Rich Guy Problems; American Psycho

First time actually watching this. Technically, in the past I remember putting this on in the background and not even realizing it was over, if I even did finish it back then, so that time doesn’t really count. This was my first actual watch and I got to say, I get it. When I was younger, yeah this type of movie would not appeal to me. I totally understand why some people wouldn’t be into it but, I dig it.

For those who don’t know what the movie is about, it’s pretty much a story about a rich incel who just wants to fit in—and kills people.

Spoiler territory!

My theory is that he is from a super-rich family.

That’s the TLDR version, so let me explain.

So the movie is from the main characters perspective, Patrick Bateman, and that already spells trouble. The whole unreliable narrative since we’re following a man who is literally going crazy. I feel like the popular theories are that everything is just made up or in his mind, especially during the massacre where he shoots at cops and their cars blow up. He even looks at his own gun and questions the reality of it for a split second before running off. But I like to think that maybe he’s just that rich and most of the people he interacts with are made to play along. Not paid actors, but people who know that if they go against Mr. Bateman, he’s not the only Bateman they must deal with.

He does deal with normal people, like the new assistant he has, the prostitutes he pays for, and the homeless guy. Not everyone is in on it, just those close to him. The whole business card show-off spectacle, when his friend comes in a later scene to show off his business card, Bateman’s other friend’s kind of just give the guy a look. A look that says he shouldn’t have done that, because they know Bateman is deranged and a killer, so showing off a sexy business card that looks better than his will push him over the edge. The apartment near the end being renovated and put up for sale, that realtor gave a knowing look as well, telling him to leave. She wasn’t frightened by him, a supposed stranger, but telling him to just leave and not come back because they already took care of everything. The cop is in on it, paid off probably, he straight up tells him what really happened with a smile. His fiancé, even after getting broken up with, asks where he’ll be going. Why does she need to know? Probably to tell his family, to keep tabs on him at all times. The end when he confesses to his lawyer over the phone and then confronts him in person…yeah the lawyer definitely knew the truth, but he’s not just Patrick Bateman’s lawyer, he’s probably the family lawyer. At the start of the movie Bateman says he just wants to fit in with these people, so who better to help him fit in than his rich family.

I believe this could also explain why he kills people. Since those close to him put up a front, he’s searching for real human emotion. He can’t believe what anyone is showing him because it’s fake, a façade. But when he kills, there’s no hiding there. At the end of the movie we see him broken, not from the things he’s done, but for learning the fact that no one really cares. He can get away with anything, with no consequence whatsoever, and he realizes this.

I believe, the movie follows along a guy from a rich family, who wants to fit in with the rich crowd. He does everything he can to be the perfect person, from his skin care routine, to all the exercising he does for his amazing physique. When someone challenges him, he eliminates them. In the past, his family probably handled things for him, so he had no issues. Until now, when he wants to take control of his own life and fit in. As the movie progresses, we see that he no longer can handle it, and loses himself in the process. So his family comes in again to fix things. The realtor with the apartment, the fiancé keeping tabs, and the lawyer who knows all the deaths. And not just deaths from this movie, I believe Bateman even confesses to killings before the movie takes place, so this isn’t the first time. This is just the first time Bateman realizes that whatever he does really doesn’t matter, because he will always, always, come out okay.

He lives in the perfect world curated for him, he just doesn’t want to live in it anymore.

Score – 10 out of 10