Patrick Bateman Character Analysis. You of all people should know how that feels, Mr. Wall Street" (283). Why isn't it possible? She has made a movie that is really a parable of today. In this decadent society, virtually everything functions as a status symbol; people have no real inner psychological awareness, they measure themselves on their external appearance, and they measure one another based upon what they see on the surface; the more elaborate the surface, the more successful the person. Edit, Although Bateman obviously works in mergers and acquisitions, the specifics of his job are purposely kept something of a mystery in both the novel and the film. Teachers and parents! Saying he would, the steward puts on the newest soon to be released film from a production company owned by Bateman himself. Donald Kimball (played by Willem Dafoe in the film) is now the Police Commissioner and has become a good friend of Bateman. This is backed by the foolish, awkward side 2 of Patrick Fantasy: Paul Allen is in fact alive, Christie never existed, Sabrina's head is not sitting in his refrigerator, the threesome with Elizabeth never existed, and of course the final rampage with the cat in the ATM and the cop cars. (2) The second theory, again, is that the scene is another part of Bateman's psychosis, his deranged imagination playing tricks on him. However, Bateman instead finds no remains and a cold realtor who informs him . He tells Bateman he's leaving, that he's had enough, and then jumps off the balcony, charges through the crowd and disappears out the door. During the same conversation, Bateman also says, "It's not beyond my capacity to drive a lead pipe repeatedly into a girl's vagina," to which McDermott says, "We all know about your lead pipe Bateman," followed by Van Patten asking, "Is he like trying to tell us he has a big dick?" I've heard the novel was a bit controversial. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Luis Carruthers (played by Matt Ross in the film) now works for Bateman, using his contacts in the entertainment industry to Bateman's advantage (as Bateman puts it, "sucking valuable information"). Even if he imagined the murders, he is obviously still mentally ill since most normal people would not fantasize about murdering dozens of people especially the way Bateman does. Now if you'd said Bryce or McDermott. Bateman is into blondes, evidenced by his fiance, his mistress, his secretary, and the two sex workers he victimizes and later kills. These are the major differences between the film and it's source material. [official site archived here] [official site archived here] You're my lawyer. If someone has a nicer apartment than you, it is a cause for concern, if someone has a nicer business card than you, it is a cause for jealousy. "In the light of the ensuing controversy, Simon & Schuster decided not to go ahead with publication, citing "aesthetic differences." Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. These are: Patrick crossing his arms during the jump-rope scene, and Patrick doing a moonwalk to hide his ax before killing Paul Allen. here, American Psycho: The Pornography of Killing - An Essay by Holly Willis (2005). However, Patrick covers himself up See Details 4.American Psycho (2000) - Frequently Asked Questions - IMDb Author:www.imdb.com Post date:19 yesterday Rating:4(837 reviews) Highest rating:5 Low rated:3 He lies to get his way, such as when he says the blood stains are cranberry juice, and plays into Paul Allen mistaking him for Marcus Halberstram. Batemans relationship with Courtney is as empty and shallow as his relationship with Evelyn. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. As he goes more crazy, what you actually see becomes more distorted and harder to figure out, but it's meant to be that he is really killing all these people, it's just that he's probably not as nicely dressed, it probably didn't go as smoothly as he is perceiving it to go, the hookers probably weren't as hot etc etc etc It's just Bateman's fantasy world. Is that you?," to which Bateman dead-pan replies, "No Luis, it's not me, you're mistaken. Is there an online sequel to the novel/film? Another idea is that the videotapes offer a commentary on Bateman's mindset. It's not clear what Bateman is planning to do with the coat-hanger, but it's probably not anything good. Edit, Near the end of the film, Bateman stops by Paul Allen's apartment to clean up the evidence of his crimes (primarily the murder of Elizabeth and Christie). In the film he is a much older character played by Willem Dafoe.The film changes some names around. When directly asked by Bateman where he has been, Price answers with "Just making the rounds" (p. 384), and nobody enquires any further as to exactly what this means. He also argued that the film worked as a thematic companion piece to Harron's previous film, I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), a film about Valerie Solanas, who tried to shoot Andy Warhol in 1968, likening Bateman to Solanas. This break is never explained are there events Bateman is hiding or doesnt remember, or is he merely skipping to the good stuff? From here on in he becomes even more of an increasingly unreliable narrator. Most of these changes were made to ensure the film received an R rating, despite the film getting an Unrated cut later, some of the acts described in the novel could very well get the movie banned.In the novel aside from a serial killer, he is also a cannibal and a necrophile. Meanwhile, Bateman is using drugs to prepare his victims; this will make his attack easier. They're all handsome, they all wear smart suits, they all dress alike, they're all manicured, they all have the same business card [] Because they all look alike, no one knows who anyone is. The names were changed since it was later discovered that there were real people who worked on Wall Street with those names, and they production could run into trouble down the road.Also while most of the dialogue from the novel is similar in terms of wording, they are slightly changed up to match the actors portraying the characters.The scene were Bateman sleeps with the two escorts, the novel he uses the word Rolex. I can't make myself any clearer. He was especially pleased that the film depicted Bateman as extremely uncool, a total loser.The only parts of the film that Ellis criticized in his review were Bateman's dance prior to killing Paul Allen (Jared Leto), which he felt was too close to slapstick humor (ironically, this is Harron's favorite part of the film), and the voice-over which runs throughout the movie, which he felt was "too explicit." She responded by reading louder and was promptly arrested. This kind of thinking simply doesn't enter into the equation in their society; a society of excess, greed, self-absorption and isolation.This theme is perhaps more obvious in the novel. As such, if this scene is an hallucination, the question must be are all of his murders hallucinatory? ": Bateman and Courtney have sex, but in the middle she complains about the type of condom he's wearing. He then instructs them to begin paying attention to him, and they do so, as he moves them around on his body however he likes. DERRICK BRIAN BATEMAN. "C: "That's simply not possible. Perhaps the fact that Bateman is well-dressed and appears confident, in control, leads people to disregard his threats.Similarly, at various points in the novel, Bateman makes comparable statements which are completely disregarded. What did Patrick Bateman do with the coat hanger? LitCharts Teacher Editions. Instant PDF downloads. As far as the filmic adaptations go, American Psycho was adapted first, and the scene with Sean was omitted. The conversation however, does not go the way Bateman anticipated;Bateman: "Did you get my message? I'm Patrick Bateman. The idea being that he gets so hysterical he's just straight up begging somebody to listen to him confessing to all these crimes, and there's still no reaction, and it's almost like he gives up. As with the practical theories regarding the Carnes conversation, the outbursts and the empty apartment, interpreting the murders as real is part of the film's social satire. Bateman does not describe what happens, but its clear his controlling and dominating nature has turned violent. We wanted to stress Bateman's complete disconnection from the world around him, and so when he's left alone, the mask drops, there's nothing there, he doesn't know what to do, he has no role [] Somehow, it's a pretend job, as much of a performance as the rest of his life, and it's a faade, his social life's a faade, his romantic's life a faade, and in a way, if we showed him really working it would interfere with the hallucinatory feel.The theme described by Harron here is also important in the novel, where Bateman's failure to ever do any real work is mentioned several times. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Additionally, Penguin, who had published paperback editions of Ellis' previous novels, decided to follow suit and they too chose not to publish American Psycho. He's probably going to hurt or kill the prostitutes, which is why they're trying to get away from him. Gavin Smith (editor of Film Comment): You can see the film as an extreme comedy of manners, because so much of it is about social status, how people interact, social one upmanship and social anxiety, and a great deal of it is about these transactions that go on between businessmen or between men and women in a rather elevated kind of social world that's removed from day to day reality [] In a way, it's the introduction of the horror element or the element of the serial killer violence into a gentile, polite world, where whatever the underlying sentiments that people have to one another, which, very true to Reaganism, is very cut throat underneath, that's something that there's a real tradition in social satire going back to Molire; there's always the surface politeness and the surface manners and grace, and underneath, the primary kind of human urges, which are usually sexual. In the book there are three separate chapters which deal with Bateman's obsession for Pop Music in which he goes much more in depth in his analysis and gives his overall opinion.The most obvious and major change from the two, is the amount of on-screen Violence that is shown between the two. The film then cuts to Bateman sitting in a . Todays episode of The Patty Winters Show has a topic that, once again, is a bit strange (and notably obsessed with physical appearance in a dehumanizing way), though not as wildly unrealistic as some of the ones before. When Bateman awakens from his crime spree and subsequent confession, he immediately goes to Paul Allen's apartment to clean up the remains he left there. As with much of the film, if we accept this theory, exactly how much is reality, and how much is fantasy is difficult to say.Mary Harron, for her part, favors the practical explanation championed by Turner, although she does acknowledge that there is a degree of ambiguity at play; You can read it as simply New York greed of real estate people wanting to sell an expensive apartment but ignoring the terrible things that took place there or it could be all in his imagination, an embodiment of his paranoia. How can Harold Carnes have had lunch with Paul Allen in London when Allen is already dead? Instead, they had responded to the situation by requesting a meeting with Mehta hoping to talk him out of publishing the novel. Christie, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. But the most important thing he says is that there's no catharsis, and that's what we come to expect conventionally from character and character development; they come to this point and they're changed forever, they are no longer the person that we met, but the disturbing thing about this story, and the way we intended it is that we start just where we left off. When the American Psycho: Music From The Controversial Motion Picture was initially released, it included all the songs heard in the film. Bateman, bored by his lavish date with Courtney, has ditched her to go pick up a prostitute. Is it true some songs were used illegally in the film, and hence couldn't be included on the soundtrack? Bateman's seats are better, therefore, he has "won" the unspoken contest between them, and his superiority is something to be celebrated.Regarding the film, the filmmakers themselves have offered various theories as to what the true meaning may be, and a good way to engage with the possibilities as to meaning is to look at what some of them have said about their own interpretations of the work, as well as the interpretations of critics and scholars. "B: "Why not you stupid bastard? The theme of the novel is basically "Patrick doesn't increasingly crazy things for attention and no one cares and he gets away with it because he's a White straight rich guy." (As much as Bret Easton Ellis hates woke culture, American Psycho has an extremely woke message lol) Edit, The woman who he picked up in the previous scene at the club with Bryce, where he did the cocaine in the back room. "Kimball: "Well, there's a message on his - answering machine? Edit, No. This becomes extremely important in relation to Bateman's confession, which, according to this theory, is another example of people failing to really listen to what he says; no matter what a man admits to, no one else cares about his crimes, because no one else cares about him, or about anybody other then themselves. User Ratings The scenes from the novel where Bateman slices a dog's stomach open and cuts its owner's throat, where he drowns Evelyn's dog, and where he crushes a rat by stomping on it are not in the film, nor is the infamous scene from the novel where he tortures a girl by putting a live rat into her vagina. Meanwhile, Davis goes to see his father and tells him that he knows about the company, and, shocked and horrified, Ferguson staggers to a chair and attempts to sit down. Everyone's completely corrupt and pretty disgusting. Like Boxing Helena (1993), there's just a lot of stuff like that. This lends credence to the theory that the entire sequence is a hallucination, which in turn lends credence to the suggestion that much of what we see in the film is also an hallucination.However, if this is the case, and if this sequence does represent pure fantasy, Harron ultimately came to feel that she had gone too far with the hallucinatory approach. Bateman initially says he didn't but then changes his mind and says he did. The second scene involves an ATM machine requesting that Bateman feed it a stray cat. Now he knows, and it seems like he's going to act on the fact, that he can do anything; he can kill people and people are going to say they had lunch with him yesterday. Of course brokers work very hard, but this isn't a realistic portrayal of office life. Is this film related to any other Bret Easton Ellis adaptation? The boycott began on November 19th, 1990, with an excerpt from the novel recorded on the Los Angeles NOW's telephone hot-line. Later, Elizabeth (played by Guinevere Turner in the film) tells him, "I don't have to work, Bateman. He wanted catharsis, he wanted to get caught, he wanted to have his life changed; to be thrown in jail, to be killed by someone himself, but he just can't, so it's kind of like, he's a mutant; nothing can kill him so he just got that much more detached. Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chlo Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, and Reese . Such as Rule/Law Breaking, Excessive Lying, Remorselessness, Impulsive Behavior, etc. Teachers and parents! She then tells him that he should go, and that she doesn't want trouble. No matter what he says or what he claims to have done, the people around him just don't react. His sex in the bathtub with Christie is gentle and pleasurable, but the reader can see how he keeps himself in complete control the entire time, dominating the encounter. - that says he went to London. The emails are considered canon insofar as, although Bret Easton Ellis himself didn't write them, he did approve them before they were sent out.Set in 2000, with Bateman no longer working for Pierce & Pierce due to something he refers to only as the "issue," the emails reveal that he has become a huge success. This explains why Carnes calls Bateman a "boring spineless lightweight" right to his face, and in the third person. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Guinevere Turner: It's almost like we watch Patrick Bateman go from his normal life. Where was he? He shows no remorse in business, in his personal life and during his murders. "I ate some of their brains, and I tried to cook a little. He opens it, revealing a number of sharp metal items. I did it Carnes. However, Patrick covers himself up as being Paul Allen. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Mistaken identity is now working on different two levels; Allen's mistaking of Bateman for Halberstram, and Halberstram's mistaking of someone else for Bateman.Another small example of mistaken identity is seen when Bateman enters the first office building towards the end of the film, where he is called Mr. Smith by the security guard. According to the film's official website, the videotape addiction is a metaphor for Bateman's "emotional isolation"; he has no real life himself, no real existence to keep him occupied, so he needs to fill that emptiness by continually immersing himself in the lives of others, i.e. He pointed out that the harshness of the novel, by necessity, had been reduced for the film, which concentrated more on the inherent humor. He treats them almost as if theyre dolls to be positioned to play out his fantasy. As such, the novel would not receive a hardback release. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Elizabeth is oblivious to her surroundings, having no idea that Christie is a prostitute and assuming that she can just call to purchase drugs whenever shed like. By treating the book as raw material for an exuberantly perverse exercise in '80s nostalgia, she recasts the go-go years as a template for the casually brainwashing-consumer/fashion/image culture that emerged from them. I killed Paul Allen, and I liked it. It is introduced in the opening scene in the restaurant. Wolfe is shown to be no better or no different than Bateman and his associates; for each and every one of them, money is the be all and end all, they are all willing to do anything to acquire it and willing to do anything to retain it. It's almost like alienation breeds serial killers, everyone's so disconnected, it really doesn't matter, it doesn't matter who you kill, it doesn't matter what you do. (1) Once again, the first theory is a practical one; the apartment is simply up for sale due to the disappearance of its former occupant. Most of which Bateman does possess throughout the story. What are the differences between the R-rated cut and the unrated cut of the film? ": Bateman tries to have sex with Evelyn but she is more interested in watching TV. Interestingly enough, in 1998, it was Steinem who allegedly talked Leonardo DiCaprio out of playing Bateman, arguing that he would alienate his entire fanbase by appearing in the film. Similarly, George Corsillo, who had designed the jackets for Ellis' previous work, turned down the American Psycho job, citing "creative differences. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. "In the novel Bateman kills a young child at the zoo, to see if he would like it or not. We're all just robots. Still living in New York, he spends most of his leisure time hanging out with A-list movie stars, heads of state and fashion designers. But he also goes after his male coworker and an old friend . By treating the book as raw material for an exuberantly perverse exercise in '80s nostalgia, she recasts the go-go years as a template for the casually brainwashing-consumer/fashion/image culture that emerged from them. Jean is Patrick Bateman 's secretary, or, as he refers to her, "my secretary who is in love with me.". (critic): Harron, if anything, is an even more devious provocateur than Ellis was. By the way Davis, how's Silvia, you're still seeing her right? It makes it look like it was all in his head, and as far as I'm concerned, it's not.Guinevere Turner agrees with Harron on this point; Nobody can tell each other apart, it's all very empty, it's shallow, it's competitive, and it makes men look really really bad, and it makes them look kind of gay, because it is such a mans' world, and they are so obsessed with how they look, with clothes and their business cards, that it's taking that competitiveness to an aesthetic level that's kind of what we think of as how gay men are; impeccable dressed, impeccably groomed, really concerned with each other, and women are an outside factor. Metacritic Reviews. Taking this into consideration, there is a possibility that all that is happening in this scene is that Carnes has mistaken Bateman for someone named Davis, and has presumably mistaken someone else for Bateman (possibly Davis). Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. He realizes he does not. Bateman tells her he thought it was "hip," and she tells him it couldn't be, because Donald Trump goes there. The novel's graphic descriptions of the murder and sexual mutilation of women continued to be attacked as inexcusable and Ellis received numerous death threats and hate mail. For example, when Carruthers confronts him in a clothes store, confessing his love and begging Bateman to love him back, he ends up on the ground, grabbing onto Bateman's leg, and Bateman shouts "I am going to slit your fucking throat,", to which Carruthers responds, "Oh just kill me [] If I can't have you, I don't want to live. However, nowhere in either the film or the novel is the exact nature of Bateman's job explained, nor do we ever see him actually doing any work.According to Mary Harron on her DVD commentary, the lack of specifics and failure to identify his exact role are thematically important and offer a commentary on Bateman's psychological state; [the girls shake their heads. So when he shoots a car and it explodes, even he for a second is like "Huh?" Seeing that he is a serial killer or he believes himself to be one. The CD was immediately recalled (although a few thousand had already sold), and replaced with a new CD without that particular song on it. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs "B: "But has anyone seen him in London? Despite these objections, the women start having sex with one another, which. By not asking the girl her name, Bateman further objectifies and dehumanizes her. However, within a few days, it transpired that Koch Records, the publishers of the soundtrack, hadn't obtained the publishing rights to "Hip to Be Square" by Huey Lewis & The News (separate rights needed to be acquired for each song; one for the movie and another for the soundtrack). The book was originally set to be published in hardback by Simon & Schuster in March 1991. In an interview for GQ in 2007, Bale was asked whether he intentionally took on the role in the film due to resentment against his father's girlfriend (David and Steinem were dating when Christian signed on to do the film). The Novel is very clear that Patrick Bateman is a killer. And he's right back where he started; he' sitting in the same bar with the same stupid friends talking about what they're going to eat and what they're going to drink, and it's just like, this guy is out there, and there's lots of other guys like him. However, at no point does anyone ever react in any way seriously to what he says.Examples of Bateman's outbursts include; in the nightclub early in the movie, Bateman says to the bartender (Kelley Harron), "You're a fucking ugly bitch. Where can more information about the movie be found? Why is it that when Bateman says something vile, people never seem to react? What work? The scene where Patrick Bateman calls his lawyer to confess to his horrific murder spree (many of which are episodes featured in the book but not in the movie), is the most emotional piece in all . Kimball has asked the real Halberstram about it, and he denied being with Allen that night (which is true, as Bateman was with Allen). The information shared above about the question what did patrick bateman do to christie and sabrina, certainly helped you get the . "C: "Because I had dinner with Paul Allen twice in London, just ten days ago. A Stephen Hughes said he saw him at a restaurant there, but I checked it out and what happened is he mistook a Herbert Ainsworth for Paul. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. In the novel, as in the film, he returns towards the end with no explanation for his whereabouts or what he has been doing. Bateman orders "Christie" and Sabrina around, instructing them to go down on each other and stimulate one another to climax. In another scene, he tells a Chinese woman (Margaret Ma), "If you don't shut your mouth, I will fucking kill you." For example, in a scene between Bateman and Evelyn, she asks him if they can go out the following night, and he replies that he can't because he's got to work, to which Evelyn says, "You practically own that damn company. Bateman is just a person with a mentally unstable mind. Patrick's jaw tightens] Christie : You have a really nice place here, Paul. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. )In his review of the film, Ellis particularly praised the work of production designer Gideon Ponte, actor Christian Bale and director Mary Harron. In the last scene, McDermott says that Bryce is back. What work do you do? After a particularly infuriating party, Bateman asks Evelyn why she doesn't just date Bryce instead of him, pointing out that Bryce is rich, good-looking and has a great body, to which Evelyn replies, "Everybody's rich. It is also revealed that the restaurant Dorsia has closed down.In the "plot" of the emails, Bateman is attempting to outmaneuver a successful businessman named T. Davis Ferguson, the largest producer of Silicate in the world, by manipulating Ferguson's wayward son, Terry Davis. Don't you recognize me? What is the significance of returning videotapes? I'm not Davis, I'm Patrick Bateman. At the apartment, they have a threesome before Patrick verbally abuses them with sadism. Christian Bale ad-libbed a number of moments and scenes throughout the filming of American Psycho, and two of these improvisations ended up in the final cut. This ultimately led to Bale being cast. Currently she is known as Duchess of Risborough. There are better ways of taking care of Bret Easton Ellis than just censoring him. What does Bateman do to Christie and Sabrina after the first threesome? Guinevere Turner: This is a story about men living in a man's world, competing with each other over who has a better tan, who has better clothes. In Germany, for example, the novel was deemed "harmful to minors", and its sales and marketing were severely restricted up to 2000, when it was allowed to be sold generally. It is simply another component of his psychosis, which also includes fantasies of killing and torture. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. Instead, she wanted ambiguity; I killed him. Eh. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Similarly, whether or not Bateman is really "dead" remains an open question. The fact that Bateman is never caught and that no one believes his confession just reinforces the shallowness, self-absorption, and lack of morality that they all have. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. However, the novel did have its supporters; Norman Mailer wrote a 10,000 word defense of both novel and author for Vanity Fair, and Ellis' friend and contemporary Jay McInerney engaged in a debate with several members of NOW on CNN in which he tried to argue that the novel was a comedy which condemned men, not a misogynistic fantasy which exploited womenOne particularly vocal opponent of the book was feminist activist Tara Baxter. All I wanted was to be ambiguous in the way that the book was. [from DVD commentary track] Where can it be read? (2) The second theory is that the conversation provides evidence that the murders are all in Bateman's head; it proves Bateman didn't kill Allen, because if Allen is alive and well in London, how could Bateman have killed him? Baxter then wrote an angry response to the situation, in which she is quoted as saying, Edit, The character of Patrick Bateman is quite interesting in how he could be diagnosed mentally. All the songs that were used in the film were used legally. Is that true? The novel was originally banned in Nova Scotia, Canada. Earlier in the night, he had left Elizabeth at a bar to go pick . An important aspect of this question is Bateman's destruction of the police car, which explodes after he fires a single shot, causing even himself to look incredulously at his gun; many argue that this incident proves that what is happening is not real, and therefore, nothing that has gone before can be verified as being real either.