American Psycho: The Corpse Of Masculinity

This video is mainly about  the movie and not the book. Read the book, watch the movie they're both great. We open with these blood-looking  droplets that turn out to be the preparation of food in this  pristine white environment.

If we were in a kitchen we would be  thinking about the people who prepare and serve our food, but this is not a  film about people who work for money. They present food preparation in a way that  reminds me of the intro to the show Dexter, with its uncomfortable close-up shots and  visual comparison between cooking and murder. Did you know, viewer that the main theme of American Psycho titled simply American Psycho is so effective because it presents  the themes of American Psycho in sound format.

It begins with atmospheric tones  that invoke feelings of emptiness - The implication that something should be  there, but in its place a void - nothing. Then the pizzicato strings wiggle their way in, playing a fairly standard minor melody  that I really like, but we get these open stringed violin runs that seem like  they're doing this kind of creepy dance. The dissonance in the high and low  notes on the piano is fantastic they seem to cut through the  strings in the mix like a knife.

We transition into these open violins  that sound almost like wedding music. It seems thematically appropriate  for the fancy restaurant scene but there's something aggressive, almost  off-putting about the composition and performance. It feels claustrophobic, like you're listening  to this piece whether you like it or not.

The music is suggesting class,  high society, but it's just that. A suggestion, a mirage. This is also reflected in how the film  presents the culinary trends of the 80s.

The food is overly decorated, dainty and fussy. Check out that horrible handwritten menu. We're introduced to Bateman and his friends along  with their crassness, entitlement and enviousness.

The film is presenting the idea of  how grotesque it is that the people meant to be the crème de la crème  of society are just such wankers. Immediately we kick off with misogynistic and  anti-semitic dialogue from Bryce and McDermott, the latter Bateman heroically puts a cork in because he's a friend and  ally of the Jewish people. "Hate this place.

It's a chick's restaurant. Why aren't we at Dorsia? " "He's handling the Fisher account.

" "Lucky bastard. " "Lucky Jew bastard. " "Jesus McDermott, what does  that have to do with anything?

" "I've seen that bastard sitting in his office talking on the phone to the CEO  spinning a fuckin' menorah. " "It's not a menorah. You spin a dreidel.

" "Oh my god Bateman, you want me to fry  you up some fuckin' potato pancakes? some Latkes? " "No, just.

. . cool it with the anti-semitic remarks.

" No service worker in this movie  is given a second of thanks, the characters typically opt for  threats, insults, and demands - or just ignoring them completely  like they're not even there. Assuming this movie takes place in the mid-80s "Speaking of reasonable - only $570. " "that's not bad.

" the $570 they spend at the  restaurant is closer to $1600 today. The Stolis at the club are a  much more reasonable $35 a piece "little something for the purse" "give her the 50! " "oh, you're cheap.

" The way he says give her the 50  with such indignance is very funny, it shows how stingy the rich can be with money. Welcome to Bateman's personality-filled apartment. Some of the wall art is literally  just framed black squares.

The set designers do an excellent  job of communicating Bateman's void of personhood through his living situation. Mearly everything is pristine white and even  though nothing speaks for itself you still have no doubt that Bateman could identify the price  tag, features and branding of every single item. Something I love about the song in  the morning routine scene is that it's in constant motion without really  going anywhere, like an exercise bike.

It resembles the first movement of  Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata but with all of the mystique and intrigue sucked  out of it - an icy shell of what once was. Aptly named, the repetitive arpeggios  has put you in the routine headspace. It's an excellent representation of what's  happening in Patrick Bateman's mind - the tone is very serious, in  keeping with Bateman's feeling of urgency for performing outward self-care.

It's also clear through Bale's  performance that Bateman believes he is describing something of  utmost significance and value. The way he delivers the word  protective just oozes self-importance. "then moisturizer, then an  anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.

" Think about the order in which  Bateman tells you his personal info. "I live in the American Gardens  building on West 81st Street on the 11th floor. My name is Patrick Bateman.

I'm 27 years old. " He explains where he lives before telling you  his name, implying his expensive apartment is of greater relevance to his personhood  than his actual primary identifying trait. It's a subtle detail but one that tells you  everything you need to know about the character.

His description of exercises, ice  packs, lotions, gels, moisturizers - runs smack bang into one of the most important  moments of the film, the removal of the mask. "There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman. Some kind of abstraction.

But there is no real me, only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can  shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can can even sense our  lifestyles are probably comparable - I simply am not there.

" It's nothing particularly  subtle but it communicates the main idea of Bateman's character perfectly. There is nothing behind the mask. He's constantly mistaken for other people, does nothing but exercise and watch gory movies or  porn and doesn't care about anything whatsoever.

He is the suggestion of a  human being, nothing more. "Okay Jean, I need reservations for three at Camols at 12:30 and if not  there try Crayons, alright? " "Yes sir.

" "Oh wait, and I need reservations for  two at Arcadia at 8:00 on Thursday. " "Something romantic? " "No.

Silly. forget it, I'll make them. " "No I'll do it.

" "No no, be a doll and just  get me a mineral water, okay? " "You look nice today. " "Don't wear that outfit again.

" This guy's clearly a connoisseur  of the D. E. N.

N. I. S System.

Bateman holds all of the cards in his interactions  with Jean. He speaks entirely in imperatives. But Jean seems to shrug off his  behavior as just silly.

Sadly he's apparently non-hateable enough  for her to be in love with him. Bateman does not work, ever. He goes to restaurants, listens  to music, and watches TV.

That's about it. Bateman's job is completely  meaningless and worthless, and is moreover just a product of his  father's partial ownership of the company. It's the epitome of what David  Graeber called a Bullshit Job.

The 80s music they use in the  movie like Simply Irresistible, Walking on Sunshine and Hip To Be Square, they're all accurate to what the characters  would be listening to for the time period but they're completely tone inappropriate. They don't in any way represent what the  characters would be feeling, if anything. Personally I don't think the movie is making fun  of the musicians as much as it is the characters like the Paul Allen murder  scene is so godamn weird, and it really wouldn't be the  same without the song choice.

It's very well-picked mediocre 80s music. Evelyn introduces him to Stash and Vanden,  whom he completely ignores and Bryce hands him the reflective Espace menu causing a  lingering shot of his featureless face. Everyone cheats on everyone else, but  everyone seems to get married as well.

It's just stomach-churning thinking of  what these relationships must be like. The only small way the women can  control the men is through sex - something they not only see  as a commodity but something women owe them that they are withholding. "Tell me, Stash, do you think Soho  is becoming too.

. . commercial?

" "Yes. I read that. " "Oh who gives a rat's ass?

" "Hey, that affects us. " "Well what about the massacres  in Sri Lanka, honey? " Bryce immediately shoots down a  conversation topic that a woman brings up and talks about what he thinks  he's supposed to believe is more important.

It's only towards the end of  posturing and silencing a woman, not because he actually gives the  slightest fuck about what's happening. Bryce turns towards Bateman in a  bid to win some social support but he doesn't receive it - instead Bateman  gives a truly heart-wrenching speech. "Come on Bryce there are lot more important problems  than Sri Lanka to worry about.

" "Like what? " "Well we have to end Apartheid for one, and slow down the nuclear arms race, stop terrorism and world hunger. We have to provide food and  shelter for the homeless and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights while also promoting equal rights for women.

We have to encourage a return  to traditional moral values. Most importantly, we have to  promote general social concern and less materialism in young people. " What he says is obviously complete  bullshit but he knows that he can use it as an opportunity to  get one up on his male peers.

Everything he says is clearly copied  from some op-ed or whatever Bateman thinks will make him seem like the most  educated, powerful person at the table. The speech is basically what he sees  as a bunch of political truisms, but he does it in an absolutely ridiculous  way, it makes me laugh every single time. This is one of the few times that  Bateman manages to show any kind of social dominance against his fellow  men, and it's with something so stupid.

The only reason that he even gets away with it  is because indeed, they're a bunch of idiots. "Slow down the nuclear arms  race" is a complete gem. Saying to stop the nuclear arms race  would be some kind of commitment, however we are allowed to stop terrorism and world  hunger because they're universally unpopular.

The phrase "general social concern"  is now in my vocabulary forever it's just a profoundly meaningless statement. The background music is like  inspirational advert or something. Caruthers and Bryce try and shoot it  down, but he kind of had his moment.

"Bleaching? Are you trying to say bleaching? Bleaching.

. . Oh my god.

Two things. One: you can't bleach a Cerruti. Out of the question.

TWO: I can only get these sheets in Santa Fe. These are very expensive sheets  and I really need them cle- If you don't shut your fucking mouth. .

. I will kill you. Now listen, I have a lunch meeting at Hubert's in 20 minutes with Ronald Harrison and I  need those sheets clean by this afterno- Listen I cannot understand you!

This is crazy! You're a fool! I can't cope with this STUPID BITCHEE!

Understand! ? " "Patrick?

Hi Patrick, I thought that was you! " "Hello. .

. " This is a massive moment of anger  and entitlement for Bateman. He strolls in with an incredibly  bloodstained sheet that cannot be bleached and expects it to be  done by the end of the afternoon.

He genuinely thinks that the dry  cleaners give a shit about his lunch meeting at Hubert's and also  know or care who Ronald Harrison is. Still, Bale communicates the pathetic  nature of this character in this scene. He's full of rage, but it's impotent rage.

A detail I didn't notice until I  started writing this video is that the dry cleaning workers go mute, dead  silent when Victoria talks to Bateman - the exact moment he realizes he can  just get a woman to do the work for him. When she notices the blood stained sheet, he literally just covers it and then  lies about it being cranapple juice, which she obviously does not believe. Also he's definitely lying about his  lunch meeting, the clock shows 11:29 A.

M. He calls up Dorsia to get a  reservation and then they laugh at him. This solidifies the delusion Bateman has that his peers are laughing at him because he  can't get a reservation at Dorsia.

Of course, in reality, they're only thinking about whether they themselves can  get a reservation at Dorsia. We never actually end up seeing it, it's probably  very similar to the other restaurants we see, but it has the allure of exclusivity. Wealth creates exclusivity within exclusivity,  leading to the all important prestige.

Everyone, including the people  at the top of the pyramid, feels envious of someone else.  Everyone feels inadequate. Patrick feels inadequate when  he's unable to get a reservation at Dorsia and he externalizes  this onto the world around him.

What a shot. Even though Courtney has every second of her  life controlled by men and the taxi driver is forced to work for pennies on the dollar  for people above him on the social hierarchy, those two are still allowed an identity - a face. Bateman is not.

He's a blur.  A face in the crowd. Nobody.

Courtney is a character that reminds us that the  medical system never truly killed the lobotomy. If women can't cope with their condition you just  put them on enough drugs to make sure they cope. "I just want a child.

. . just two.

. . perfect.

. . children.

. . " The perfect one man, one woman, one boy, one girl  family she has in mind is nothing but a fantasy.

It's what she thinks she should aspire  to because she has nothing else. This is one of the reasons that I think the  initial reaction to the book was so ridiculous. Tammy Bruce, a leading feminist  activist in Los Angeles had this to say.

"American Psycho is the most misogynistic  communication we have ever come across. The book is in effect a how-to novel on the torture and dismemberment of women. " There's a certain amount of insensitivity  to how the characters are portrayed, but that doesn't take away from the overall point.

These characters are unabashedly  cynical, violent, misogynistic - but this is a necessary trait  for the book to make its point. As easy as it is to laugh at this  from a modern reader's perspective, knowing and appreciating its satirical nature, I still don't entirely blame people,  particularly women, for reacting in this way. It is an incredibly violent  book that's full of misogyny.

However, I can't help but wonder why the portrayal  of women was chiefly criticized considering that Bateman's internal monologue is chock-full  of racist, anti-semitic, homophobic shit. This was just the initial reaction and hindsight  is 20/20 so I can definitely forgive it. Courtney is so barred that she can  barely stay awake and is taken to Barcadia by Patrick, who lies  to her about it being Dorsia.

He literally tells her what she's going to  have, citing a newspaper article for his choice. "Courtney, you're going to have the peanut  butter soup with smoked duck and mashed squash. New York Matinee called it a 'playful  but mysterious little dish'.

You'll love it. " She passes out and he acts almost  genuinely content for the first and possibly only time in the entire movie. The female isn't yapping in his ear and  she thinks it's Dorsia so that means that Luis Caruthers will respect him, even if  he is the biggest doofus in the business.

For the briefest possible moment,  Patrick is in an oasis of peace. All is well. And it's nothing but the calm before the storm.

The stress, the intensity -  of the business card scene. Paul Allen pulls up and they  play like a shaker sound effect. "Hello Halberstram" Allen mistakes Bateman for someone else,  Marcus Halberstram, and compliments his tie.

All of the men look the exact same on purpose,  they only have the meagre choices of suit and tie. Paul Allen is the object of envy for Patrick  Bateman and basically every other character. He has a sliver of personality I guess, he  is successful at work and most importantly he has an 8:30 res at Dorsia on a Friday night.

The business card scene is famous  for a reason. All of the cards look almost identical, with identical  spelling errors on all them to boot. They use the sounds of swords  unsheathing for the card case opening.

The sound effects and music  portray crushing tension. "Call me. " The close-ups of his face in the scene are  some of my favorite shots in the entire movie.

He puts his hand to his mouth, he fidgets  around, he takes off his glasses - all of these are manoeuvres to calm himself down. Bateman can't move, but his fight-or-flight  response has been fully activated. The way he stares into the card  is like he's staring truth itself right in the face - Allen's card truly is better.

He's unable to cope with this  reality, he looks like he's using all of his mental resources to  prevent himself from having a seizure. I think it's conceivable that he killed Al  and others but not Paul Allen because it seems very in-character that he would kill  people who he sees as below him somehow. I interpret the Paul Allen murder scene as  more of an envious fantasy than anything else.

This would also explain why Paul Allen's  murder is contradicted later in the movie "Why isn't it possible? " "It's just not. " "Why not, you stupid bastard?

" "Because I had dinner with  Paul Allen twice in London just 10 days ago. " I think the breakdown of reality nearing the  end of the movie is more of a completion of the closest thing the movie has to a  character arc - his loss of sanity. "Bateman does actually have an arc in the movie.

" "Yes. " "What's his arc? " "He goes from psychopath to psychotic.

" "Yes that's right, he totally loses it. " "One psycho to the next, because he. .

. does have an ability  to to uh play the game and and and look very good in social circles and  everything and then by the end he's absolutely lost any grasp on reality  and it becomes completely surreal. " It's incredibly difficult to talk about this film without talking about its co-opting  by the so-called sigma male community.

For how amazing the satire in this movie is it's flooring how reality managed  to satirize itself better. Batman's like one desirable trait  of physical attractiveness is put under a spotlight in a very perverse way. "I went and visited you know all different  levels of people at Wall Street but the guys on the trading floor when I arrived  there before making the film I got there and a bunch of them they were going "Oh,  Patrick Bateman!

" and patting me on the back and going "oh yeah we love him! " and  I was like. .

. yeah ironically right? and they were like "what do you mean" so it  was always worrying um even back then.

I think this shows that the  misinterpretation of the film is not new. To be clear, any interpretation that puts Bateman in a remotely sympathetic position is wrong but the sigma male version of it is  new insofar as it's of the public. This isn't Wall Street yuppies doing  it anymore, it's normal people.

A 14-year-old boy might well see a  Patrick Bateman edit on TikTok and think "wow. what a cool guy. " and because he doesn't really watch movies he goes on thinking that Bateman is how he's  presented in these TikTok edits - socially dominant, powerful, desirable.

This wouldn't be as funny as it is if it  wasn't this particular movie that was chosen, being a scathing critique of everything  the sigma male community holds dear. Money-hungriness, materialism, worshipping  an idealized male form, misogyny Those who think that Patrick  Bateman is a cool character are somehow as ridiculous as the character himself. The man is a loser and everyone  correctly identifies him as such.

He's charming and attractive, yes, but insecure, vapid, uncaring, and consumed  by his own inferiority complex. It's incredibly funny that he's seen  as aspirational to anyone whatsoever - I mean even by the sigma male community's own standards he's shown to be very low on  the social hierarchy of his workplace. At least he's not the gay one I guess.

The Sigma Male conceptualization of  the character illustrates the lack of media literacy present in male-centric  circles, particularly conservative ones. They don't know and don't want to know  what this character's life is really like. If it looks desirable on the surface then it is.

The irony of that is palpable, it can be palped. The only characters of colour in this movie are  either homeless or in a position of servitude. In fact, the majority of service people  in this movie are racial minorities - the purpose of that, of course, is to show the racial disparities of  the time that continue on to this day.

Patrick Bateman lies about everything. If he thinks he will have some kind of  social advantage through doing it, he does. He's mostly successful at this, not  because people believe his lies, but because his words are the  de facto truth of the matter.

He's only contradicted when it doesn't  matter, such as when a woman calls him out. "You're late honey" "I'm not. " "oh yes you are!

" "I've been here the entire  time, you just didn't see me. " The party looks like a complete nightmare by the  way, there are a few places I want to be less. The Texarkana scene really  hits home how these guys *fucking* suck.

The top of society are abusing  every other member for so little psychological reward. It's nothing but  posturing and conceit and one-upmanship. Their interactions are  incredibly hatable as a result.

He gets Allen drunk and brings him  back to his white apartment and then recites an article about Huey Lewis And The News. The axe is chrome polished  within an inch its life. I have no idea how Bale did that hand movement.

Seriously, try and replicate it at home. It's definitely one of the  funniest scenes in the whole movie, it's absolutely bizarre and I love it. There's noticeably no sense of  catharsis when Allen is dead, neither for the audience nor the character.

It's not the fun kind of anti-hero killing that  you would expect from a character like this. He brings Paul Allen's body bag  out and it's trailing blood, but the doorman doesn't seem to give a shit. When he gets outside the blood stops trailing.

This was intentionally done and I think it was to show that Bateman no longer has  a consistent sense of reality. When Willem DaFoe walks into Bateman's  office he fabricates a phone conversation. "Now John, you've got to wear clothes  in proportion to your physique.

There're definite dos and don'ts, good  buddy, of wearing a bold striped shirt. A bold striped shirt calls for solid, coloured,  or discreetly patterned suits and ties. Yes, always tip the stylist 15%.

Listen John, I've got to go, T.  Boone Pickens just walked in. Just joking.

No, don't tip the owner of the salon. Okay John. Right?

Got it. " When Kimball asks if it was important,  he says it was a business conversation, probably said in earnest but  interpreted as a joke by Kimball. He immediately outs himself as  knowing about Paul's disappearance "What's the.

. . topic of discussion?

" "I've been hired by Meredith Powell to  investigate the disappearance of Paul Allen. " "I see, yeah. Paul's disappearance, yeah.

" After forcing a mineral water on him he  asks again what the topic of discussion is even though Kimball already  said it was Paul's disappearance. "So what's the topic of discussion? " "The disappearance of Paul Allen.

" "Right. Well I haven't I haven't heard anything about the disappearance or  anything, not on page six at least" Note the shot where he says  thanks and flashes a smile and then immediately changes back to neutral. "Your address?

" "American Gardens building, West 81st Street. " "Nice, very nice. " "Thanks.

" He's completely insincere. He's already talking about  Allen in the past tense - "Well I think from one that he was probably a closet homosexual who did a lot  of cocaine. That Yale thing.

" "Where did Paul hang out? " "Hang out? " "Yeah, you know, hang out.

" I like that he pretends not to know what hang out means but expected Kimball to  know what "Yale thing" meant. "Do you have any witnesses or fingerprints? " He is a master of incriminating himself.

"Had his apartment been burglarized? " The way he speaks is so bizarre  and unnatural it's hilarious. "I mean no-one's dealing with the  homicide squad yet or anything right?

" No, not yet, as I said we're not sure. The meeting started at 10:30 - "Patrick. .

. it's only 10:30, I think he knows you're here. " "You'll have to excuse me,  I have a lunch meeting with Cliff Huxtable at Four Seasons in 20 minutes.

" Implying that Bateman had a lunch  meeting planned at 10:50 A. M. "So typical isn't it?

" "It's just strange. " All of the jokes that he makes are at the other  person's expense and are basically just jabs. "I lost my job.

" "Why? you drinking? is that why you lost it?

insider trading? just joking. " "D'you take a credit card?

I'm joking. come on, get in. I'm Paul.

My name is Paul Allen. " I think it's possible he told the prostitutes his name was Paul Allen so that they  would confirm he was alive to Kimball, after which they would immediately confirm that  Bateman was lying when they get shown a picture. "No.

No smoking, not in here. " No smoking, not in here, huh? When he's having sex he only  stares at himself in the mirror, thus making him a homosexual.

I absolutely love the music by John  Cale, it's a very creepy soundtrack. Nearly every song is titled in a utilitarian way - The Hooker. The Restaurant.

The Office. But I think that adds to the fact that  things are described as they are - so much of the book is just made  of plain descriptive sentences and I think that really helps add to the kind of materialistic aspect of it. Caruthers shows them his horrible business card and it says Vice President  like all of the rest of them.

It's great how blisteringly intense  the music is in The Men's Bathroom, it definitely represents Bateman's unreasonably  strong reaction to Caruthers' behavior, and how he's losing his mind - he's sweating, he seems like he wants to fucking kill himself. It's hilarious watching him  do this and the accompanying soundtrack definitely adds to the comedic aspect. I believe that he did try to kill Caruthers for real because Caruthers is  someone he sees as lower, but he was so disgusted by his advances  that he can't bring himself to do it.

He literally washes his gloves, look at his fuckin face in the mirror. As a gay man, Bret Easton Ellis has a very  good sense for the homophobic disgust response present in straight male culture, and is  able to amazingly satirise it accordingly. He uses the classic videotape excuse  for the first time here by the way.

"Patrick? " "WHAT IS IT? !

" "Where are you going? " "I've gotta return some videotapes. " Bateman has charisma which  unfortunately allows him to rizz up this poor woman whose hair he  fiddles with immediately afterwards.

Something tells me nothing  good came of that relationship. The only word in the crossword that's not meat or  bones is Reno and I don't know what that means. "We'd gone to a new musical  called 'Oh Africa, Brave Africa.

' It was a laugh riot. " Bateman tries to connect with people  but fails because he doesn't know how to communicate when you're not trying to  get something out of the other person. He doesn't enjoy talking to people so he  just tries to say the "correct" thing.

When he does try and say something for the sake of saying it it's just  infodumping his special interest. "Did you know that uh, Ted Bundy's  first dog, a collie, was named Lassie? had you heard this?

" "Who's Ted Bundy? " He spends a while figuring out how to kill Jean and decides on the nail gun before  being interrupted by the phone. I personally think it's very clear that he didn't  decide to spare Jean out of some unprecedented concern for human life or change of heart,  I think it's literally only because he was interrupted by the phone and considered that  slightly more important than what he was doing.

Maybe he thought that killing Jean  would inconvenience him slightly. He saw Kimball put salt on his food and  copies him and look how much he puts. He's got this viscous sheen of sweat on  his face for the entire scene, it's great.

I think this is one of the times  where the movie plays with the idea that Patrick Bateman is just an alien. He just copies social interaction,  fake it till you make it I guess. "Dr off, choose a robe.

. . not the Bijan, and come and meet me and our guest  in the living room for drinks.

" You, yes you, get to choose from one  of the two robes but not that one. After bringing the prostitute and Elizabeth to  Paul Allen's apartment he murders Elizabeth, runs naked apart from some sneakers through the apartment building and fuckin'  noscopes her with a chainsaw. He breaks up with Evelyn at the  restaurant and it's definitely one of the funniest scenes in the entire movie.

"I know that your friends are my friends and uh. . .

and I - I've thought about that. You can have em. " "You're really serious aren't you?

" "Yes I am. " "What about the past? Our past?

" "We never really shared one. " "You're inhuman. " "no, I'm in touch with humanity.

" "Where are you going? " "I'm just leaving. " "But where?

" "I have to return some videotapes. " I personally don't think the ATM  really told him to feed it a stray cat. I also don't think he won in a fight against a  bunch of cops and fuckin exploded their cars.

Even he looks at the gun confused as  hell as to how it could have happened. He pulls out his phone and calls  his lawyer and it's possibly the first time in the entire movie where he  seems to show some kind of human emotion. But the entire reason that he is is because he's afraid he's going to get caught.

He's not regretful. All of the feelings that he has are  somehow directed towards himself. He doesn't really feel empathy towards people.

He fuckin babyrages so hard when  he thinks he's going to get caught he's an L loser. It's not just a profound moment of weakness,  it also exposes him as the weak person he is. He's such a godamn beta!

The scene where Jean reads the planner  definitely reminds me of the typewriter scene from The Shining, it's  probably some kind of homage. He's mistaken for everyone  else, including by his lawyer, but only because he has no identity  and so he blends in really well. This is one of the delivery methods the  movie uses to make make its critique.

Bateman is no one and  therefore Bateman is everyone. If this guy can go throughout society  unnoticed then the society is crazy. An important piece of symbolism in the last bit is that the door behind him  says "this is not an exit".

Bateman will never be relieved of his life. He hates it and he will never escape it. In a sense, it's kind of  the appropriate punishment.

The correct hell. He's forced to live a life that  he hates with people that he hates and he never even gets the relief of  facing consequences for his actions. The film and book both lack any  kind of traditional narrative structure but it's an intentional creative choice.

It's trying to convey that we're just  seeing a glimpse into this world. Patrick Bateman existed before we saw him and  he will continue to exist when the movie ends. In summary,Patrick Bateman is literally me.

I completely love this movie,  I recommend it to anyone. It's witty, creepy, and absolutely hilarious. Mary Harron's filmmaking prowess  is put on full display, and as I mentioned John Cale's soundtrack  absolutely brings it to life.

And I'm giving this one a 10 out of 10.