Bateman returns from the confounding confrontation with his lawyer to find his co-workers watching Ronald Reagan speak on television, commenting on the Iran Contra affair. Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general.
He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War. By Cathal Gunning Published Sep 05, Share Share Tweet Email 0.
The way I see it, Bateman really did kill all those people. Those actions weren't all in his head — they really happened.
There's an explanation for that, and it makes the entire story even more disturbing. Yes, Bateman really did leave dead bodies in that apartment. However, the apartment is such a prime piece of New York real estate that the owner of the building hushed it up, got rid of the corpses, and is trying to rent it out without anyone knowing. And the filmmakers back this idea up. Sort of. But we just decided, together, that we both really disliked movies where the big reveal is that it was all in someone's head or it was all a dream.
But when Mary Harron was asked directly if the entire movie was in Bateman's head, she replied: "I would never answer that. The bottom line: while it's clear some things that happen in the film are in Bateman's head like the Feed Me a Stray Cat scene , the murders actually happened. I personally prefer that interpretation because I feel like making the entire movie a figment of Bateman's imagination lets him off the hook. It says, "It's okay, none of that horrible stuff happened!
American Psycho Lionsgate. For a good portion of the movie it looks like Bateman is just on the verge of getting caught for Allen's murder, but then Kimball drops the case after finding that the protagonist has an alibi. How did this happen? Because Bateman never killed Allen, and instead just imagined the whole thing. It's firmly established throughout the film that American Psycho 's lead character has an obsession and extreme hatred of Paul Allen, but it's that passion that could easily explain how everything involving Allen's murder just played out in Bateman's head.
What we see play out with the newspaper, the raincoat, and the axe is merely an extremely vivid false reality. It even makes sense that Bateman could have heard about Allen taking a trip to London, and incorporated it into the fantasy via the outgoing answer machine message that he leaves. Admittedly, there is also some ambiguity to the other deaths as well, and while I do believe that he has killed a good number of people such as the homeless man played by Reg E.
Cathey and the prostitutes , it's interesting to note that the movie also provides viewers with a good deal of doubt regarding the extent of Bateman's crimes. The reason why the entire third act is so key to understanding the ending of American Psycho is because it establishes that we are seeing the world through the protagonist's eyes, and nothing is to be trusted. An ATM doesn't actually flash the message "Feed Me A Stray Cat," and Bateman's run from the cops is certainly heightened to the point where you begin to question even the smallest details of the reality.
Again, this is just his psychotic imagination flaring up. The extent to which this idea can be applied to the rest of the film is up to individual viewers, but it can swing both ways. Ultimately, the brilliance in American Psycho 's ending isn't the question whether or not Patrick Bateman killed zero people, just a few homeless individuals, or everyone he lists in his answering machine message minus Paul Allen.
The more significant take away is meant to be present in the satire that comes in Bateman admitting his horrific crimes and nobody taking him seriously. He not only lives in an entirely shallow existence where "inside doesn't matter," but he has been driven to the point where he has become a mystery even unto himself, and only really knows that he wants to inflict his inner pain on others. Tragic as it is to say, the number of people he may or may not have murdered is inconsequential -- like the film's existence as Bateman's confession.
Our interpretation of American Psycho 's finale is far from the only opinion floating around out there, and from our stance you can probably piece together what the principal alternate theory is: Patrick Bateman actually killed everybody, including Paul Allen.
In order to believe this, you kind of just have to go with the flow when it comes to the aforementioned fantasy and delusion featured in the movie's third act - but there is an argument to be made. The key is in the film's deep, deep satire. As demonstrated by the fact that Patrick Bateman is constantly misrecognized by other characters throughout the film, the protagonist of American Psycho is painted as little more than a face in a yuppie-filled crowd.
His intense desperation to fit in has actually rendered him invisible, with his job, his Valentino suits and his Oliver Peoples glasses serving as his camouflage. Regardless, the aggression, mood shift, and disarming wink that ends the episode are the first jarring clues that Bateman isn't as polished as he seems.
Nobody likes waiting to be served, but thinking about playing with the bartender's blood because her club doesn't accept credit cards isn't exactly healthy. Bateman displays this contradictory verbal behavior throughout the film, with bizarre statements that may or may not be said out loud.
He tells a model that he works mostly in "murders and executions," as opposed to "mergers and acquisitions," and she doesn't bat an eye. One thing's clear, regardless: Bateman has a personality disorder, and he doesn't really try to hide it. While having antisocial personality disorder doesn't make someone violent or "evil," Bateman doesn't try to reign in his darker tendencies.
People get hurt and he shows little to no remorse. One of the more popular interpretations of American Psycho suggests Patrick Bateman never actually killed anyone , and the murderous actions we see played out merely take place in his unhealthy mind. Now, while there's no way to be percent certain that Bateman did murder people, there's a lot of evidence supporting the idea that he is, in fact, a serial killer.
One evening early on in the film, Bateman encounters a random woman waiting to cross the road, and proceeds to creepily walk alongside her. In the very next scene, we see Bateman aggressively arguing with some non-English-speaking dry cleaners about not bleaching what appear to be bloody sheets.
He aggressively loses his cool, and even threatens to kill the dry cleaner. When an acquaintance unexpectedly comes in and inquires about the stains, Bateman nervously claims they're "cranberry The obviously frazzled Bateman probably killed someone the night before — likely the random woman on the street from the previous scene. Even less open for debate is the first time we actually witness Bateman kill somebody.
After asking a homeless man why he doesn't get a job and taunting him relentlessly, Bateman straight up stabs him in the chest , before kicking his dog to death. Compared to various other murder scenes which come later, this one stands out as firmly grounded in reality, with nothing present to indicate that it's merely a sick fantasy.
According to Psychology Today , most serial killers display a pattern in victimology, weapons, and modus operandi. Sometimes, the method is varied when a killer is starting out, but Patrick is truly all over the map. Most of his murders are premeditated, giving him the means to control how the kills go down.
Outside of the homeless man, the helpless puppy, and the rampage Bateman goes on after the ATM killing, he seems to have his homicidal agenda laid out. But he doesn't know what he wants, and it shows. But he also goes after his male coworker and an old friend — both brunettes.
Likewise, Bateman toggles between people he knows and disenfranchised strangers. Serial killers often begin their sprees with someone they know in the heat of the moment, but it's rare to go back-and-forth the way Bateman does.
More bizarrely, Bateman's kills are seriously dramatized and employ beatings, an ax, a chainsaw, a nail gun, a real gun, and vivisection. He also admits to partially eating people, which we see play out in one traumatizing scene.
While some might argue that he's just figuring out what he likes, these extreme variations in both methodology and victimology often make it seem like his kills are scatterbrained delusions, rather than the premeditated acts of a serial killer.
While it can be argued that Bateman did actually murder his fair share of sex workers and homeless people, we can't be certain he's killed as many people as we're led to believe. In fact, Bateman doesn't even know how many people he's killed. In a panicked phone call to his lawyer , Bateman says: "I've killed a lot of people. Some escort girls in an apartment uptown I killed Bethany, my old girlfriend with a nail gun Last week, I killed another girl with a chainsaw There was someone else there, I cannot remember, maybe a model — she's dead too!
I guess I've killed maybe 20 people. Maybe 40! Perhaps the biggest sign that Bateman's kill count is on the lower end of his own personal spectrum, however, is the fact that there's no cops crawling down his neck. While it's easier to imagine someone like Bateman getting away with murdering random homeless people, sex workers, or women he meets while walking home, it's highly unlikely he's remained off the NYPD's radar with upwards of 40 murders. Throughout the entirety of the movie, we see Christian Bale's character repeatedly called names other than Patrick Bateman by various individuals — leading some viewers to question whether or not he really even is Patrick Bateman.
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