Now this is number one…the toughest movie I watched from your recommendations. the longer I watched…the less I could stomach…
With Tirza etc., you felt you were coming closer to a catharsis of some sort…but this I felt was dragging me deeper and deeper…I stumbled across the finish, an exhausting marathon.
It was part horror, part thriller, part torture…to be Bateman…to be inside his skin. The sheer unadulterated self-absorption, the ego the size of a house, with skin thinner than paper…in his world.
As the film goes on, he falls into himself more and more…feeding on others to fill that yawning cavity within. But that is’t what makes the film great…What makes the skin crawl is this:
What if you’re a monster?
And no one knew?
Who is Bateman, Bademan, Batman, Badman, Boatman, Baderman?
In the film Bateman = Davis= Halberstram= Paul Allen.
Who is Bateman…wealthy child of divorce, privileged son of an owner of the company he is Vice-President at? Just another rich handsome guy.
In a sea of sharks, how do you stand out?
He tries being the fittest most groomed shark…
It doesn’t work so he goes for blood.
Surely there will be a genuine human reaction of disgust and horror that this tall handsome wealthy man is doing these monstrous things!
Uhh…nope.
The body in the bag leaking blood…ignored.
They do want to know the brand of the bag though!
Interestingly enough, he doesn’t kill those who interact with him in a human sense - Louis, his secretary, his wife-to-be, the woman he cares for who is going to marry Louis…
The scene with Louis is hilarious…call me!
(Oddly enough, the woman he cares for - don’t remember her name - who is high all the time is empty too - she tells him she wants children and he ignores it completely - perhaps why she is willing to go with Louis and not Bateman).
He ditches his wife-to-be, talking indirectly about wanting to kill her…
doesn’t register.
Gives a clear-cut confession to the lawyer at the end…joke in poor taste…
As the film goes on, the killings become more obvious, more over-the-top…punish me! I am bad! Give me identity! Meaning! Something!!
And the confessions become more explicit.
Nope. No exit.
What if you’re a monster? And no one knew?
Well that just means you are just another monster in the food chain.
He is an apex predator but ultimately just another shark in a sea of sharks.
And those who aren’t sharks are attracted by them and want to be sharks too.
To be rich, wealthy and good-looking is to be a god.
And if there are a few sacrifices…so what?
That is why it doesn’t matter if it is all in his head or not.
He and his empty friends are at the top,
And they all take their cues from each other, so where can you go?
Of course, the name is deliberate. Patrick Bateman.
The contradiction apparent.
Patrick - patrician…a scion of the upperclass.
Batemen = boatman…a lower class working man who rows passengers.
Of course, Batman is another form of Bateman.
Both in the name and the character.
Bateman is a version of Batman in which the parents were absorbed by wealth, and left Patrick with endless toys and no love…eventually a child of divorce… I suppose even then he wasn’t the biggest toy for them to fight over.
And the man he kills, Paul Allen, was played by Jared Leto, who went on to play the Joker.
Batman: rich man who helps the poor by day as philanthropist Bruce Wayne who beats up criminals at night.
Bateman: rich man who screws the poor by day and kills women by night.
Both are compelled to do what they must.
Patrick says, “The inside doesn’t matter”.
But he wants it to.
Oh so desperately.
But it doesn’t.
Not in his world.
Found this:
An interview with Christian Bale following the film had him talk about how the character of Patrick Bateman was partially inspired by a televised interview he’d seen with Tom Cruise, stating “he had this intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes”
But then, isn’t he in the same business as Cruise…(who would also be a perfect fit for Psycho…he’d never do it…since it would typecast him…he would be a little too good at it…).
And you are a much better actor than Cruise, aren’t you Christian?
You appear more human.
