American Psycho

:''This article is about the book and film. For the album by The Misfits, see American Psycho (album).'' ''American Psycho'' (1991) is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis about a young Manhattanite serial killer. A film adaptation was released in 2000. ==The novel== ===Plot=== ''American Psycho'' is set in the late 1980s, mainly in Manhattan. The novel describes roughly two years of the life of Patrick Bateman, the first-person narrative. Bateman, 26 years old at the beginning of the story, is a serial killer and cannibalism who remains undetected throughout the novel and is never brought to justice. Coming from a rich WASP background, Bateman has studied at Harvard University (he is one of the class of '84) and has turned into a seemingly prototypical yuppie. He works as a Wall Street banker at the firm of Pierce & Pierce. In the novel, Bateman describes how he kills and tortures several people: * beautiful young women ("hardbodies"), never older than Bateman himself, whom he "punishes" for being what they are: either friends or former friends of his. Examples are his ex-girlfriend Bethany, prostitutes, and escort girls. * business rivals (in particular a man called Paul Owen, whom he kills in his own apartment); * the absolute poverty, homelessness and unemployment he stumbles across in the streets of Manhattan, generally people to whom he refers as the "genetic underclass" (for example an African American beggar whom, on a whim, he blinds and whom he meets again at the end of the novel); * people from different ethnic backgrounds (apart from the beggar mentioned above, a China delivery boy, whom he mistakes for a Japanese); * innocent people he comes across in the street (including a boy he stabs at the zoo in Central Park, a gay man with a dog, and a saxophone); * people he shoots at one point in the novel where he is being chased by the police (a taxi driver, a policeman, a night watchman, and a janitor). * Bateman also tortures and kills animals such as dogs or rats. The sadism pleasure Bateman takes in murder, and the homicidal rage that motivates them, is the only form of emotion Bateman is capable of. By the end of the novel, even killing can't arouse any feeling in him; he is left completely hollow.

One of the things that remains a mystery is what happens to the mutilated bodies of two escort girls which Bateman leaves in Paul Owen's apartment. When he wants to let himself into the dead man's apartment again he encounters a real estate agent and a young couple, her clients, with Owen's furniture still there but everything completely intact and clean. On asking the real estate agent what is going on, he is just told not to make any trouble and to leave again. Some people think that this means that the real estate agency has removed the bodies in order to avoid troubles. Others think that this shows that Bateman has not really committed these murders, he may have been dreaming or lying about them. ===The nature of the novel === Some people think that the author puts the reader to a test, by alternating graphic scenes of torture with harmless humorous passages. In their opinion, the author tries to make the readers think about what their reactions to the various passages of the novel reveal about their own morals. Some passages, in both the movie and book version, suggest that Patrick Bateman is imagining at least some if not all of his horrific existence. This would explain part of the seeming ignorance of people, as well as the illogical actions and disappearing bodies. A line in the book, at one point, even breaks the middle of a scene with the phrase "... but since this is all a dream anyway ..." This would explain the constant "holes" in the novel where you are left at an explosive change which leaves you at an odd grounds with the book and what just occured === Bateman's personality === Some people think that Bateman has an antisocial personality disorder, because of the crimes he commits, and his apparent indifference to the suffering and death of his victims. Others think that Bateman is 'just' an extreme example of Immanuel Kant's dictum that the world is highly cultivated and civilized but not yet moralized ¹. Kant clearly sees that there is a dichotomy between culture and civilization on the one hand and morality on the other. In ''American Psycho'', all the Wall Street people dress perfectly, eat only the best and most expensive food and keep their bodies in shape by working out in exclusive health clubs. In the course of the novel Bateman discusses things like which brand of bottled water is the best, how to wear a cummerbund, or which tie knot is less bulky than a Windsor. Bateman knows all the answers and could pass for a very refined and also intelligent and thoughtful young man. This, his "public persona", is sharply contrasted with his alter ego: Bateman not only drinks his own urine, he also bites off and swallows one of the nipples of a girl he is having sex with; he cuts out Bethany's tongue while she is still alive; he eats a girl's brain after he has slaughtered her; and he decapitation a woman, puts his erect penis into the mouth of her severed head and walks around the room with it, laughing. Some people think that Bateman's view of himself exemplifies Jean Baudrillard's notion ² that our whole lives are fake rather than real (see also: hyperreality). Whatever we do or feel, Baudrillard argues, we experience a simulation rather than the real thing. In the same vein, Bateman experiences at least major parts of his life as if he were watching a movie. Actually, Bateman uses a camcorder to film most of his deeds. Bateman is extremely homophobia and abhors all advances (real or imagined) by "faggots." He is especially offended by Luis Carruthers, who confesses his love for him but who ends up marrying a woman out of a combination of convenience and peer pressure. One of the inconsistencies in Bateman's life is that he is, on the one hand, very health conscious. For example, he is a militant tobacco smoking and works out fanatically. On the other hand, he consumes large amounts of alcohol and drugs. This inconsistency is shared by other characters in the novel. Bateman is a music fan. He does not like rap music because for his taste it is too "niggerish", but otherwise he closely follows the pop and rock scene of his time. Some chapters are exclusively dedicated to analyses of the careers of pop groups and singers such as Genesis (band), Whitney Houston, and Huey Lewis and the News. === Opinions about the kind of society that is described in the novel === One question that has often been asked by readers is why Bateman is never caught, let alone conviction. As it turns out, he does not even become a suspect. Bateman never goes to great lengths when disposing of the bodies of the people he has killed. He also keeps the videos of the killings he has taped right in his apartment. According to some people, the author tries to show that people in contemporary postmodernism society only care about themselves and their appearances. For example, the characters in the novel regularly address each other by the wrong name, showing that they don't care much about the person with whom they are speaking. In fact, Bateman repeatedly confesses his crimes to other people, but they do not appear to listen, or they don't take him seriously. He even goes to a Halloween party at his place of work "disguised" as a mass murderer, with his suit covered with real blood and himself wearing a real finger bone, cooked, in his buttonhole. Bateman's maid regularly cleans up the mess in his apartment without asking any questions. His Chinese dry cleaners clean his blood-stained clothes without suspecting anything. Even the women Bateman associates with most closely or for a longer period of time do not become suspicious of his personality. It is not explained why the police fail to track Bateman down. Bateman's constant evasion of justice could be seen as a reflection of the fantasy (psychology) most people (but especially serial killers) have of "getting away with murder." The novel's play on this fantasy could partly account for its continuing popularity. It should be noted that at one point he is captured by a cab driver who recognises Bateman as the murderer of a fellow cabbie, but this character resorts to robbery as compensation only. === Symbolism === Several leitmotifs have been pointed out. Firstly, there is the recurring reference to a Broadway theatre production of ''Les Misérables (musical)''. The title of this musical lends itself to a comparison with the Wall Street yuppies depicted in the novel who, it might be argued, are the real miserable ones. Secondly, there is Bateman's urge to "return some video-tapes"—an excuse he frequently uses when asked by jealous young women what he was doing last night or what he is going to do tonight. In the novel this phrase is used as a euphemism for what he really does mostly at night: torturing and killing people. === Relationship of the novel to other literature === Some people think that, in a way, ''American Psycho'' continues the tradition of the social novel. They think the book shows the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, although no serious solution is provided. The Wall Street yuppies in the novel firmly believe that "economic success equals happiness". They do not care about inequality, or about poor people. At one point in the novel Bateman says that "there are no more barriers to cross". According to some, this statement does not only apply to his own life. They think it also applies to the novel as an art form: everything has been done, and formerly controversial subjects areas such as crime and sex have been exhausted. == Trivia == * Mrs. Wolfe, the realtor who is selling Paul Owen's apartment, is thought to be a reference to Tom Wolfe, and Pierce & Pierce, the firm which Bateman works for, is also the investment firm from Wolfe's ''Bonfire of the Vanities''. * There is a reference at one point in the book to someone named "McCoy," this could possibly be Sherman McCoy, the protagonist of Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. * Real-life serial killer Paul Bernardo was a huge fan of the novel. * Paul Denton from ''The Rules of Attraction'' makes a small cameo in the book. He's with Paul Owen at Harry's and is described as looking at Patrick as though he recognizes him, even though they've never met. * Patrick's younger brother Sean Bateman, from ''The Rules of Attraction'', also makes an appearance in one chapter of the book. It is interesting to note that Sean, whom Patrick hates, gets him into the restaurant Dorsia for dinner, something that Patrick tries to do and fails on his own numerous times in the book. ==The movie== A film adaptation of ''American Psycho'' debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000, starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe and Samantha Mathis. Mary Harron, who had previously directed ''I Shot Andy Warhol'' based on the story of Valerie Solanas, directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Guinevere Turner. This screenplay was selected over three others, including one by Ellis himself; according to Turner, Ellis's script ended with a giant musical number. When she asked Ellis about this, he admitted he had been unable to think of a good way to end his script. As a promotion for the movie, one could sign up to receive e-mails "from" Patrick Bateman. In this way, people could find out what happened to some of the characters in the movie. A direct-to-video sequel, ''American Psycho 2'' followed. This sequel was not based on the novel and cannot be reconciled with subsequent novels by Bret Easton Ellis, as its only connection with the original is the death, in flashback, of Patrick Bateman himself. ===Movie Soundtrack=== # You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dope (band) # Monologue 1 - John Cale # Something In The Air (American Psycho remix) - David Bowie # Watching Me Fall (Underdog remix) - The Cure # True Faith - New Order # Monologue 2 - John Cale # Trouble - Daniel Ash # Paid In Full (Coldcut remix) - Eric B. & Rakim # Who Feelin' It (Philip's Psycho mix) - Tom Tom Club # Monologue 3 - John Cale # What's On Your Mind - Information Society (Pure Energy mix) # Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S # Paid In Full - The Racket (remix) ==Footnotes== * [1] ''Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbuergerlicher Absicht'', Siebenter Satz * [2] ''L'echange symbolique et la mort'', 1976 ==ISBN numbers== * ISBN 0671663976 (hardcover, 1991) * ISBN 0679735771 (paperback, 1991) * ISBN 8440637128 (paperback, 2000) * ISBN 2020253801 (paperback, 2000) * ISBN 346202261X (paperback, 2000) ==See also== * Robert Louis Stevenson's ''The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' (1886), a short novel about a kind and intelligent physician who turns into a psychotic monster after imbibing a drug intended to separate good from evil in a personality * the novels of Stewart Home, for example ''Cunt (novel)'' (1999) * the list of banned books (''More information is needed here on the banning of this particular book.'') * Aestheticization of violence ==External links== * [http://www.allmoviephotos.com/photo/2000_American_Psycho_photo.html stills from the movie] * [http://www.briankotek.com/psycho/movie/am2000.cfm Collected e-mails of the film promotion campaign] * [http://www.notanexit.net NotAnExit.net - Weblog discussion of American Psycho and other Ellis projects] * 1991 books 2000 films Banned books Books by title Bret Easton Ellis novels Controversial books Horror films Thriller films

American Psycho

Perhaps it would be interesting to include a comparison of Hannah Arendt's concept of the "banality of evil" to Bateman's homocidal approach. The sheer amount of violence, excess, cruelty, and sexual torture in American Psycho at first shocks the reader (or at least me) and then desensitizes the reader rendering Bateman's acts less horific than they actually are. Of course, the violence in American Psycho and Arendt's "banality of evil" are not completely superimposable, but it might be interesting. * I thought this was a great quick summary and analysis of the book/characters Why don't you complete the comparison on the article? You obviously know about it. --- As a second footnote, I would like to thank the authors of this well-reasoned article. I found the section on hypereality very interesting. This would also explain the way that in the movie Patrick looks at his gun in amazement after two police cars explode after just a couple of bullets. ---- "It should be noted that at one point he is captured by a cab driver who recognises Bateman as the murderer of a fellow cabbie, but this character resorts to robbery as compensation only." I don't seem to be able to find that passage anywhere in the novel. Could you give me some idea where to look for it? User:KF 14:17, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)

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