How does the representation of Patrick Bateman, partnered with the use of narrative devices, depict a misdirectional story?
American Psycho is a caustic Psychological Thriller that follows the self-narrated and extremely mechanical life of the seemingly clean cut, chauvinistic and self-aware Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). Bateman is initially introduced to the viewers as a Wall Street investment banker, who enjoys success near the top of his firm. He later does a complete 180 in character, revealing his murderous tendencies, among other sadistic preferences that seem to feature a sexual motive. He proceeds to kill multiple people, even causing a detective to invest suspicion in Bateman. His tirade seems to meet its natural end with a highly emotional confession to his lawyer whilst being apparently chased by the police. We discover through Bateman’s lack of comeuppance and a confrontation with his lawyer, who disregards any notion of Bateman having confessed any crimes to him, that potentially Bateman had been visualising and fantasising about committing the acts we see on-screen whilst not actually having done any of it. It is important to note that this is my interpretation of the film, with other viewers having theorised that Bateman did indeed kill everyone he is shown to kill, and taking the stance that this film is simply an observation on societies ability to be oblivious to what is really going on due to a selfish desire to focus on one’s own actions. To read these theories, see below.
However, I am going to be analysing this film on the basis of my own theory.
The first act of this film sets out to establish Bateman as someone who is an outsider on the inside. By having Bateman himself narrate, we go through his morning routine in which he ventures upon an anecdote revealing that he may seem to be something, but he is nothing. Bateman, whilst trying to put on a persona to not be noticed by society, is truly more obvious and clearer about his character than he should be. Throughout the film, his inability to control his urges and his exaggerated attempts to fit in, make Bateman’s reality crystal clear to the viewer. This ideology made the production fairly difficult, as the presence of a main character with severe personality disorders hadn’t been particularly explored to this point.
Previously, Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) had explored the idea of characterising a man with murderous compulsions, that also suffered a personality disorder. This character, Norman Bates, has become a massively popular character and has most certainly been the cause of an increased representation of personality disorders within film. Bateman is a far more complex character, suffering 3 separate personality disorders, which seem to have detrimental factors towards each other, creating a domino effect that leaves Bateman struggling to control himself. It is interesting to note that through my research, I stumbled upon many different people diagnosing Bateman in different ways. Perhaps the most in-depth observation I found was through the video below.
In the morning routine scene (see below), Bateman wraps up his narration by explaining that the viewer may see a Wall Street investment banker, who is obsessed with his own self-maintenance, but that person doesn’t exist. This is expressed visually with Bateman slowly peeling a clear face mask off, which can serve as a foreshadowing of the film’s narrative. Whilst the mask represents the willingness of Bateman to fit in to society and not to be perceived as the monster he is, the fact that the mask is clear is a nod to how Bateman has moments in which he embraces who he actually is and feels as though he can act as that person. Bateman’s willingness to explode and show his true colours may be in part due to the comedic undertones that American Psycho has and may also be attributed to the later epiphany that perhaps Batemans actions throughout haven’t truly happened.
We proceed to learn of how Bateman engages with other people, with him entering his place of work. He is met by his assistant Jean (Chloe Sevigny), who evidently has a crush on Bateman. They share what seems to be a normal interaction, however through the cadence and delivery of Bateman’s dialogue, we are shown how forced Bateman’s day-to-day behaviour must be in order to fit in. This scene is followed by a group dinner, in which Bateman’s exaggerated and seemingly studied conversation is expressed. This is most likely another attempt on Bateman’s behalf to seem as though he is just another normal person.
Through seeing Bateman’s engagement with his colleagues, we see the turning point of the film, extremely early on. In what has become a very popular scene in the film industry (see below), Bateman has a brief encounter with Paul Allen (Jared Leto), who mistakes him for someone else in the office. During this, we see that the belittling tone that Allen takes toward Bateman does have an adverse effect on Bateman’s mind. However, the straw that breaks the camel’s back here is where Allen reveals to the room that he has reservations for a restaurant that had previously laughed at Bateman’s reservation requests. This, on top of the realisation that Allen’s business card is far superior to his own, sends Bateman down the path of releasing his impulses. This seems to show an underlying motif of perfection, with this being applied to Bateman’s physique, his want to be more successful than anyone else, and even in his perceived ‘disguise’ of being a regular member of society.
Following this visual discomfort that Bateman feels, we see him take his first life. The life of a homeless man, accompanied by his dog, who suffers a similar fate to their owner. The spontaneity of the killing signifies the lack of control that Bateman has over his compulsions. It may also be a reflection of how Bateman perceives the rest of the world, and particularly reflects an industrial narrative. Whilst the man he murders is homeless and extremely low in terms of status, this can be seen as Bateman’s view on anyone else, with him being a perfectionist and someone who sees himself as separate from everyone else. This notion isn’t exclusive to Patrick Bateman, it is something that many people in society must admit to. This self-obsession and lack of care for those in your atmosphere is something that the film comments on without even intending to.
Next, the focus shifts to Paul Allen (Leto), who soon becomes the unfortunate recipient of Batemans next level of brutality. Bateman manifests a scenario in which Allen and he have a dinner under the false pretence that Bateman is in fact another investment banker named Marcus Halberstram. There is a splattering of the colour red throughout the sequence leading to Bateman killing Allen (see below), and this is a universal indicator of danger, foreshadowing Allen’s pending doom.
It is important to note that the red motif lasts throughout the film, however this sequence is crucial in establishing the red motif as something that Bateman cannot control. He is so focused on Allen and his urges, that he fails to even censor himself, with dialogue such as “I like to dissect girls” and “if you want to keep your spleen”. This graphic dialogue garners no response whatsoever, which offers insight to the viewers that perhaps these actions are simply going on inside Bateman’s head. The narration element throughout the film adds to this illusion, suggesting possibly that Bateman is narrating the events of his subconscious rather than narrating real life goings-on. This killing of Allen refers back to the earlier presence of an industrial narrative, with Allen being killed due to the higher status he holds over Bateman.
The next sadistic act of Bateman comes after Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe) visits him in his office to discuss the disappearing of Paul Allen. Whilst Kimball seems not to invest any suspicion of Bateman as having killed Allen, there is a certain sense of tension between the two. This is in part due to the way that Bateman deals with the conversation, having a very forced and over-the-top defence of his character. Bateman is clearly uncomfortable with Kimball being there and enquiring about Allen, however this leaks out and becomes apparent to Kimball towards the end of the discussion. By featuring such a scene, one that simulates an interrogation of sorts, we see a historical narrative device used by many in the film industry to establish the force that can stop the villainous character that seems to be unstoppable. Detective Kimball appears as the first challenge to the actions of Bateman and remains so throughout. Admittedly, this scene is a very loose example of an interrogation, however this serves to praise the scene in that it has the same effect as scenes that came before it, whilst being far more conservative.
The recurrence of Bateman’s meetings with Kimball exist to lead to the crescendo that Bateman hadn’t committed any of the murders. The way Kimball interacts with Bateman makes it easy to mistake as suspicion, where in actuality, it seems as though Kimball knows that Bateman hasn’t committed the murder of Paul Allen. It is Bateman’s very own actions during the confrontations with Kimball that lead the audience to believe that Kimball is onto Bateman. Misdirection is often used in Film to convey one idea, whilst setting up for a completely different reality to be revealed. Most notably in films like The Usual Suspects (Singer, 1995) and Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010). Misdirection attempts to lead the viewers down one road, whilst placing subtle hints throughout the narrative that in fact, we are on another road altogether and the destination we believe to be in place is completely wrong.
This misdirection is supported by Bateman’s use of drawings to express his internal wish to feast on flesh and bone. Multiple times we are shown this, but perhaps not a more telling time than when Bateman is drawing the victim that we witness him kill by dropping a chainsaw through a stairwell. Whilst the audience are led to believe that this is a real event, we are also suggested that perhaps it isn’t. The first factor that indicates this is the sheer ridiculousness of the killing. The idea that Bateman could successfully pull off such a feat is hard to believe. Not only this, but this killing is followed by Bateman drawing the victim on a café napkin. This may suggest that this was more a fantasy than a proper event.
The final use of this particular misdirection comes as we are being slowly informed that the killing of Paul Allen couldn’t have possibly happened, with Bateman’s lawyer having had dinner with him multiple times in London. London is the alibi that Bateman fabricated after killing Allen, having entered his apartment to place the evidence that would point to Allen having taken a trip. This epiphany is partnered with Bateman’s assistant Jean finding Bateman’s diary. Inscribed within are multiple genuine plans, but as she delves into the planner, we see Bateman’s psychotic drawings begin to appear. Eventually the demented scribbles are littered throughout whole pages, with Jean being visibly distraught at this revelation.
It is clear to see that these narrative devices and this representation of Bateman’s character can be heavily accredited with the success of this production. The ability to make a black comedy film that does retain its sense of seriousness and severity is often difficult to harness, but Mary Harron has done the film credit in this regard. Christian Bale’s performance must also be held in high regard, with his delivery of dialogue, his mannerisms and sheer commitment to portraying Patrick Bateman go under the radar when reflecting on some of the greatest performances in film history. A conversation that I believe he deserves to be in with this. This narrative must go down in history as one of the more turbulent and misdirectional stories to have been released on the silver screen.
Critical Analysis - American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000) 