Fun fact: When Brett Easton Ellis was writing the book of American Psycho, which the movie is based on, he originally wrote it to be serious. To get material for the book, he hung out with a small group of yuppies. All they did was take him to the most trendy restaurants, talked about who had the best haircut, the best suit, the hottest girlfriend, and who had the best house in the Hamptons. Not once did Brett see them working in their respective offices. So, from this experience, he completely rewrote his book to be a dark comedy satire, with the added twist that the main character is a serial killer.
I can do it. I've got some pretty gnarly ADHD symptoms. If I don't have something pressing me and giving me a deadline I procrastinate horribly. If I want to sweat on command I just think of something Important that I've been putting off, or I think about a confrontational conversation I have recently had or will soon be having. Boom, instant stress sweat. And stress sweat is that stinky kind lol.
@@Charzhino I mean its a tale as old as time. Men's power fantasy is saving damsels in distress, women's power fantasy is taming a beast of a man. They are the most common tropes in the book.
Unsheathing making a sharp noise is a Hollywood invention to direct your attention towards it, basically every sheath was in leather or some other material that makes almost no sound when you take the blade out, that metallic sound never existed and it would have been a stupid disadvantage to never be able to take your blade out quietly.
26:15 He has no musical taste whatsoever but practices seeming like a real human being by repeating music reviews he's memorized. He's trying to fit in.
i also heard about a scene where david is eating with some investigator and as the investigator puts salt on his steak david does the same thing,like trying to copy and emulate to fit in like an alien in desguise
@@russellward4624 I'm sure, that magazine stuff is just a way to improve the way he expresses himself to look good for the others, BUT we see, that he listens to the music alone. He tries to listen it in lemo sitting nearby his talking fiancee, then in the office before detective has come. So I think besides everything he really loves the music, appreciating it. And it's totally okay for serial killers to love the music. There is a serial killer in Moscow in Russia in 90s and early 00s, who killed around 80 people and he loved to listen Enigma - The Cross The Changes (1993) album after murdering some alcoholic, woman or hobo in the park zone. He's a rare example of homicide behaviour. There is nothing but the wish to kill people inside his mind which is rare.
@@THEdudeproductions he shoves a rat down a woman's vagina and then cuts her in half and pulls it out. he also bursts a homeless man's eye using a spoon
I’m glad you picked up on how funny this movie is. Also I really love the ending. Patrick went obsessively out of his way to fit in and be a part of that yuppie culture to the point no one can tell each other apart. But he can’t escape his human need to be an individual and it manifests in murder. Of course he’s lost his grip on reality and can’t tell which people he did kill and didn’t, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. No one really cares. Everyone else in that culture is too self absorbed to notice anyone else, even when someone is dropping hints that they’re a murderer. Patrick is now living in his own personal hell living with the consequences of his efforts to fit in with a culture he doesn’t even really like. Great movie
His monologue at the end is quite chilling. Once his desperate cry for help goes unheard, we can be sure his murderous rampage will get worser and more gruesome. "I want to inflict my pain on others" "This confession has meant nothing."
Yeah same. Most people don't pick up that it's a dark satire, I was shocked how in-tuned with the film, tone & themes she was compared to other reactions.
Fun fact: In the first scene with the detective in Patrick's office, Willem Dafoe did 3 takes, one where the Detective KNEW it was Patrick, one where he was suspicious, and a third where he had no idea. All 3 takes were then spliced together for the final scene.
For the scene when Willem Defoe and bale were talking they actually shot that part 3 different times with the actors giving different expressions with their dialogue so the director just edited all the scenes and changed them around so the audience would be just as confused on who know's what. I enjoy all your commentaries games and movies you have such great insight! And this movie is so well written just makes me have more questions lol
If I had a penny for every time someone commented this on a reaction video of this movie I would probably have enough Penny’s to build a rocket ship and go to the fucking moon
I believe this movie has 2 schools of thought. One is that he imagined that he killed all those people, that everything was a fantasy. The other is that he did kill everyone, but because people are so interchangeable, everybody is always confusing someone with someone else, for example, the lawyer thinks he had lunch with Allen, he was in the alibi of his co-worker, etc. Also because the bodys on the closet would diminish the value of the apartment, the real state people disposed the corpses and didn't contact the police, in the end he got away with it. On the other side of that theory, Bateman exploding police cars seems a little far fetched, unreal, but maybe the "truth" is that some things really happened while others are products of his fantasy.
Both of those viewpoints aren't really what the film is about at all. The film and book are just one giant metaphor for 80's wall street bankeresque type people. Who didn't care about anyone but themselves and were so selft obsessed to the point of insanity. It's not meant to be taken literally that it's some deep story about if this is reality for the character. It's all just a big metaphor for shitty rich people being truly debased in their attitudes during the 80s.
The director has stated it was never her intention to give away one single viewpoint but to keep everything ambigous in order to drive the bigger point/theme of the movie home about the vain, violent (mostly man-centric) and amoral nature of the 80s in the West. She has said that the she regrets adding many hallucination scenes in the movie because it made audiences more likely to think in one viewpoint: that it was all fake.
@@tonyharrison2112 exaactly, I always see discussions about whether it's all a dream or not online and I never really cared for it, and the idea of it being a dream seems to detract from the satire even. Maybe the film accidentally or intentionally confuses people on that, but the idea never even crossed my mind reading the book
I fully believe that Patrick is being as sincere as he possibly can whenever he talks about music. The songs he talks about has a lot to do with self reflection; something Patrick can heavily relate to, yet no one around him can. This is why when he talks about music, no one really acknowledges him. They simply cannot relate to him in that manner. This is incredibly depressing, because this is the only way for him to express his utter loneliness and it is CONSISTENTLY ignored by everyone.
That scene where they compare business cards is just brilliant. It's one of my most favorite movie scenes of all time. The look on his face as he stares at and drops the card is incredible. If a person could shoot laser beams out of their eyes he would have fried that card.
@@zaidnassar.2569 they are so materially obsessed with trying to outdo each other. Whether its the most expensive haircut, the most expensive suit, going to the most expensive prestigous restaurant or having the most expensive looking business card. This is also why people end up mistaken identities, because they all end up looking the same
@@Charzhino @Charzhino exactly 💯 the body in the bag scene was great as well the bag had a dead human in it but people were too busy asking what store he bought it from
The book this movie was based on was written as a criticism to 1980s "yuppie" culture. The underlying joke with everyone mistaking people for someone else is that they are all hollow inside with no individuality and are the same. Only shallow people trying to out-do eachother financially, and morally (the comment "cool it with the anti-semitic remarks" in particular) while not actually being sincere
not a lot of people catch that in the movie, I think because most of the 'look how shallow he is' points are lost over the years. The references to late 1980's trumps, the preference for post Gabriel Genesis ("their previous work was too heady for me..."), Huey Lewis etc etc. Its a shame, you lose a lot of the meaning if you don't catch those references.
Do you like QueenTofu? Her early work was a little repetitive for my taste. But when her dead redemption 2 series came out in 19, I think she really came into her own, commercially and artistically. The whole channel has a clear and new theme and a new sheen of creator professionalism that really gives her commentary and videos a big boost.
An interesting detail that can be viewed in two different ways - the quote that Patrick attributed to Ed Gein was actually said by another serial killer, Ed Kemper. It's possible that it was just a mistake in the script, but it might have also been a deliberate decision to further blur the line between the real and the fanstastical in the movie.
I just realized that this misquoting could be considered a mirroring of how everyone constantly confuses each other for other people in the movie, including Patrick.
As the movie progresses and he begins to lose touch with reality, it appears that he becomes more and more self aware that what he is doing is wrong, but he can't control the bloodthirst. During the conversation where he was about to kill the girl with the nail gun and the answering machine started. He almost displayed shame in his actions and he really held himself back and even warned he to leave. And there is a constant theme of people mistaking him for other guys and constantly mishearing what he says, which makes him feel like nobody understands his situation and that no matter how literal his confession, he can never escape the social setting that he lives in so nobody takes him seriously. Much like a child he wants constant attention and praise for everything he does and that comes with his narcissism. He desperately wants to be and act normal but his true desires rip him away from that, so to a certain extent he surely has some level of self hatred which is in conflict with his narcissism. He's a big whirlpool of emotion that swells inside and the only way he can display that emotion is through his passion for music and murder. Notice when he openly confesses to enjoying "murders and executions" and the lady responds with "do you enjoy it?", then Patrick leans in and shows actual interest in what she has to say, he actually thought for a moment that there is someone who he could talk to about his ordeal. But then he shows disappointment when he finds that she misheard him like everybody else. He desperately wants to be understood, but everyone around him is too blind to see the cracks in his sanity. To him, daily life is like living in purgatory. At least that's what I think. Edit: Don't mind the profile pic.
Good summary. A good scene is the business card one. He describes Halberstram as someone who looks exactly like him, from his clothes, glasses, the job he does and his haircut. But mentions he has a slightly better haircut which gives it away. No normal person would say someone has a "slightly" better haircut. Just as how the business cards are all slightly different. Everyone is trying their hardest to conform to the best and end up looking the same.
Isn't Patrick Bateman's secretary (Chloë Sevigny's character) not meant for some reason to be the only person that he can't get himself to kill in the book?
This was such a good read. I’ve noticed American Psycho comment sections are fun to read since they’re full of people looking in depth at the story, just wanted to say you’re awesome and thanks for the good read!
Great to see you back, Tofu! I've actually really missed your movie commentaries, and I especially enjoyed hearing your takes on a movie as intriguingly weird as this one.
Don't worry, this movie flies over the head of everyone I've seen watch it. Most of the scenes and lines have to do with the humor created from the very real parallels they demonstrate between being a serial killer and normal life. It helps to watch this with subtitles.
The whole point of this movie is that its showing the rich, yuppie elite socialites of the 80s were so self absorbed with materialism that nothing else mattered. Characters in this movie are all obsessed with superficial things. Clothes, perfumes, skincare, restaurants, branded clothing, business cards, etc. So much so, that everyone ends up looking like each other because they all buy the most expensive clothes and go to the same expensive restaurants and get the same expensive haircuts. Thats why characters mistake each others identities throughout the movie. Its an exaggerated depiction on how these people didnt really care for anything other than status and being perceived as elite as possible, which ironically kills individual expression. Theres a distinct lack of moral empathy between the actual people. Patrick Bateman deep down wants to be different (read the book). He had high aspirations for adult working life during his time at university. But when he entered the corporate elitist society, it slowly started to kill him inside to the point he ends up conforming. He becomes trapped in this world and his innerself becomes progressively more psychopathic and dangerous, which is why he starts killing girls. By the end of the movie, his psychopathy becomes so maxed out, it breaks him completely to the point he doesnt know whats real and whats not. And then he accepts the fact hes trapped in this life forever with the "This is not an exit" sign above his ahead in the very last frame of the movie
i agree with all of this great interpretation, i've also read the book and something i took away was that the ambiguity of not knowing exactly who he killed and who he didn't is made so ambiguous because in the end it doesn't matter, the capitalist society he's in doesn't have any empathy for individuals, it only cares about trade and value. ie the part where he goes back to the apartment and finds it for sale, the critique here is that while its possible bateman fantasised those killings, its equally possible that the agency responsible for selling the apartment just cleaned all his mess up because they only wanted to sell the building, people's lives do not matter.
Nice, you finally escaped copyright jail! :P Really been looking forward to this, and you never disappoint. Barely five minutes in before you've already got me cracking up. I've missed these commentaries, honestly. They're so good! The perfectly-timed snark, the editing gags, all the genuinely thoughtful psychological insights that're out here fighting for their lives to make it in between the jokes and thirst comments-perfection. Absolute perfection. Don't ever let anybody make you feel bad about how much you talk in these: it's a commentary, and yours is the best part!
35:20 I think he said "murders and executions" but since this is a loud night club people listening sometimes has to make assumptions. And since he is a yuppie business man working at wallstreet its a fair assumption to make to think he said "mergers and acquisitions"
and also that the girl he's talking to just doesn't realize he's talking about one of his interests, which is something that ticks him off usually, as we see in that scene. example, whenever he's talking about ted bundys dog and she (name slipped my mind) completely dismisses it with "who's ted bundy?" so patrick drops it and the smile fades off his face and he is completely pissed off
26:16 I think it all goes back to Patrick and everyone else in this world being self centered, elitist, ego maniacs. Patrick probably memorizes all these fun facts about songs and artists because knowing them makes him more interesting. Just like how he watches Jeopardy at work, or spewed awareness of all those social justice issues at that dinner scene. Does he actually care about all of that stuff? Who knows? But if he knows all that stuff and you don't, that makes him intriguing and ultimately better than you.
it's a Dark Comedy, this film def grows on you the more times you watch it. I think he kills most of the people we see but also fantasizes about killing aka Paul Allen. This is one of the top 10 greats imo. Very underrated classic
I thought he killed Paul for sure. The way how people react to his death tell us more about the state of the society. This movie is a great satirical work.
This was a really great reaction to see. It’s such a deeply layered film with so many ways to interpret it and I really liked your own takes from it. Would love to see you do more of these.
That should be extremely common knowledge. Most men really don't put any effort into their appearance and it's such a sad sight to see I know a lot of guys that would go from a 3 to a 7 if only they put in some effort
@@Myname-l3h invest in skincare, haircare, different hairstyles, clothing styles etc. Focus on hygiene, eating healthy and exercise. Just keep yourself well-groomed
Interesting fact is that during filming the way that so many different versions of scenes were shot and also them not knowing the full script most of the other actors thought that Christian Bale was a horrible actor, then at the premiere they had there minds blown
Patrick is an 80's Yuppie, his financial life is going well, all his problems are first world. His life is so good he gotta find petty things to be bothered about like greeting cards. Even though he has a desirable status, a great apartment, great car, good looks, any woman he wants, his life is still dull so he fantasizes about murdering people. He never actually killed anyone, it all happened in his head, and so it happens in the heads of many people in positions of power and high social status. It's a critique on the american high society that only knows the value of money and influence and not necessarily of life itself. The message is being sent to people aiming to achieve this higher lifestyle. You probably already have what's important to you but you don't realize it, you don't value it, until you become Patrick Bateman.
@@E3T7 The directors might have their own vision, but they're not always the only ones responsible for a film, even more so when it's adapted from someone else's work. Mary Harron has the right to give her own interpretation because art is subjective, but the only one who knows for sure what Patrick Bateman is about is Bret Ellis. Even then, the author dies when their work is published, all they had to say had to be communicated in the work.
Director Mary Harron explained that it wasn't all in his head. An article explains it: "The main problem with the final scene is the aforementioned Carnes, who can't keep his clients straight. After misidentifying Patrick Bateman as "Davis" and claiming to have had dinner in London with Paul Allen, viewers are tricked into thinking that Bateman can't separate fantasy from reality. In truth, it's Carnes and everyone else who are confused, and it's Bateman - who exhibits the most meticulous attention to detail - who simply can't have his confession taken seriously."
If that's actually true I don't know why the director would say that why not keep it ambiguous oh well I guess doesn't really matter if that's true or not doesn't really change anything people will still see the movie as ambiguous and that is for the better
i don't think the viewers were tricked, like the characters no one can keep track of who is who, either in the movies or reality everyone is interchangeable
She's wrong about the blood at 18:50 though. Venial blood is the oxygen poor blood that is dark, arterial blood is the blood that is oxygen rich and light red and squirts out of the body with high pressure when arteries burst. ...A friend of mine told me that.
Few fun facts for the movie. - To prepare for his role Bale watched interviews with Tom Cruise. - The scenes with Willem Dafoe where shot in 3 different ways (one where he doesn't suspect Patrick, one where he suspects Patrick and one where he is absolutely certain that Patrick killed Paul) which got edited together. That's why it's difficult to grasp what Dafoe's role is thinking.
Apparently, when Willem Dafoe was interviewing Patrick, the reason you can’t tell if he knows if Patrick killed Paul Allen is because the director shot that scene three times. One where Kimball doesn’t suspect Patrick at all, one where he’s suspicious of Patrick and one where he knows for certain Patrick did it. Then they spliced those three takes together.
Tofu reactions are backkk 🎉🎉 I’m so glad you’re watching this. American Psycho is one of my favourite films. I think it’s really masterful how Bale manages to portray how psychopaths can only emulate emotions like compassion so we can tell that they’re surface level.
Me and a friend watched this in high school when it first came out. It also featured the first trailer for “Shadow of the Vampire”, another badass movie with Willem Dafoe. My mom was present too. Not awkward at all.
While filming the business card scene, the director and the crew found out that Christian Bale can sweat profusely on command. How tf do you find out that you can do that?
the funniest bit of trivia to me is that christian bale said that to prepare for this role he watched this one interview with tom cruise, in which "he had this look on his face - he was smiling but there was nothing behind the eyes" and that cracks me up because it's spot on haha, no shade to tom cruise but i can easily imagine that
It's been delayed more times than Top Gun, but here it is! Tofu watching one of my favorite movies, not to mention one of the most quotable films of all time. One thing that always sticks out to me is that the movie's main "humor" centers around the same joke- Patrick being transparently evil or detached and no one noticing or caring enough to really react normally. The only tension in the movie comes from Patrick himself having faith/concern that *someone* out there is just enough to want to catch him, but at the end realizes that no one really cares to see the real him even as he's screaming at the world to notice. Also, he never did get that rez at Dorsia.
This was one of my favorite movies years back in high school. I had the DVD and I remember in the commentary all the events that happen are implied to be real, where as in the book its far more vague about whether they actually happened or were hallucinations in Bateman's mind.
It's always a trip to learn that a lot of serial killers had double lives with partners, families, and that they do have some capacity to care about them, but have complete disregard for human life outside of that.
"I thought beer was wet." Alcohol, including some beer, can be categorized as "sweet" or "dry." "Is this one of those instances of unreliable narrator?" YEP. You got it. That is a major source of discussion for readers of the book, who are meant to ask questions throughout the story. The author is known for ambiguous stories and making characters who can't be relied on for honesty, even to themselves. And that becomes murkier with a character like Patrick Bateman who lives in a world where he and his colleagues all pride themselves on standing out without acknowledging that there's a reason people keep confusing them for each other because they're all getting similar haircuts, similar cards, and wearing similar styles while talking about the same generic things each week. Did Patrick Bateman actually kill Paul Allen or did he kill someone else thinking it was Paul Allen and not realize he'd mixed them up? Did he imagine some or all of his killings? Is he Patrick Bateman or was he literal in the beginning when he said he ("Patrick") didn't exist and he simply imagines himself to be someone named Patrick Bateman in order to disassociate himself from certain thoughts and actions?
I've never watched this channel before, but i think more movie reactions/commentaries are a must. This was highly entertaining. I really hope you make this a regular part of your channel.
Continuing my journey thru your reactions while I work. Quite entertaining. Thank you for the commentary. Yo, Tofu, people that aren't super attractive are already ignored, cast out, seen as "other" or seen as monsters! Meanwhile, that cleancut dude in a suit that gets ur lady bits tingling could very well be an ACTUAL Monster. It's one of the theme's in this movie.
This was great! Half the time I was disturbed by the movie, the other half I was disturbed by Tofu! lol. Please do more reaction/commentaries. I like all the talking. ♥
26:00 I like this scene a lot. Patrick is so empty, he is not being able to form any cohesive thoughts on things he is passionate about (music). He clearly doesn't know how to connect to things emotionally. So he has to quote famous radio dj. Word for word.
9:08 he says what he sees every other hypocrite around him say, the eerie part isn't his lack of compassion, but that he measured the appropriate socially acceptable amount of genuine compassion to be zero, as long as it isn't undeniably obvious. Patrick is less of an individual and more of an abstract social mirror
At 13:36 Patrick suffers what can be called a severe narcissistic wound, and by something as trivial as having his business card come up short. It devastates his faux-superior armor and punctures whatever limiited self-worth he possesses, to expose (in his mind) limitless inferiority. This incident can be said to be the inciting moment for all that happens after.
Patrick Bateman is not a psychopath as it's currently understood by the psychiatric community. He's flagrantly, aggressively psychotic, meaning that he's plagued by delusions and the occasional hallucination (FEED ME A STRAY CAT). He also has brief moments of fear and apparent remorse when he breaks down on the voicemail to his lawyer, even if that's only because he thinks he may get caught. He's more likely to diagnosed as schizophrenic due to his frequent episodes of disassociation with reality. That's not a psychopath, meaning someone who has antisocial personality disorder. A real-life psychopath would be much closer to James Bond. Emotionless, ice-cold under pressure and stress, remorseless and ruthless, and (most importantly for the purposes of comparison to Bateman) free of delusions and hallucinations. APD sufferers are zeroed in on the real world and they understand clearly how others behave because their perspective is not clouded by undue emotional attachment to other people, just how to best use them for their own gain. They're not crazy; they know what they're doing is considered wrong; they just don't care (some might argue that they're incapable of caring). So a psychopath would most likely not be like"RARRRRRR IM A CRAZY MOFO DIE YUPPIE SCUM HAHA CHAINSAW GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!%$!" while killing someone. A psychopath would be much more likely to just execute the guy next to you with two silenced shots to the head and then calmly apologize to you for getting blood on your carpet. Also, the ending is a total mindfreak for sure! There's enough ambiguity to argue for both interpretations, and to still ponder to what extent any of these events were imaginary. I personally think that most of them were real, and that Bateman got away with his crimes simply because everyone else around him (except Jean) is as self-absorbed and apathetic to the plight of others as he is. Bateman's co-workers were constantly mistaking Bateman for other people, which is the only reason the detective lost the scent on Bateman's murder of Paul Allen. The real estate lady simply got rid of the bodies and cleaned up the apartment so she could make a sale. The lawyer was even more cold and ruthless than Bateman was, simply playing off confession to mass murder as a great joke and subtly letting Bateman know that this will be the official story, simply in order to protect his client. That's the real horror, the genius, and the point of this film: when you realize that Patrick Bateman is the LEAST effed up out of all of the yuppies on Wall Street. Just my two cents!
Patrick might be a complete emotional void, but he does speak for all of use in some cases. "I'm on the verge of tears by the time we arrive because I'm certain we won't have a good table....but we do. The relief washes over me in an awesome wave."
The big "Joke" is, that everyone is basically the same person. They are all coping in some way, for Bateman its violent fantasies, for other people its Drugs, Fancy Dinners or just an excesive Lifestyles. When they compare Buisness cards or when they mistake someone for someone else, its because all the People are the same. Same Haircut, same behaviour, same Clothes, same places, same Ocupations. All that Bateman ever does is to stand out, to be different and when still no one cares he has his breakdown until he realises just that, that no one is really there, thats its all just a facade, that being a callback to the mask coming of at the start.
Exactly. The first, surface level interpretation of the film is that Patrick made everything up and it was all in his head, but the sad reality is that he still committed most of those murders. It's just that nobody gives a shit. Once you get to a certain level of wealth it becomes nearly impossible to get taken down. You get confused for someone else, your fuckups get cleaned up, and everything starts over again.
Its so weird that someone could do the most horrible stuff but if they are attractive it makes them less bad. Like being attractive gives you more value no matter what you do
Holy blast from the past, Bateman! I always liked your movie reactions and was kind of bummed when you stopped and stuck to gaming, you have some interesting theories or see things during the movie that totally escape my mind. Plus you have a great sense of humor (even if it's simping for Patrick Bateman of all people lol).
49:02 That dessert is actually a urinal cake covered in chocolate. He thought it would be funny and when he realized it wasn't he then decided to break up with her.
Wow time FLIES!! Apparently it's been 2 years since I watched a video of yours! I don't really watch gaming videos, so I was only here for the movie/TV reactions :) I missed you!
Fun fact, in the chainsaw scene Christian Bale was actually buck naked, in male nude movie scenes they have essentially a banana hammock and he just refused to wear it.
This movie is a masterpiece which is surprising because the budget for this movie was insanely small (8 million or so) 27:51 I mean hey, he won't be young forever maybe he wants to relive that stuff when he's older lol
In the book he takes Valium, Xanax, cocaine, and Halcion. If you understand what these drugs do to you it might give you more of a insight into his mind
The ending is left up to interpretation, how much of his killing spree and actions are real, and how much are in his head. It seems the most popular interpretation (and mine) is that the actions in the film did actually happen, but they are depicted as Patrick himself sees them, with a grandiose excess. For example, did he kill those policemen? Probably. But did he actually blow up the car with only a pistol? No, probably not. It’s the extravagance and excess that’s not real. It’s overdramatized in his head. The scene with the lawyer at the end could include a few interpretations. In one, the lawyer is telling the truth, and Paul Allen was never killed. In another, he’s purposely lying about meeting Paul to give Patrick an alibi, and in another (mine as well) is that he simply can’t tell who’s who, like everyone else in this movie. Like the lawyer doesn’t recognize Patrick, and Paul never recognized Patrick, the lawyer simply thought he was with Paul Allen. In the end, Patrick is terrified by the idea that everything in this 1980s Yuppie Wall Street culture is so meaningless, that everyone is so indistinct that he can commit murder after murder and no one even cares. The film and the book itself are largely a condemnation of that culture, as well as an exploration of toxic, violent masculinity. The movie does an especially good job of this, as it’s directed through the “female gaze” with the director and lead writer being women.
that is truly some of the best interpretations I've heard come from this movie, also the whole "female gaze" idea flew right over my head and I can't believe it did.
I've missed your movie/tv commentaries. I really enjoy the fact you get deep into your analysis of what's on screen and you come up with some really interesting interpretations and hypotheses. Great work once again!
Love your commentaries Tori, and I'm glad to see that your back at it. With your movies and just videos in general. I have a suggestion for one of your next movie reactions though, if you enjoyed this movie I believe that you'd enjoy Taxi Driver.
Fun reaction! Thanks for sharing. A couple of things: DNA - There wasn't any DNA forensics in the 80s. They could match blood and hair samples, but not much else. They would have had to pull DNA late from a cold case file and catch the guy in 2009 or something 😂 The explosion - He's looking at his gun like "wff" because you can't just blow up a car like that by shooting it with a pistol. At that point He begins questioning himself and the reality of it all.
I think his lawyer mistook having dinner with Paul Allen, he probably had dinner with someone else entirely, everyone is so similar and self absorbed they don't know who each other are. This theory makes the most sense to me
Impressive, very nice.
Let's see Paul Allen watching American Psycho for the first time
That’s bone
Don't you have to return some video tapes?
@@MrPeteybelljr oh my god...
@@MrPeteybelljr And the lettering is something called cillian braille.
Fun fact: When Brett Easton Ellis was writing the book of American Psycho, which the movie is based on, he originally wrote it to be serious. To get material for the book, he hung out with a small group of yuppies. All they did was take him to the most trendy restaurants, talked about who had the best haircut, the best suit, the hottest girlfriend, and who had the best house in the Hamptons. Not once did Brett see them working in their respective offices. So, from this experience, he completely rewrote his book to be a dark comedy satire, with the added twist that the main character is a serial killer.
I don't trust movies with no sense of humor; it means the writer didn't do original research.
How the hell could a random guy just hang out with yuppies?
@@Empty-Mask he's very interesting
It's never clear that he was a killer tho
He also implied in one of essays in White that he based the character on Trump in the 80s.
During the card scene, one of the actors admitted to being a bit scared of Bale because he could supposedly "sweat on command" 😂
How is that even humanly possible?
@@p.s.csdeaky8530 think of stuff that stresses the fuck out of you, done.
@@p.s.csdeaky8530 He simply told his body "why isn't it possible?".
@@commentposted4528 It's just not.
I can do it. I've got some pretty gnarly ADHD symptoms. If I don't have something pressing me and giving me a deadline I procrastinate horribly. If I want to sweat on command I just think of something Important that I've been putting off, or I think about a confrontational conversation I have recently had or will soon be having. Boom, instant stress sweat. And stress sweat is that stinky kind lol.
I really didn't expect "horny" to be the primary emotion throughout this reaction, but I understand it.
The fascinating paradox of women being attracted to sexist, abusive, violent men as long as they look cute.
@@Charzhino humans have animalistic tendencies cus we are animals
@@Charzhino I mean its a tale as old as time. Men's power fantasy is saving damsels in distress, women's power fantasy is taming a beast of a man. They are the most common tropes in the book.
7:38 Also Twitter in a nutshell lol
@@drnerdrage2535 well said
Fun fact, the sound of the business card holders being opened is actually samurai swords being unsheathed. This movie is so interesting
I actually didn’t know that. That’s an awesome detail. Thanks for sharing that one.
Unsheathing making a sharp noise is a Hollywood invention to direct your attention towards it, basically every sheath was in leather or some other material that makes almost no sound when you take the blade out, that metallic sound never existed and it would have been a stupid disadvantage to never be able to take your blade out quietly.
Not only is that resourceful sound repurposing, but it’s also symbolic!
Dead meat has done you well
I just knew it had to be some kind of sword. The sound design in this movie really is top notch.
26:15 He has no musical taste whatsoever but practices seeming like a real human being by repeating music reviews he's memorized. He's trying to fit in.
Hes clearly just regurgitating something he read in a magazine. Not unlike his monolog about solving the issues with the homeless and racism.
i also heard about a scene where david is eating with some investigator and as the investigator puts salt on his steak david does the same thing,like trying to copy and emulate to fit in
like an alien in desguise
@@toniotrussardi8126 You mean Patrick. And yeah that's a good scene too.
@@russellward4624 I'm sure, that magazine stuff is just a way to improve the way he expresses himself to look good for the others, BUT we see, that he listens to the music alone. He tries to listen it in lemo sitting nearby his talking fiancee, then in the office before detective has come. So I think besides everything he really loves the music, appreciating it.
And it's totally okay for serial killers to love the music. There is a serial killer in Moscow in Russia in 90s and early 00s, who killed around 80 people and he loved to listen Enigma - The Cross The Changes (1993) album after murdering some alcoholic, woman or hobo in the park zone. He's a rare example of homicide behaviour. There is nothing but the wish to kill people inside his mind which is rare.
"I think he roughed them up a bit..."
People who have read the book: Yes, 'a bit', yes.
Thank god there wasnt a rat. 😐
It was worse in the book?
@@THEdudeproductions A LOT
@@THEdudeproductions he shoves a rat down a woman's vagina and then cuts her in half and pulls it out. he also bursts a homeless man's eye using a spoon
@@THEdudeproductions I had no idea what a habitrail was until I read American Psycho. Although I was aware what broken glass was.
I’m glad you picked up on how funny this movie is.
Also I really love the ending. Patrick went obsessively out of his way to fit in and be a part of that yuppie culture to the point no one can tell each other apart. But he can’t escape his human need to be an individual and it manifests in murder. Of course he’s lost his grip on reality and can’t tell which people he did kill and didn’t, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. No one really cares. Everyone else in that culture is too self absorbed to notice anyone else, even when someone is dropping hints that they’re a murderer. Patrick is now living in his own personal hell living with the consequences of his efforts to fit in with a culture he doesn’t even really like.
Great movie
His monologue at the end is quite chilling. Once his desperate cry for help goes unheard, we can be sure his murderous rampage will get worser and more gruesome.
"I want to inflict my pain on others"
"This confession has meant nothing."
Finally a comment addressing the film
Yeah same. Most people don't pick up that it's a dark satire, I was shocked how in-tuned with the film, tone & themes she was compared to other reactions.
Perfect shortcut dissertation of the themes of the entire film. Well said
So true
Fun fact: In the first scene with the detective in Patrick's office, Willem Dafoe did 3 takes, one where the Detective KNEW it was Patrick, one where he was suspicious, and a third where he had no idea. All 3 takes were then spliced together for the final scene.
That's pure genius.
"He's a psychopath"
Did she miss Paul Allen's iconic line where he yells "It was you Patrick, you where the american psycho!"
And then Batman yells "It's Psycho time!" and killed Hot Topic Joker? Truly inspiring writing.
sneed
For the scene when Willem Defoe and bale were talking they actually shot that part 3 different times with the actors giving different expressions with their dialogue so the director just edited all the scenes and changed them around so the audience would be just as confused on who know's what. I enjoy all your commentaries games and movies you have such great insight! And this movie is so well written just makes me have more questions lol
i was going to comment this when i saw her start to question Defoe 😅
If I had a penny for every time someone commented this on a reaction video of this movie I would probably have enough Penny’s to build a rocket ship and go to the fucking moon
@@Bluewater225 haha true
We all know this
Oh was it the expressions that were different? I thought it was 3 different shots with different lines
There is simping, there is hardcore simping, and then there is “Tofu watching American Psycho” level simping. 😜
That’s most women, not all but most. If the guy is good looking these women want to try and change him.
@Thereis Nopandemic She as well as most women who say that are joking in case you couldn't tell.
Yeah they are joking, joking about all the women who have simped hard for serial killers over the years
@@ratman202 she might be joking, but a majority don’t
@@rileyfreeman7122 I have a co worker who is still in love with Aaron Hernandez lol so yeah.
I believe this movie has 2 schools of thought. One is that he imagined that he killed all those people, that everything was a fantasy. The other is that he did kill everyone, but because people are so interchangeable, everybody is always confusing someone with someone else, for example, the lawyer thinks he had lunch with Allen, he was in the alibi of his co-worker, etc. Also because the bodys on the closet would diminish the value of the apartment, the real state people disposed the corpses and didn't contact the police, in the end he got away with it. On the other side of that theory, Bateman exploding police cars seems a little far fetched, unreal, but maybe the "truth" is that some things really happened while others are products of his fantasy.
Both of those viewpoints aren't really what the film is about at all. The film and book are just one giant metaphor for 80's wall street bankeresque type people. Who didn't care about anyone but themselves and were so selft obsessed to the point of insanity. It's not meant to be taken literally that it's some deep story about if this is reality for the character. It's all just a big metaphor for shitty rich people being truly debased in their attitudes during the 80s.
The director has stated it was never her intention to give away one single viewpoint but to keep everything ambigous in order to drive the bigger point/theme of the movie home about the vain, violent (mostly man-centric) and amoral nature of the 80s in the West.
She has said that the she regrets adding many hallucination scenes in the movie because it made audiences more likely to think in one viewpoint: that it was all fake.
@@tonyharrison2112 exaactly, I always see discussions about whether it's all a dream or not online and I never really cared for it, and the idea of it being a dream seems to detract from the satire even. Maybe the film accidentally or intentionally confuses people on that, but the idea never even crossed my mind reading the book
I believe all the women, Allen, and the homeless guy were real. But the killings starting from "feed me a stray cat" were all fantasy
Even his lawyer in the end thought he was Davis instead of Bateman
"jared leto? i didn't know he was in this"
-- literally everyone about any movie with jared leto (other than morbius ofc)
I fully believe that Patrick is being as sincere as he possibly can whenever he talks about music. The songs he talks about has a lot to do with self reflection; something Patrick can heavily relate to, yet no one around him can. This is why when he talks about music, no one really acknowledges him. They simply cannot relate to him in that manner.
This is incredibly depressing, because this is the only way for him to express his utter loneliness and it is CONSISTENTLY ignored by everyone.
Everyone: "I can change him."
*gets chopped into pieces*
That scene where they compare business cards is just brilliant. It's one of my most favorite movie scenes of all time. The look on his face as he stares at and drops the card is incredible. If a person could shoot laser beams out of their eyes he would have fried that card.
Even funnier cus I know people who’ve been in those exact type of meetings and all 🤣🤣🤣
Do you know the massage behind the scene tho ?
@@zaidnassar.2569 that everyone in the movie act vain and petty over the most inconsequential things just to act superior over others?
@@zaidnassar.2569 they are so materially obsessed with trying to outdo each other. Whether its the most expensive haircut, the most expensive suit, going to the most expensive prestigous restaurant or having the most expensive looking business card. This is also why people end up mistaken identities, because they all end up looking the same
@@Charzhino @Charzhino exactly 💯 the body in the bag scene was great as well the bag had a dead human in it but people were too busy asking what store he bought it from
**Patrick murders a woman, but doesn’t kill a cat**
QueenTofu: “I see this as an absolute win.”
lol
Until she ends up on his mantle peice.
i hope she's watching "gone girl"
The book this movie was based on was written as a criticism to 1980s "yuppie" culture. The underlying joke with everyone mistaking people for someone else is that they are all hollow inside with no individuality and are the same. Only shallow people trying to out-do eachother financially, and morally (the comment "cool it with the anti-semitic remarks" in particular) while not actually being sincere
not a lot of people catch that in the movie, I think because most of the 'look how shallow he is' points are lost over the years. The references to late 1980's trumps, the preference for post Gabriel Genesis ("their previous work was too heady for me..."), Huey Lewis etc etc.
Its a shame, you lose a lot of the meaning if you don't catch those references.
Do you like QueenTofu?
Her early work was a little repetitive for my taste. But when her dead redemption 2 series came out in 19, I think she really came into her own, commercially and artistically. The whole channel has a clear and new theme and a new sheen of creator professionalism that really gives her commentary and videos a big boost.
😂it was fr a cultural reset
Bateman: Cool it with the anti-semitic remarks.
Tofu: I like his character already!
Me: **bites knuckle**
An interesting detail that can be viewed in two different ways - the quote that Patrick attributed to Ed Gein was actually said by another serial killer, Ed Kemper. It's possible that it was just a mistake in the script, but it might have also been a deliberate decision to further blur the line between the real and the fanstastical in the movie.
My guess is more people know who ed gein is so they used that instead so ordinary people would get the reference
I just realized that this misquoting could be considered a mirroring of how everyone constantly confuses each other for other people in the movie, including Patrick.
@@TheGoodChap back then yea nowadays after Mindhunter I think Kemper might be the one who's better known
No way, Ed Gein is literally what leatherface is based on, he's deffo still more widely known@@snooks5607
He’s basically doing a GRWM before they were even a thing
"Everyone is a psychopath no one is in their right mind!" yep.
As the movie progresses and he begins to lose touch with reality, it appears that he becomes more and more self aware that what he is doing is wrong, but he can't control the bloodthirst. During the conversation where he was about to kill the girl with the nail gun and the answering machine started. He almost displayed shame in his actions and he really held himself back and even warned he to leave. And there is a constant theme of people mistaking him for other guys and constantly mishearing what he says, which makes him feel like nobody understands his situation and that no matter how literal his confession, he can never escape the social setting that he lives in so nobody takes him seriously. Much like a child he wants constant attention and praise for everything he does and that comes with his narcissism. He desperately wants to be and act normal but his true desires rip him away from that, so to a certain extent he surely has some level of self hatred which is in conflict with his narcissism. He's a big whirlpool of emotion that swells inside and the only way he can display that emotion is through his passion for music and murder. Notice when he openly confesses to enjoying "murders and executions" and the lady responds with "do you enjoy it?", then Patrick leans in and shows actual interest in what she has to say, he actually thought for a moment that there is someone who he could talk to about his ordeal. But then he shows disappointment when he finds that she misheard him like everybody else. He desperately wants to be understood, but everyone around him is too blind to see the cracks in his sanity. To him, daily life is like living in purgatory. At least that's what I think.
Edit: Don't mind the profile pic.
Good summary. A good scene is the business card one. He describes Halberstram as someone who looks exactly like him, from his clothes, glasses, the job he does and his haircut. But mentions he has a slightly better haircut which gives it away. No normal person would say someone has a "slightly" better haircut. Just as how the business cards are all slightly different. Everyone is trying their hardest to conform to the best and end up looking the same.
Isn't Patrick Bateman's secretary (Chloë Sevigny's character) not meant for some reason to be the only person that he can't get himself to kill in the book?
@@scipioafricanus5871 I think it's because she's the only genuine and human character
@@ImpressionismFTW true
This was such a good read. I’ve noticed American Psycho comment sections are fun to read since they’re full of people looking in depth at the story, just wanted to say you’re awesome and thanks for the good read!
Christian Bale's performance is magnificent. Honestly, this is one of the funniest films I've ever seen.
Great to see you back, Tofu! I've actually really missed your movie commentaries, and I especially enjoyed hearing your takes on a movie as intriguingly weird as this one.
Don't worry, this movie flies over the head of everyone I've seen watch it. Most of the scenes and lines have to do with the humor created from the very real parallels they demonstrate between being a serial killer and normal life. It helps to watch this with subtitles.
Out of curiosity, how many people HAVE you seen watch this movie?
@@igwtaowm Including her? 5
The whole point of this movie is that its showing the rich, yuppie elite socialites of the 80s were so self absorbed with materialism that nothing else mattered.
Characters in this movie are all obsessed with superficial things. Clothes, perfumes, skincare, restaurants, branded clothing, business cards, etc. So much so, that everyone ends up looking like each other because they all buy the most expensive clothes and go to the same expensive restaurants and get the same expensive haircuts. Thats why characters mistake each others identities throughout the movie. Its an exaggerated depiction on how these people didnt really care for anything other than status and being perceived as elite as possible, which ironically kills individual expression. Theres a distinct lack of moral empathy between the actual people.
Patrick Bateman deep down wants to be different (read the book). He had high aspirations for adult working life during his time at university. But when he entered the corporate elitist society, it slowly started to kill him inside to the point he ends up conforming. He becomes trapped in this world and his innerself becomes progressively more psychopathic and dangerous, which is why he starts killing girls. By the end of the movie, his psychopathy becomes so maxed out, it breaks him completely to the point he doesnt know whats real and whats not. And then he accepts the fact hes trapped in this life forever with the "This is not an exit" sign above his ahead in the very last frame of the movie
i agree with all of this great interpretation, i've also read the book and something i took away was that the ambiguity of not knowing exactly who he killed and who he didn't is made so ambiguous because in the end it doesn't matter, the capitalist society he's in doesn't have any empathy for individuals, it only cares about trade and value. ie the part where he goes back to the apartment and finds it for sale, the critique here is that while its possible bateman fantasised those killings, its equally possible that the agency responsible for selling the apartment just cleaned all his mess up because they only wanted to sell the building, people's lives do not matter.
Nice, you finally escaped copyright jail! :P
Really been looking forward to this, and you never disappoint. Barely five minutes in before you've already got me cracking up. I've missed these commentaries, honestly. They're so good! The perfectly-timed snark, the editing gags, all the genuinely thoughtful psychological insights that're out here fighting for their lives to make it in between the jokes and thirst comments-perfection. Absolute perfection. Don't ever let anybody make you feel bad about how much you talk in these: it's a commentary, and yours is the best part!
Truth!
Oh i had no idea thats why she paused on the commentary/reactions. Thank you for saying so, i must have missed the community post
I was just about to say about the same thing and you beat me to it lol
35:20 I think he said "murders and executions" but since this is a loud night club people listening sometimes has to make assumptions. And since he is a yuppie business man working at wallstreet its a fair assumption to make to think he said "mergers and acquisitions"
and also that the girl he's talking to just doesn't realize he's talking about one of his interests, which is something that ticks him off usually, as we see in that scene. example, whenever he's talking about ted bundys dog and she (name slipped my mind) completely dismisses it with "who's ted bundy?" so patrick drops it and the smile fades off his face and he is completely pissed off
26:16 I think it all goes back to Patrick and everyone else in this world being self centered, elitist, ego maniacs. Patrick probably memorizes all these fun facts about songs and artists because knowing them makes him more interesting. Just like how he watches Jeopardy at work, or spewed awareness of all those social justice issues at that dinner scene. Does he actually care about all of that stuff? Who knows? But if he knows all that stuff and you don't, that makes him intriguing and ultimately better than you.
it's a Dark Comedy, this film def grows on you the more times you watch it. I think he kills most of the people we see but also fantasizes about killing aka Paul Allen. This is one of the top 10 greats imo. Very underrated classic
I thought he killed Paul for sure. The way how people react to his death tell us more about the state of the society. This movie is a great satirical work.
The abrupt scene transitions emulate the book's chapters. Time becomes a blur, as does Bateman's grip on reality.
"Patrick?! I-It's you! Y-You're the American Psycho!"
This was a really great reaction to see. It’s such a deeply layered film with so many ways to interpret it and I really liked your own takes from it. Would love to see you do more of these.
Tofu: It's kinda hot when men take care of themselves
My brain: WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN
ABWAHAHAHAHA
That should be extremely common knowledge. Most men really don't put any effort into their appearance and it's such a sad sight to see
I know a lot of guys that would go from a 3 to a 7 if only they put in some effort
A Metrosexual who is also a psycho. Strange combo.
@@Morimori67iowhat should we do exactly?
@@Myname-l3h invest in skincare, haircare, different hairstyles, clothing styles etc. Focus on hygiene, eating healthy and exercise. Just keep yourself well-groomed
Interesting fact is that during filming the way that so many different versions of scenes were shot and also them not knowing the full script most of the other actors thought that Christian Bale was a horrible actor, then at the premiere they had there minds blown
The house building music from RDR2 was fucking killing me, and somehow fit this movie. Great choice.
Patrick is an 80's Yuppie, his financial life is going well, all his problems are first world. His life is so good he gotta find petty things to be bothered about like greeting cards. Even though he has a desirable status, a great apartment, great car, good looks, any woman he wants, his life is still dull so he fantasizes about murdering people.
He never actually killed anyone, it all happened in his head, and so it happens in the heads of many people in positions of power and high social status. It's a critique on the american high society that only knows the value of money and influence and not necessarily of life itself.
The message is being sent to people aiming to achieve this higher lifestyle. You probably already have what's important to you but you don't realize it, you don't value it, until you become Patrick Bateman.
The Director specifically said she didn’t want to give the idea that it was all in his head because it wasn’t meant to be that way…
@@E3T7 The director didn't write the book
@@Frey_2026 True, so are you talking about the book then?
@@E3T7 The directors might have their own vision, but they're not always the only ones responsible for a film, even more so when it's adapted from someone else's work. Mary Harron has the right to give her own interpretation because art is subjective, but the only one who knows for sure what Patrick Bateman is about is Bret Ellis. Even then, the author dies when their work is published, all they had to say had to be communicated in the work.
@@Frey_2026 Considering I haven’t read the book, I can’t really speak on it, but from what I’ve heard, there’s no proof none of the murders happened
After a long time another movie reaction! Glad it's out of the copyright loop
God it was stuck in copyright jail for so long. I'm so glad it's finally viewable for you guys 😭🙏
@@QueenTofu willem dafoe is one of best villains in Spider-Man trilogy he was good as green goblin Norman Osborn
Drinking game
Take a shot everytime Tofu compliments his looks
Thanks now im an alcoholic
Another Martini, Paul?
Director Mary Harron explained that it wasn't all in his head. An article explains it:
"The main problem with the final scene is the aforementioned Carnes, who can't keep his clients straight. After misidentifying Patrick Bateman as "Davis" and claiming to have had dinner in London with Paul Allen, viewers are tricked into thinking that Bateman can't separate fantasy from reality. In truth, it's Carnes and everyone else who are confused, and it's Bateman - who exhibits the most meticulous attention to detail - who simply can't have his confession taken seriously."
If that's actually true I don't know why the director would say that why not keep it ambiguous oh well I guess doesn't really matter if that's true or not doesn't really change anything people will still see the movie as ambiguous and that is for the better
i don't think the viewers were tricked, like the characters no one can keep track of who is who, either in the movies or reality everyone is interchangeable
This is the most interesting reaction to this film I've seen. You should do more movies.
She's wrong about the blood at 18:50 though. Venial blood is the oxygen poor blood that is dark, arterial blood is the blood that is oxygen rich and light red and squirts out of the body with high pressure when arteries burst. ...A friend of mine told me that.
Few fun facts for the movie.
- To prepare for his role Bale watched interviews with Tom Cruise.
- The scenes with Willem Dafoe where shot in 3 different ways (one where he doesn't suspect Patrick, one where he suspects Patrick and one where he is absolutely certain that Patrick killed Paul) which got edited together. That's why it's difficult to grasp what Dafoe's role is thinking.
Interresting to put the different version of Dafoe's acting (with different mindset) together
Even after he beats her face in, she believes she can change him. So stunning and brave
The house building theme playing over Patrick murdering Paul Allen was just 👌
Apparently, when Willem Dafoe was interviewing Patrick, the reason you can’t tell if he knows if Patrick killed Paul Allen is because the director shot that scene three times. One where Kimball doesn’t suspect Patrick at all, one where he’s suspicious of Patrick and one where he knows for certain Patrick did it. Then they spliced those three takes together.
Tofu reactions are backkk 🎉🎉
I’m so glad you’re watching this. American Psycho is one of my favourite films. I think it’s really masterful how Bale manages to portray how psychopaths can only emulate emotions like compassion so we can tell that they’re surface level.
I agree.
Bale have a very good range of acting skills.
Her constantly thinking this was like a crime procedural with the authorities and lawyers working to bring him to justice was hilarious 😂
Me and a friend watched this in high school when it first came out. It also featured the first trailer for “Shadow of the Vampire”, another badass movie with Willem Dafoe. My mom was present too. Not awkward at all.
4:26 That is $500 in 1987 dollars. The equivalent of $1300 today, for a single meal
Over paying for over hyped food prepped by over hyped people. It's still going on today.
While filming the business card scene, the director and the crew found out that Christian Bale can sweat profusely on command. How tf do you find out that you can do that?
the funniest bit of trivia to me is that christian bale said that to prepare for this role he watched this one interview with tom cruise, in which "he had this look on his face - he was smiling but there was nothing behind the eyes" and that cracks me up because it's spot on haha, no shade to tom cruise but i can easily imagine that
It's been delayed more times than Top Gun, but here it is! Tofu watching one of my favorite movies, not to mention one of the most quotable films of all time.
One thing that always sticks out to me is that the movie's main "humor" centers around the same joke- Patrick being transparently evil or detached and no one noticing or caring enough to really react normally. The only tension in the movie comes from Patrick himself having faith/concern that *someone* out there is just enough to want to catch him, but at the end realizes that no one really cares to see the real him even as he's screaming at the world to notice.
Also, he never did get that rez at Dorsia.
15:27 And that’s the kind of deep critical analysis that makes your channel so unique.
Ahhh an unexpected, yet incredibly welcome surprise
Edit: also holy shit on that filming date!
This was one of my favorite movies years back in high school. I had the DVD and I remember in the commentary all the events that happen are implied to be real, where as in the book its far more vague about whether they actually happened or were hallucinations in Bateman's mind.
It's always a trip to learn that a lot of serial killers had double lives with partners, families, and that they do have some capacity to care about them, but have complete disregard for human life outside of that.
"I thought beer was wet." Alcohol, including some beer, can be categorized as "sweet" or "dry." "Is this one of those instances of unreliable narrator?" YEP. You got it. That is a major source of discussion for readers of the book, who are meant to ask questions throughout the story. The author is known for ambiguous stories and making characters who can't be relied on for honesty, even to themselves. And that becomes murkier with a character like Patrick Bateman who lives in a world where he and his colleagues all pride themselves on standing out without acknowledging that there's a reason people keep confusing them for each other because they're all getting similar haircuts, similar cards, and wearing similar styles while talking about the same generic things each week. Did Patrick Bateman actually kill Paul Allen or did he kill someone else thinking it was Paul Allen and not realize he'd mixed them up? Did he imagine some or all of his killings? Is he Patrick Bateman or was he literal in the beginning when he said he ("Patrick") didn't exist and he simply imagines himself to be someone named Patrick Bateman in order to disassociate himself from certain thoughts and actions?
I've never watched this channel before, but i think more movie reactions/commentaries are a must. This was highly entertaining. I really hope you make this a regular part of your channel.
The right movie for you to react to would be Fight club. In case you havent seen it already. Trust me on this one, its the perfect movie for you.
Great film, and I'd love to see someone's real first reaction to it.
Continuing my journey thru your reactions while I work. Quite entertaining. Thank you for the commentary. Yo, Tofu, people that aren't super attractive are already ignored, cast out, seen as "other" or seen as monsters! Meanwhile, that cleancut dude in a suit that gets ur lady bits tingling could very well be an ACTUAL Monster. It's one of the theme's in this movie.
This was great! Half the time I was disturbed by the movie, the other half I was disturbed by Tofu! lol.
Please do more reaction/commentaries. I like all the talking. ♥
26:00
I like this scene a lot. Patrick is so empty, he is not being able to form any cohesive thoughts on things he is passionate about (music).
He clearly doesn't know how to connect to things emotionally. So he has to quote famous radio dj. Word for word.
this is one of the best reactions I've seen in a while. Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching!!!
9:08 he says what he sees every other hypocrite around him say, the eerie part isn't his lack of compassion, but that he measured the appropriate socially acceptable amount of genuine compassion to be zero, as long as it isn't undeniably obvious. Patrick is less of an individual and more of an abstract social mirror
At 13:36 Patrick suffers what can be called a severe narcissistic wound, and by something as trivial as having his business card come up short. It devastates his faux-superior armor and punctures whatever limiited self-worth he possesses, to expose (in his mind) limitless inferiority. This incident can be said to be the inciting moment for all that happens after.
Ah, Patrick "Batman". I especially love when Green Goblin is asking Batman questions about Joker.
Patrick Bateman is not a psychopath as it's currently understood by the psychiatric community. He's flagrantly, aggressively psychotic, meaning that he's plagued by delusions and the occasional hallucination (FEED ME A STRAY CAT). He also has brief moments of fear and apparent remorse when he breaks down on the voicemail to his lawyer, even if that's only because he thinks he may get caught. He's more likely to diagnosed as schizophrenic due to his frequent episodes of disassociation with reality. That's not a psychopath, meaning someone who has antisocial personality disorder. A real-life psychopath would be much closer to James Bond. Emotionless, ice-cold under pressure and stress, remorseless and ruthless, and (most importantly for the purposes of comparison to Bateman) free of delusions and hallucinations. APD sufferers are zeroed in on the real world and they understand clearly how others behave because their perspective is not clouded by undue emotional attachment to other people, just how to best use them for their own gain. They're not crazy; they know what they're doing is considered wrong; they just don't care (some might argue that they're incapable of caring). So a psychopath would most likely not be like"RARRRRRR IM A CRAZY MOFO DIE YUPPIE SCUM HAHA CHAINSAW GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!%$!" while killing someone. A psychopath would be much more likely to just execute the guy next to you with two silenced shots to the head and then calmly apologize to you for getting blood on your carpet.
Also, the ending is a total mindfreak for sure! There's enough ambiguity to argue for both interpretations, and to still ponder to what extent any of these events were imaginary. I personally think that most of them were real, and that Bateman got away with his crimes simply because everyone else around him (except Jean) is as self-absorbed and apathetic to the plight of others as he is. Bateman's co-workers were constantly mistaking Bateman for other people, which is the only reason the detective lost the scent on Bateman's murder of Paul Allen. The real estate lady simply got rid of the bodies and cleaned up the apartment so she could make a sale. The lawyer was even more cold and ruthless than Bateman was, simply playing off confession to mass murder as a great joke and subtly letting Bateman know that this will be the official story, simply in order to protect his client. That's the real horror, the genius, and the point of this film: when you realize that Patrick Bateman is the LEAST effed up out of all of the yuppies on Wall Street. Just my two cents!
@@BJ52091 that could be it ! Or it could also be real ! Some other or a couple other possibilities as well
I think Aspergersm or HFA could be aswell because his behavior
I love that she put red dead redemption 2 house building music while Patrick Bateman was killing Paul Alan 💀
Can confirm that was a nail gun
An expensive one sure, but he did have a nail gun pointed at her head lol
My moral compass leaving my body when the villain is attractive
Patrick might be a complete emotional void, but he does speak for all of use in some cases. "I'm on the verge of tears by the time we arrive because I'm certain we won't have a good table....but we do. The relief washes over me in an awesome wave."
American psycho is one of my favourite psychological/horror movie.
The big "Joke" is, that everyone is basically the same person. They are all coping in some way, for Bateman its violent fantasies, for other people its Drugs, Fancy Dinners or just an excesive Lifestyles. When they compare Buisness cards or when they mistake someone for someone else, its because all the People are the same. Same Haircut, same behaviour, same Clothes, same places, same Ocupations. All that Bateman ever does is to stand out, to be different and when still no one cares he has his breakdown until he realises just that, that no one is really there, thats its all just a facade, that being a callback to the mask coming of at the start.
Exactly. The first, surface level interpretation of the film is that Patrick made everything up and it was all in his head, but the sad reality is that he still committed most of those murders. It's just that nobody gives a shit. Once you get to a certain level of wealth it becomes nearly impossible to get taken down. You get confused for someone else, your fuckups get cleaned up, and everything starts over again.
@@acidrain92 Its an amazing movie and the book is just as good. Altho the book is WAAAY more violent
Its so weird that someone could do the most horrible stuff but if they are attractive it makes them less bad. Like being attractive gives you more value no matter what you do
Pretty privilege
Holy blast from the past, Bateman! I always liked your movie reactions and was kind of bummed when you stopped and stuck to gaming, you have some interesting theories or see things during the movie that totally escape my mind. Plus you have a great sense of humor (even if it's simping for Patrick Bateman of all people lol).
49:02 That dessert is actually a urinal cake covered in chocolate. He thought it would be funny and when he realized it wasn't he then decided to break up with her.
Wow time FLIES!! Apparently it's been 2 years since I watched a video of yours! I don't really watch gaming videos, so I was only here for the movie/TV reactions :) I missed you!
Thanks for being here Gill 🥺❤️
I never realized how awkward the 'Hip to Be Square Scene' would be without music...
18:13 That made me grin ear-to-ear like the
Cheshire cat 😁
Well done 👏
Fun fact, in the chainsaw scene Christian Bale was actually buck naked,
in male nude movie scenes they have essentially a banana hammock and he just refused to wear it.
Christian Bale always goes 110%. 👌🏾
@@TheDreamingJune He is a method actor lol
This movie is a masterpiece which is surprising because the budget for this movie was insanely small (8 million or so)
27:51 I mean hey, he won't be young forever maybe he wants to relive that stuff when he's older lol
In the book he takes Valium, Xanax, cocaine, and Halcion. If you understand what these drugs do to you it might give you more of a insight into his mind
The ending is left up to interpretation, how much of his killing spree and actions are real, and how much are in his head.
It seems the most popular interpretation (and mine) is that the actions in the film did actually happen, but they are depicted as Patrick himself sees them, with a grandiose excess. For example, did he kill those policemen? Probably. But did he actually blow up the car with only a pistol? No, probably not. It’s the extravagance and excess that’s not real. It’s overdramatized in his head.
The scene with the lawyer at the end could include a few interpretations. In one, the lawyer is telling the truth, and Paul Allen was never killed. In another, he’s purposely lying about meeting Paul to give Patrick an alibi, and in another (mine as well) is that he simply can’t tell who’s who, like everyone else in this movie. Like the lawyer doesn’t recognize Patrick, and Paul never recognized Patrick, the lawyer simply thought he was with Paul Allen.
In the end, Patrick is terrified by the idea that everything in this 1980s Yuppie Wall Street culture is so meaningless, that everyone is so indistinct that he can commit murder after murder and no one even cares.
The film and the book itself are largely a condemnation of that culture, as well as an exploration of toxic, violent masculinity. The movie does an especially good job of this, as it’s directed through the “female gaze” with the director and lead writer being women.
that is truly some of the best interpretations I've heard come from this movie, also the whole "female gaze" idea flew right over my head and I can't believe it did.
"Hey Paul" was my text tone for like a year. some people got it, some did not.
It's so good to see you post here again and love your reaction to this movie lmfao
13:46 Really gives "the tasteful thickness of it" a whole new meaning.
Every man understands the business card scene perfectly,. and relates to it. Every woman is always bewildered. xD
The Housebuilding Song during the Paul Allen murder was just hilarious and sums up Red Dead Players at the same time
when Patrick went and played the music and the house building song came on i lost it lol great and funny edits on this video.
I've missed your movie/tv commentaries. I really enjoy the fact you get deep into your analysis of what's on screen and you come up with some really interesting interpretations and hypotheses. Great work once again!
11:00 - You thought a movie called ‘American Psycho’ was going to be a normal movie? lol
I mean... The title says it all.
“I think he’s a psychopath..” 😂
He doesn't have any opinions of his own. He just parrots his peers.
Love your commentaries Tori, and I'm glad to see that your back at it. With your movies and just videos in general. I have a suggestion for one of your next movie reactions though, if you enjoyed this movie I believe that you'd enjoy Taxi Driver.
Fun reaction! Thanks for sharing.
A couple of things:
DNA - There wasn't any DNA forensics in the 80s. They could match blood and hair samples, but not much else. They would have had to pull DNA late from a cold case file and catch the guy in 2009 or something 😂
The explosion - He's looking at his gun like "wff" because you can't just blow up a car like that by shooting it with a pistol. At that point He begins questioning himself and the reality of it all.
If you read the novel, it provides some clues to Bateman's past but no clear answers. BEWARE: The gore level in the novel is set to Ultra-Maximum!
Do you realize that in this movie the Green Goblin investigates Batman for killing the Joker?
I think his lawyer mistook having dinner with Paul Allen, he probably had dinner with someone else entirely, everyone is so similar and self absorbed they don't know who each other are.
This theory makes the most sense to me