The other evening, Sarah and I watched the movie American Psycho, starring Christian Bale as the 80's yuppie-turned psycho, Patrick Bateman. The movie was very well done and did a great job getting the point of the movie across. What I got out of it was the general idea seeing what dispair and lifelessness there is within the upper echelons of society. Basically, Patrick Bateman's entire existence was living to look good and talk about things that are fruitless to human existence. The empty, self-centered world he lived it caused him to become increasingly isolated and almost distant from true human ration and existence. So, he turns killer to (in a sense) get back in touch with humans. The problem is that he is (in my opinion) doing the entire thing just to get caught and noticed...BUT because everyone is so self-centered, his blatent calls for help fall on deaf ears. He is more or less a walking shadow in a world of shadows. Half the people in the movie don't even know the correct name for the other characters. In my opinion, it was a very well done movie...not a movie that is designed to be someone's favorite movie...but powerful non-the-less. I liken it to Saving Private Ryan in the sense that you shouldn't want to watch it over and over again...but instead sit and think about the point that the movie is trying to make. Christian Bale (although surrounded with a star-studded cast) steals the movie. He is an amazingly talented actor and conveys the inner turmoil beneath the chiseled, emotionless exterioir. My recommendation is to go and rent it, but make sure that you know what you are in for. The movie is extremely graphic and disturbing at times...but if you are able to not get all hung-up on that, you will see the movie for what it is intended to be. After seeing it, I am up for other interpretations of the movie, so please comment.
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3 comments:
"...living to look good and talk about things that are fruitless to human existence"
Things like fashion, trends, movies, etc...?
I haven't seen the movie. I've heard it's well done and has something to say, but I've also heard it's pretty grusome, which just isn't my bag, baby.
You have to pretty much have lost contact with all human emotion and be completely de-sensitized to all violence and human immorality to like it...hence why it now ranks as my favorite movie. Just kidding. But seriously, it is good.
This is somewhat irrelevant...but there's this sociologist named Charles Derber, and his theory is that all human interaction is characterized by competition for attention. He traces the "cause" back to the uniquely American form of capitalism - that is, intense individualism, concern only for oneself, and the lonliness and alienation that result. His big concept is "conversational narcisism" and he thinks that we talk about ourselves all the time because we are so desperate for attention. Interesting theory...came to mind when I read your movie review.
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