of Walter Mitty, where the people around him are no longer oblivious to his actions because they are shallow and inwardly focused, but because Patrick is just a spineless social outcast that's being treated as such. That just doesn't do much for me because it kind of justifies the actions of the people around him.

They start talking about it 2 minutes into the second video.

I can't find where the author talks about it, but it was something along the lines of "you can chose to believe he had a memory crisis, but that still doesn't change the fact that we saw him kill those people."

I interpreted it as him ultimately wanting the book to turn its social commentary back on the reader. All through the story, Bateman tells people that he's a psychopathic murderer, yet they choose not believe it and instead ignore his confessions because it just seems so outrageous. The book ends the same way, he's spent 500 something pages confessing his crimes to us, but we're still left with just enough doubt that we may chose not to believe it. If we do make that choice, how are we better than the culture that surrounds Bateman? "There has been no reason for me to tell you any of this. This confession has meant nothing…." because you will chose not to believe it.

 

[CTLION]

I just don't think the movie is that good. I would call it over-rated, but it's not rated that high.

 

[gomestar]



Love and own the film but I'm not sure I would've gotten the reference either.

even though I've seen the movie 2 or 3 times and love that scene, I still would have thought "that Microsoft guy?"

 

[kayhill]

Good points bgoodwi -- I like the fact that the book in its form and presentation is also part of the story.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I didn't see him as a social outcast and reason was that he was constantly being confused for someone else, you could never pinpoint who they rejected from the scene. His group of friends seemed totally unaware of how weird he was, or uncaring, and did not reject him.

I felt he hated them for admiring his mask while missing how terrible the person in side of it was. That was what fueled his anger, along with people who were one-upping him (business cards, clothing, ect).

The part that we witness is that at which his blood lust begins to spiral out of control and we see him attempting to point himself out as someone who needs to be stopped and yet no one notices or cares enough to do so, causing him to further his hatred and go on a spree. The hookers were paid off, the girlfriend didn't notice his drawings of killing scenes, the PI was actively trying to dismiss his involvement, the boys didn't mind his interjecting comments about serial killers, and the lawyer disregarded his confession so ultimately he decided they would be unchanged by it.

 

[dfagdfsh]

I'm really developing a taste for pilot fish.

 

[Keller]

I never thought he did all the killings

 

[KaiserBill]

In the film at least the director has stated that she regrets making it look like he didn't do the killings at the end. According to her the killings happened (though Bateman was probably more poorly dressed, the hookers weren't as hot etc.) and she regrets that the ending of the film left it so ambiguous and easy to interpret the other way. Not sure where that interview is from.