The Subtextual Unmasking Of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho

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American Pyscho (Harron, 2000) is a 2000 film starring Christian Bale. The film focuses on a young Wall Street investment banker, Patrick Bateman and is set in New York in the 1980s. It highlights the subculture of young Wall Street professionals and explores the themes of materialism, appearances and the immense need and pressure they feel to fit in with society. Textually, it is a film about a psychotic killer and control freak. The subtext, however, gives us more insight into the chaotic mind of the main character and anti hero of the film.

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As the film delves more into the life of Patrick, his mask of sanity slips further and further. In the opening scene of the film, Patricks opening monologue puts forward his most extreme qualities: his vanity, his overwhelming need to fit in, his need for control over everything and everyone and in his final line “I simply am not there”, his dangerous potential. The non-diegetic music and slow panning of the camera around his apartment in the introduction scene also creates the feeling that Patrick likes his world to be perfect and he likes to be in control as his apartment is kept strictly organised.

Mise-en-scene is used in this particular scene to show the neatness and organisational placement of Patricks belonging. The colour scheme of almost all white in his apartment can be seen as a canvas for his murders which take place here later in the film. This symbolises that Patrick sees his murders as artworks created by him for him.

During the narration of Patrick introducing himself, we see a reflection of Bateman’s face in a framed poster for the film Les Mis, suggesting that Patrick is examining himself. The red, white, and blue colours of the French flag that appear over Patrick’s face can be recognised as the colours of the American flag and this eludes to the idea of him viewing himself as a perfect American specimen. The many shots of Patrick reflected in mirrors suggest that he has two sides his identity. The lighting in this shot comes only from the right side of the frame causing half of his face to be well lit and the other half dark and barely visible. This can be perceived as being an expression of his two sided nature with one side being seemingly appealing and perfect whilst the other is the wicked side which Patrick keeps hidden in the darkness.

Patrick applies a herb mint facial mask to his entire face while looking in the mirror again and leaves it for 10 minutes while he “prepares the rest of his routine” such as him spraying an aftershave on himself to perhaps mask the horrid essence of who he really is. Now, Patrick stares into the mirror. The mask has dried, giving his face a distorted look as if it has been wrapped in plastic - eluding to how he wears plastic gowns but keeps his sharp suit visible when he commits his murders. We can still see Patrick’s face but his identity is distorted. He begins slowly peeling the gel mask off his face. The mask represents Patricks sanity and now he is peeling it off. Stripping his sanity away. Patrick cleans himself in the shower with many body cleanses, gel scrubs, deep pore cleanser lotions and exfoliating gel scrubs. This whole cleaning routine is related to the Psalm 51:2 which states “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Patrick cleanses himself thoroughly of all his crimes or sins he has committed by using the many scrubs and washes. The concept of masks appears throughout the film. Particularly noteworthy is the scene where Patrick kills his colleague Paul Allen. In this scene Patrick’s costume consists of a transparent raincoat over his regular Valentino suit. This presents the idea that his darker identity has been brought out and his social demeanour of keeping up appearances remains in the background. Another scene in American Psycho (Harron, 2000) which subtextually strips down Patrick Bateman is the scene known as the ‘business card scene’.

The business card scene is arguably the most famous scene in the film and criticises the relationships between conformity, success and competition within the office setting of a major Wall Street firm as it was in the 1980’s. This scene lasts for three minutes and breaks down Patrick Bateman’s cool exterior to breaking point. He becomes so unhinged over business cards. This shows the audience the useless competitions of the Wall Street life. To us business cards are nothing but to these men, they are everything and represent you as a person and your social standing in the world. Up until this point of the film Patrick has been the narrator explaining to the audience what makes him look so good. So far he has made it obvious that he knows he’s the best out of his colleagues. But with each new card presented with shiny fonts and colours he shudders and squirms with inadequacy. He is intensely aware that he has been outdone in a superficial way and in turn it is this that makes his mask of sanity start to slip in a big way. As each colleague presents his business card for viewing, a metallic swish can be heard that sounds almost weapon like. Like a sword being unsheathed. This is symbolic of how the business cards are subtextual objects for weapons and can wound a mans ego in such a short amount of time.

In Patrick’s world males look the same, so it’s the tiniest of details on the business cards presented in the board room that promise these men the kind of edge and social praise that they so desperately crave to boost their ego and social status in the work place and in general life. It is the constant need for approval which ultimately defines the men who work for this company. They are all driven by success, competition, ego and materialistic items to fill a void in their lives. As the scene progresses, we see Patricks composure falter and crumple. He fumes with rage and envy as he see’s every card as being better than his. Patrick does not fair with this. His body language through the scene shows us just how competitive the Wall Street environment is. This also highlights the extent to which it affects him. Something as simple as a better business card can cause a man to lose his identity and be discouraged because he feels defeated by a superficial object. This is the point where Patrick becomes self-aware of his failure to fit in or to be the best and thus he resorts to homicide as an outlet for the pressures he is subject to.

The mise-en-scene of this American Psycho scene shows the the ego-driven and competitive workplace which Patrick finds himself in. Every business card shown represents their owner in the sense that they each think that theirs is better than the others, but in fact they all look the same. Each card is viewed as representing one’s self worth and this is how Patrick views them. Seeing his colleagues cards and feeling equally matched or outdone lowers his feelings of self worth causing him to reach breaking point/ Much like their respective owners, Patrick and all of his colleagues, though they look similar in the way they dress and bare similar traits, think they are all different and therefore compete with each other to be the best at everything. Masculinity driven ego’s are at play in this scene. Comparing this scene to males at the gym judging each other on how much they can lift or what they look like is a good way of delving into the minds of the Wall Street workers and how their world works. Overall, American Psycho plays on the darker side of identity that everyone keeps hidden for the sake of acceptance in society. It is revealed by the end of the movie that Patrick is embarrassed by his crimes and, when he confesses, he is ashamed of every murder except the murder of Paul Allen. This murder was not to fulfill a need but a way for his darker side to help his social side. Bateman’s social side re presents the American capitalist ideology through the want for material objects. It highlights the idea that we all desire to be unique while still following suit for the sake of social relationships, specifically in the workplace.