By: Gizele Touré
American Psycho follows main character Patrick Bateman through his very peculiar, yet fascinating life. Patrick is depicted as a handsome, wealthy young man during New York City’s yuppie culture spike. He quite literally gets anything he wants. Whether it be women, clothes, or even a spot at Dorsia! as long as he has the money for it, he gets it. But he does it only for one reason… to “fit in”. Patrick desperately wants to fit into a world that he so terribly despises. And although Patrick seems like the rest of his co-workers and friends , viewers quickly find out that he hides his alternate psychopathic ego. Despite his big ego, Bateman also expresses feelings of anxiety and low self-esteem, which is often the reason for many of his killing sprees. He targets victims due to the fact that they challenge his ego and make him feel inferior or inadequate. As the storyline progresses, the character delves deeper and deeper into his sexually deviant fantasies, psychotic habits, and horrendous murders, and fans can do nothing but watch his mind descent into madness.
The idea of what it means to be a man is destabilizing rapidly in modern society, and American Psycho is one of the many movies that have been warning Americans of this ongoing crisis of masculinity. So, let’s take a deeper dive into the psyche of young men to understand this attraction to such characters/ movies, and why it is a cry for something much deeper, using the example of Patrick Bateman.
We all know that Patrick is not a good character—so why do so many young men relate to/idolize him? Let’s start on the topic of loneliness and the lack of expressionism for men in the modern world. The movie specifically taps easily into the mind of young men and shows the consequences to the many different, and awful concepts of masculinity. At its core, American Psycho is a story about conformity. It dramatizes the overwhelming need to fit in, and just how badly it can affect a man. There is even a running joke in the movie where a character named Paul Allen mistakes Patrick for an identical looking co-worker. It is used to show how all of the yuppies looked the same and were mistaking each other for one another. For centuries men have held so many mis-leading titles. They’ve been told that they should be the ones to provide for their families and loved ones, and if they cannot, they are said to be seen as failures. They are told that they are “supposed” to be seen as the most intelligent, stoic, powerful, and dominant beings that shouldn’t need anyone else to help them succeed. They are forced to separate themselves from others and are taught to put others before themselves. These strict social constructs leave no room for them to express their feelings, without being told that it’ll ruin their male identity, leaving them defenseless against being called “soft” or “weak”. To get even more specific, men are told that crying in front of other people will threaten their masculinity. Patrick breaks down that barrier when fans see him cry at the end of the movie after having a psychotic breakdown. Although Bateman may seem like the villain, he is actually one of the many victims among many men that are forced to conform to these harsh structures put onto them by society. Like other men, he becomes very insecure surrounding this idea of fitting in. Resulting in insecurity quickly building up, and turning into rage. Which happens often, especially when one is forced to stay in an emotionally repressive state nearly all the time. The movie isn’t written to glorify Batemans actions, but instead to help develop an understanding of his downwardly spiraling mind. Many teenage boys who are still struggling to form their own identities can easily relate to Bateman in this way.
As for another example, if you were to go on any social media platform. Whether it be twitter, pinterest, or tiktok, I can guarantee that you will find several jokes made by fans based on the movie. A lot of male viewers will make memes in relation to Patrick Bateman, saying things like “I’m just like Patrick Bateman, except I don’t kill people…” or “starting to believe he’s my spirit animal.” Whether they are aware of it or not, this too is a form of conformity. They ironically make nearly identical jokes about fitting in, almost like Patrick Bateman does in the movie. Mason Edwards, writing for vocal media says, “they want to fit in with like-minded male peers online, so they scramble to create ‘sigma mindset’ content to solidify their place in these online communities.” Even though the movie is literally satire against the male audience, and is practically mocking them, they still continue to use this movie as a source of comfort or as an outlet for the emotions that they “aren’t” allowed to express. Bateman can help fill that empty void that many teenage boys experience. Which really only proves that the themes the movie warned us about, are still painfully relevant today.
In conclusion, it makes perfect sense that young men who are still navigating through the world searching for their own purpose would naturally gravitate towards this movie. It represents an extreme example of what they experience on a daily basis. Although it is rather painful to realize, this movie offers young men a significant emotional release around the topics that media would normally shy away from. Patrick Bateman offers a warning to what could happen when self repression becomes severe. It is understandable why it is regarded so highly and why men adore it so much.
