LogFAQs > #968633596

American Psycho can be interpreted many different ways, but I think the film staunchly makes everything out to be decidedly all in Bateman's head. The climax murder spree is enough to push it over the edge into pure fantasy. Though whether it's real or not never actually felt like an important question to me. American Psycho feels more interested in commenting on 80s excess through the head of its main character. The audience already understands that Bateman is unhinged from the opening scene; what it does after that is examine pathological disorder to an almost cartoonishly extreme degree. Representing warped morals, rampant misogyny, exploitation of women, etc. American Psycho succeeds to me not through the stabbing or screaming of violence, but rather the apathy of its protagonist and the culture he immerses himself as a whole. Bateman says it himself - "He just wants to fit in." He doesn't actually feel connected to the music he listens to or the restaurants he goes to, or even the culture that consumes him. Bateman is himself as much a victim of the culture he's a part of as he is an exploiter. The film is definitely a perfect condemnation of the 80s and the excesses of capitalism, but it's also more specifically a critique of the excesses of American culture at that time. It takes on the constant cultural relevance and superficial consumerism of the era and satirizes every clich trope there is. To me, it goes beyond just being a horror movie. It can practically be considered a straight up comedy if there wasn't all the murder!

That being said, I understand your criticisms perfectly. There is a reason that it's a divisive film. All the disparate threads of the story definitely do go a pace at which it does it doesn't make much sense sometimes and that can be frustrating if you're not so much into symbolism.

(sorry if I went in a little bit but American Psycho is my favorite horror movie so I kind of had to!)