American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis - Analysis Part 1 ***BIGGGG TRIGGER WARNING

I am currently reading American Psycho. 

Obviously, I've seen the movie, I know what I was getting myself into. I also have read around 10 Stephen King books, I am not a virgin in terms of horror novels. Let me just make this crystal clear: Stephen King is known for his horror novels, but most of his books are generally not that terrifying. The Shining and It have pretty gruesome scenes, but nothing compared to Bret Easton Ellis. 

Side note right off the bat: just looked up a picture of this dude and why am I not surprised that is what he looks like. He was probably creaming his pants writing about how perfectly manicured and ripped Patrick Bateman is. Is it too soon to say... dude is a creep. 

There is a huge distinction between the movie and the book. I will put it out there right now: The book was written by a man, the movie was directed by a woman (thank god). Though the two are very similar, there is a lot that they left out of the movie for practical reasons in that one can't fit everything that happens into a 2 hour film, but the direction in which they took it is very interesting to me. 

This book reminds me of a well known favorite of mine, The Catcher in the Rye. The book about a teenager wandering the streets of Manhattan, having encounters with various people, and a whole bunch of nothing happens. I always wondered why they never adapted it into a film, but it makes sense. There's no interesting plot points to drive a film, it's a story about this kid's experiences during a turning point in his life. Nothing very exciting happens, the journey is in... well, the journey. 

American Psycho is very similar to this. Though the plot points are a whole lot more interesting than what happens to Holden Caulfield, a lot of these plot points and chapters have a whole bunch of nothing in them, and that's the point. There's one chapter in which Bateman is in a cab with a bunch of people and they are literally having a conversation about different types of water. Distilled, purified, spring water, how it should be in a glass bottle instead of plastic, etc. This isn't a throwaway chapter, it's important in characterizing the group of elite Wall Streeters that Easton Ellis is targeting, but it's literally a conversation about nothing. Many of Bateman's interactions with people are a whole bunch of nothing, but it's in the nothing which says so much. 

Earlier today, I was thinking about Patrick Bateman's origin story. It's more than halfway through the book in which we learn that he did go to college (Harvard), and has a younger brother and presumably, parents. I wrote in my notes before I hit that point in the book and I thought to myself, where did this man come from? It seems as though he was spawned in as a 26 year old Wall Street man with his wardrobe and apartment fully stocked with all of the things that this person needs to exist in the world he spawned into. He has no family, no parents, no past. He has always been 26, working at Pierce and Pierce, fraternizing with the same type of men. 

It's an interesting concept to think that these men didn't just spawn, they were created. Having gone to college, I see it happening in real time. I see the college boy turn into Finance Bro in front of my eyes. But there's just something about only being 26 and having established so much of a life in Manhattan at this career where he seemingly does nothing but talk to people who also do a whole bunch of nothing. 

I should preface in here that the events in this book take place in the late 1980's during a time in which Reagan's war on drugs and the AIDS epidemic were on everyone's mind. This is extremely important to the book's overall message. The events and conversations within this novel are very time-period based and is something to discuss all together. I will not be discussing this right now as I have not spent the time researching Reagan's presidency as in depth as I'd like to especially while discussing this book. One can't appreciate American Psycho fully without knowing a bit of history of the time period in which it took place. I digress. 

The story begins with a seemingly normal dinner between business associates and friends in an elite New York apartment with Bateman's girlfriend, Evelyn, who is drugged the hell out. Bateman seems to compose himself very well, gets along with everyone, has a nice relationship with both Evelyn and Courtney, his business associate's girlfriend, and has a (somewhat) reasonable life. He is just like every other Wall Street finance bro. He works, goes out, snorts coke in the bathroom with his platinum AmEx card, and life is pretty sweet. He discusses his morning routine that would put all these influencer's Get Ready With Me's to shame. He works out for several hours a day, has a nice even tan, gets facials on the regular, manicured nails are a must, his skin must be moisturized to perfection and hair both bouncy and lively yet kept and styled perfectly. Much like the movie sequence, he describes his routine in ridiculous detail, listing every brand he uses and the order is extremely specific for reasons he also includes. There is something very off about this type of man, and we know he is a disturbed person, but it seems as though everyone in this lifestyle is like this as well. We meet his friend who I can't remember his name, Pierce? Tim? Who he almost seems to have a genuine relationship with but then he leaves and is literally never talked about again. He goes to various dinner locations throughout his week and it always has to be the best restaurant and he has to sit at the best table. Reservations are always on his mind. Dorsia, the hottest restaurant is nearly impossible get into, and this restaurant is forever implanted in Bateman's mind. There's never a time in which he is not thinking about Dorsia, whether it's in the forefront of his mind, it's always there. 

The story is told with various chapters of his experience and thoughts as he's engaging with the world around him. He is almost never alone. After work there is always an event or a dinner and this horny mf is always on the prowl to get laid. Meanwhile, it's established through casual mention in either his thoughts or aloud at the dinner table when barely anyone is paying attention to anything except themselves, that he has murdered several people. We find out eventually that even in college he was torturing and murdering women. 

This Wall Street life that he lives leaves him in one of the best positions to be a serial killer. It's established very early on in the book that everyone looks the same and no one really knows who anyone is. They see a man across the room and are convinced it's one person when it's actually a completely different person and vice versa. Bateman, himself, is called several names by various people and typically uses his business associate's names when committing atrocious crimes. Throughout the book we see him brutally murder several people including 3 prostitutes, a girl friend, a child, a homeless man, a dog, his business associate Paul Owen (not Paul Allen) and probably others that I'm forgetting. 

Like I said, I'm no newcomer to the world of horror novels but the way Easton Ellis writes these murder scenes is something else. It's extremely graphic, gory, and disturbing. Caution to anyone who decides to read this book, and I do recommend reading it, but definitely prepare yourself for some tough, tough reads. Bateman isn't just going out there killing women. He's playing with them. As he progresses through the novel, things begin to really pick up for him mentally and he can't keep going through life without getting his fix. He needs to kill in order to stay sane, but the more he kills, the crazier he gets. His perfect exterior calms him down only to a certain point. He begins to talk nonsense and saying incriminating things to the wrong people. Even a detective comes to his office door to discuss the disappearance of one Paul Owen, and he cannot seem to keep it together. The deterioration of his sanity is a slow but steady fall and it's really awesome to read. 

I have had to stop reading to write this blog post and also I'm in one of the chapters called "Girls". There are multiple chapters throughout the book called "Girls" and you know that something is about to go down. Easton Ellis writes very explicit sex scenes with Bateman and the girls he coerces into having sex with, and then tortures and plays with their bodies. The first chapter, he wasn't necessarily explicit in what he did to the women, but he ended the chapter with the girls limping out of the apartment, bruised and bloodied and needing hospitalization. 

I want to make it clear: Patrick Bateman is not someone to idolize. Bret Easton Ellis, a fantastic writer who wrote a very interesting story with a very interesting and complex character, is not someone to idolize either. Patrick Bateman is a sick, disturbing character and anyone who thinks of him as a baddie or a babydoll needs to check themselves at the door. The movie didn't explicitly show how badly he vandalized and tortured his victims. I cannot say that enough. I had to stop reading because the content was so disturbing, I needed a moment. 

I wish I lived through the late 80's when this book took place to really understand what Bret Easton Ellis is saying in this book. Bateman goes about his life interacting with the most shallow individuals, having nonsensical conversations, and consuming. Everything Bateman consumes must be the top of the line, the most expensive, high quality, best sounding stereo system, whatever.

Patrick Bateman does not have any interests. He studies the human experience and what other people in his life are interested to the point in which he knows what to do and does it. His wardrobe is comprised of only the most luxury designer brands. When he describes the people he interacts with, he lists each item of clothing, describing what brand, what make, what model, the price, everything. He knows everything there is to know about designer fashion. If he doesn't know what exact shirt or jacket's brand is, it's cheap and probably from Bloomingdales. His apartment has only the finest things money can by, and if someone asked him why he bought it, he would explain in detail that it's because it's the best of it's kind. It has all these features and all these special buttons and he just has to have it. The stereo system isn't because he loves music and loves the audio quality. It's because it's the best and everyone listens to music so he should listen to music and have the best quality sound system money can buy. The music he listens to isn't niche. He listens to music that everyone else is listening to, and forms his opinions on the music based on what the men's magazines write about it. He has two chapters that I've read so far: one called Genesis, and one called Whitney Houston. In these chapters he breaks down their discography and explains in ridiculous detail each song and what makes them so good. I believe that these are literally copy and paste Rolling Stones articles. He does not have one original thought in his persona that he displays to the world. Serial killer Patrick Bateman, now that's something else. 

There's so much more to say about this book, but being that I haven't even finished it, I want to save some of my thoughts for a part two analysis. This book is really incredible and I do recommend reading. Trigger warning x1000!!! There is extreme racial prejudice, very Reaganistic ideology (Just Say No!), violence against people of color, women, sex workers, men, children, and animals. Also necrophilia and torturing corpses. If you are a living creature, you should fear Patrick Bateman. 

I will leave you here. Christian Bale is one of the greatest actors of our generation. His performance in American Psycho has always been incredible to me and some of the greatest acting, making this movie one of my favorites. Now that I am nearly 3/4ths finished with this book, I can say whole-heartedly that this man put on the performance of his life. He crushed the role of Patrick Bateman in all of his essence. Flowers to you, Mr Bale. 

Until next time! 

xoxo Gossi- oh wait that's not this blog