Patrick Bateman Problems

Investment banker. Wall Street yuppie. Boy next door. Serial killer. It's not easy being Patrick Bateman.

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Lmao I make one “totally coming back to this blog really soon” post and four weeks later I’m admitted to a mental hospital. Unfortunately I only have my iPod with me, not my laptop, so there’s really nothing I can post. It’s been a long two weeks in here. If all goes well I’m hoping to leave sometime next week, but I won’t be able to request that until Monday. Apologies, I hope to be back soon. Send me good vibes.

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Update

So.... it’s been a while.  I haven’t posted here for a year, and a lot of personal things have happened since then.

I’ve had this blog since I was 16, and I’ve been posting at inconsistent intervals pretty much that whole time.  A few times I’ve thought about deleting it, since it didn’t seem to be going anywhere, but I really do love it, and every once in a while someone will send a message that’s so sweet that I feel terrible for ever neglecting it.  I think it’s time I sort of re-opened the blog, answered old messages, spring cleaning... that sort of thing.

But to be honest, the theme of this blog, as it was, could only last so long.  Patrick Bateman Problems are nice, but they’re running out of steam.  There’s really only so many you can make, and there certainly aren’t enough to make up a blog’s main content for any future length of time.

So I’m going to keep the Patrick Bateman Problems, and still post them occasionally as they pop up, but other than that this blog will be more of a general American Psycho blog.  I’ll probably make some gif sets and reblog other people’s content and post quotes and we can all have lovely discussions and whatnot.  It’ll be fun.

Once I start posting again, I’ll be expecting a massive wave of unfollowing, and probably a slow trickle of new followers, but to everyone who still plans to keep following: thanks for sticking around.  You’re pretty cool.

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I'm really intrigued by American Psycho, but I'm not sure if I should read the book, considering that I'm a bit younger than the age range that I've heard should be allowed to read it. I've seen the movie and I'm not disturbed by the violence/sex scenes, but is the book extremely graphic?I've read some parts, such as some excerpts from your blog, and they didn't bother me that much, but I was just wondering what your opinion would be on if I should read it yet. Thanks so much, and I ❤️ your blog

Thanks for asking!

The main thing to consider here is: what are you expecting to get out of the book?

I’d hesitate to put an age range on it, since everyone is different.  But, there certainly are some things to take into consideration, both content-wise and interest-wise.

First of all, it’s not for everyone.  The movie has much more mass appeal, and the book simply isn’t everyone’s cup of tea - which is fine!  A lot of people I’ve spoken to have given up reading it because they find it too boring, or they find themselves just skipping to the murder scenes, which imo might be exciting but really destroys any chance of understanding the book as a whole.

I apologize if this comes off as condescending, that’s not my intent: you know how a lot of adults still read books from the young-adult section, because they’re exciting and funny and engaging?  And how the books in the ‘adult’ section are boring and pretentious and pseudo-philosophical and slow?  American Psycho is definitely one of those ‘adult’ books, and whether it’s learned or taught, that interest in ‘adult section’ books usually is not something people develop until they actually are adults.  I don’t know your interest level, so that’s something you’ll have to judge for yourself.

The book is written as a slow-building gradient of Patrick slowly losing his mind, and as such, nothing exciting really starts happening until at least a third of the way through.  The whole book is narrated in a flat, monotone style, which is brilliant and at times hilarious, but it can make for a slow read.  The humor in the book comes from the juxtaposition of how cool and talented and attractive Patrick thinks he is, and how his narration plays up all of these qualities, but if you actually look at what he does and how he acts, it’s clear that he’s an embarrassing loser.  Everything in the book is understated, and thus, not usually “gripping.”  You can read it multiple times and appreciate more details each time around.

Another thing to consider is the content.  The murder (more accurately: “torture”) scenes are frankly nauseating.  The movie contains almost none of the original violence - the chainsaw scene was written for the movie, as a substitute for a much more graphic scene.  A few examples: Patrick cutting a woman’s lips off with scissors, burning eyeballs with matches, using a nail gun on a woman’s fingers, cutting out her tongue with scissors… the list goes on.  All of this is described in nauseating detail, as is Patrick’s hatred towards these women.  If you don’t have a strong stomach for gore, torture, and violence, you might have trouble with these scenes.

There are also the sex/rape scenes.  These are described in explicit detail - Patrick with several prostitutes and a heavily intoxicated woman - and I call them “pornographic” not just because of the explicit detail, but because I want to make it clear that these are not loving sex scenes or even casual sex.  They are Patrick acting out dehumanizing, pornographic fantasies of domination on women he has paid (or gotten drunk enough) to have power over.  It’s an incredibly (and intentionally) unhealthy portrayal of rape-under-the-name-of-sex.  If you are someone who is affected by portrayal of male sexual violence, these could be tough to get through, especially considering that most of the rapes segue into the torture scenes.

Thematically, the book is very adult, not in a “shocking content” way, but in a general interest way - wall street one-percenters, casual racism, casual misogyny, hard drugs, Donald Trump (I could go on, but you get the picture) as an image of upper-class 80s culture.  Depending on how young you are, a lot of the content might go over your head - the first time I read the book, a lot of it went over my head, and there are still parts of it I’m not familiar with, given that I’m 19 and hardly an expert on 80s politics and culture.

I won’t go into the thematic differences between the movie and the book, since you’ve simply asked whether or not I would recommend you read it.

So… If you’ve read all of the above and it honestly sounds like a book that would interest you, then I would say give it a try, but if you start running into parts that make you uncomfortable, or if you simply find it too boring, then put it aside and pick it up again in a few years.  There’s no rush.

(Just out of curiosity, if you don’t mind telling, I’d be interested to know how old you actually are?  I’m not familiar with the consensus on what the “appropriate american psycho age” is)

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[horror-movie-confessions]

“Patrick Bateman has awful taste in music.”

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Hello :) I was wondering if you wouldn't mind posting all the chapters with a murder scene in it? Thank you

Sure!  In order of appearance (yes, there are three separate chapters named “Girls”):

TuesdayKilling DogGirlsChristmas PartyPaul OwenLunch with BethanyThursdayGirlsKilling Child at ZooGirlsGirlTries to Cook and Eat GirlChase, Manhattan

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I actually got to listen to the who show (musical) and I liked it. It's difficult to like anything when you're already a fan of the original format (the book) but I thought it was good adaptation. I thought musical format would be awful and that a play would be better but after I heard the whole show I realized it the opposite. A play version would be awkward. You are right though, that the Smith's interpretation is a little too warm and not enough coldness.

Ooh, cool!

Yeah, I guesss if you're going to put American Psycho on a stage, you might as well go all the way and make it a musical.  Also there was that script that Bret Easton Ellis wrote before the APS movie was made that ended in a musical number... clearly the idea has been in his head for a long time.  I think it's so ridiculous and weird that it works - and I guess if you want to get all interpretive about it, the idea in the book is that Patrick and his friends only exist as facades, like they're acting for an audience of each other.  The whole world is a stage, right?

[invisibleincredible-blog]

a m e r i c a n  p s y c h o ; // ”Did you know I’m utterly insane?" [listen]

i. clean // ii. oh, sri lanka // iii. everybody wants to rule the world// iv. i’m not a common man // v. coming in the air tonight // vi. i am back // vii. hip to be square // viii. killer wolf // ix. hardbody // x. you are what you wear // xi. this is not an exit // xii. don’t you want me// xiii. end of an island // xiv. mistletoe alert // xv. a nice thought // xvi. a girl before // xvii. if we get married

[ A mix of all the currently leaked/released songs from the musical American Psycho. All rights go to respected owners. ]

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Sorry not sorry

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I'm reading American Psycho for my literature class as we had to pick a controversial or classical novel to study. I'm almost half way through it and I'm just really struggling with it, I like it a lot but I just wonder does Patrick ever feel any remorse for his actions or is he simply killing people because he's trapped in a world where no one really notices anything? What was your take on the book exactly in relation to why Bateman is the way he is?

Looong answer. Sorry…

(Disclaimer: everything I say here is just my opinion. Also I’m sorry for being so long-winded and probably saying the same thing 10 times in different ways)

Does Patrick ever feel any remorse for his actions or is he simply killing because he’s in a world where no one notices anything?

The short answer is: no, I don’t think he feels remorse.

The long answer: Most sources/people agree that Patrick is a psychopath. Some of the items from the Hare Psychopathy Checklist are: Lack or remorse of guilt, emotionally shallow, and callous/lack of empathy. I don’t think Patrick ever feels guilt for his actions.

An enforcing/enabling factor of his lack of guilt, apart from psychopathy, could certainly be his upbringing and environment, but I don’t really think it’s the cause. Patrick and his friends have never been forced to consider the morality of their actions, because there is no one around to make them think about it. There are no consequences in his world, and almost no repercussions (the police, occasionally, but no one to look down on his behavior). Patrick is never judged on anything more serious than his hairline or his sound system. He feels completely entitled to anything he wants. He’s a rich white guy in a sophisticated job, surrounded by other rich white people who (especially the men) also think they have inherited the world.

I kind of see Patrick’s sadism + his environment in the same way I feel about things like “violent video games/movies cause violence” (which, ironically, is the main reason this book is so very controversial). Basically, playing a violent video game isn’t going to turn a perfectly normal human being into a murderer. However, if someone with a violent nature (could mean some mental illnesses, could mean someone who was raised in an environment where violence was normal, could mean someone who is simply violent) plays a violent video game, it can enforce and normalize that violent way of thinking, and possibly push someone over the edge. Similarly, two separate murderers used American Psycho as an inspiration, but to say that reading American Psycho caused them to kill is pretty ridiculous. So, in the same way, I think that while Patrick’s environment didn’t make him a killer, it certainly helped. Pure boredom and a total lack of variation will make anyone crazy, and the fact that all of Patrick’s friends are also shallow, materialistic, selfish, and overall have a pretty cruel world view only adds to the problem. The fact that Patrick can get away with almost anything without anyone batting an eyelash is not only a massive enabler for him to do whatever he wants, but it could very well drive him to push his limits. See how publicly he can kill someone without getting noticed.

I think the only circumstances in which Patrick would feel remorse for his actions is if he lost something that benefited him. For example, he would probably regret killing Tim Price, because as Patrick says, Timothy is the only interesting person he knows. But he wouldn’t regret it because he feels empathy, he would regret it because he lost a source of amusement. The closest he gets to genuinely caring about someone is with Jean. From the book (chapter: “End of the 1980s”)

"I get an odd feeling that this is a crucial moment in my life and I’m startled by the suddenness of what I guess passes for an epiphany. There is nothing of value I can offer her. For the first time I see Jean as uninhibited; she seems stronger, less controllable, wanting to take me into a new and unfamiliar land—the dreaded uncertainty of a totally different world. I sense she wants to rearrange my life in a significant way—her eyes tell me this and though I see truth in them, I also know that one day, sometime very soon, she too will be locked in the rhythm of my insanity. All I have to do is keep silent about this and not bring it up—yet she weakens me, it’s almost as if she’s making the decision about who I am, and in my own stubborn, willful way I can admit to feeling a pang, something tightening inside, and before I can stop it I find myself almost dazzled and moved that I might have the capacity to accept, though not return, her love. I wonder if even now, right here in Nowheres, she can see the darkening clouds behind my eyes lifting. And though the coldness I have always felt leaves me, the numbness doesn’t and probably never will. This relationship will probably lead to nothing… this didn’t change anything. I imagine her smelling clean, like tea…"

Patrick definitely knows that he’s a psychopath. And of course, in the famous speech (from the same chapter), Patrick basically sums up his entire existence.

"…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 even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there. It is hard for me to make sense on any given level. Myself is fabricated, an aberration. I am a noncontingent human being. My personality is sketchy and unformed, my heartlessness goes deep and is persistent. My conscience, my pity, my hopes disappeared a long time ago (probably at Harvard) if they ever did exist. There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it, I have now surpassed. I still, though, hold on to one single bleak truth: no one is safe, nothing is redeemed. Yet I am blameless. Each model of human behavior must be assumed to have some validity. Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do? My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this—and I have, countless times, in just about every act I’ve committed—and coming face-to-face with these truths, there is no catharsis. I gain no deeper knowledge about myself, no new understanding can be extracted from my telling. There has been no reason for me to tell you any of this. This confession has meant nothing…”

What was your take on the book exactly in relation to why Bateman is the way he is?

(Here’s where the hardcore speculation and subjective opinions really get started.)

I’m not really sure. I’ve explained that I think he’s partially a product of his environment. I think it’s safe to imagine that his childhood and adolescence were much the same as his later life - entitled, only given the best, never taught anything resembling humility.

In some people, the development of Antisocial Personality Disorder (of which psychopathy is a sub-category, along with sociopathy) is due to environmental factors - abusive parents, or parents who also display antisocial behavior - and this is a possible factor for Patrick. There is no information about his parents, and almost nothing about his childhood, but I think there’s a possibility that his parents were pretty neglectful. In the one scene where he speaks to his mother in the book, she seems totally detached. Maybe she’s on drugs, maybe she also has antisocial tendencies, or maybe she just never cared about raising children. You hear about the rich parents who give their children everything in the world except love and attention. This might be a possibility for Patrick, although I’ve never heard of a child developing APD just from detached parents, rather than abusive or dangerously neglectful ones (i.e. letting children starve or go without treatment when sick or injured). It’s more likely that this is a contributing factor - again, an enforcement or an enabler rather than a direct cause.

By this point, of course, everything is pure speculation, but personally I’d put my money on the biological approach. People with APD usually have impaired functioning in the prefrontal cortex, and certain chemical imbalances (such as serotonin). Apparently if women smoke during pregnancy, the deprivation of clean oxygen to the fetus puts it at higher risk of developing the deficiencies characteristic of APD when born.

From this approach, I guess you could say that some people are just born evil (or, at least, born with a predisposition for antisocial behavior, if you want to be less dramatic).

I personally don’t see Patrick’s sadism as a result of anything in his life. I think an important theme in the book is that things just are, including Patrick.No one in his reality questions the world around them, and no one questions the morals behind their actions. They just accept the world as it is, and live in it however they want without a second thought. In the excerpts above, Patrick talks about how he doesn’t really exist; he has no purpose.

The book puts a lot of attention on the superficial lifestyle of a certain social group in the 80s. It’s a commentary on the detachment of the rich people, the people who had/have the most power to change things. The people with power (Patrick and friends) don’t let other people’s suffering penetrate their reality, and the people without power (middle/lower class, the homeless, etc.) can’t change their situation without help from the people who choose to either completely ignore or completely dehumanize them. Patrick himself is the epitome of this way of life, and very much like a caricature. However, Patrick shows that he actually does understand the world around him. He actually goes out of his way to play the role of an empathetic human being (see the entire Sri Lanka speech), even though he knows how completely uncaring he is. He might be playing that role to half-heartedly try to convince his friends of his moral superiority - sort of a way to put himself above them with something other than the latest walkman model - but frankly, I don’t think any of his friends buy it, and I think he knows that. He does see the suffering of others, and not only does he choose not to help, he chooses to actively make their situations worse. From the same chapter again, thinking about his conversation with Jean: "I could even explain my pro-apartheid stance and have her find reasons why she too should share them and invest large sums of money in racist corporations…"

So Patrick goes one step beyond the detachment of that way of life in the 80s, and actively hurts others, for no reason at all apart from his enjoyment. He knows his life is pointless, and he knows that he and the reality he lives in are completely hollow, but his way of dealing with that is to make others suffer. Again:

“My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this—and I have, countless times, in just about every act I’ve committed—and coming face-to-face with these truths, there is no catharsis. I gain no deeper knowledge about myself, no new understanding can be extracted from my telling. There has been no reason for me to tell you any of this. This confession has meant nothing…”

Though killing people may give Patrick momentary amusement, he has no expectations of ever being a whole person. With some killers, the motive is to fill some void, or act on some urge that they feel is in their nature, or will bring them something they want or feel they need (see Jeffery Dahmer’s control complex). While Patrick is certainly satisfying urges, he has no overall goal or expectation. He is simply going to be, and he doesn’t see (or seem to want) anything more in life. I always end up going back to the “confession has meant nothing” speech, because personally I think it sums up everything about Patrick, even his understanding of himself.

Here are some pages about APD/psychopathy, if you’re interested:

http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=96473

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/05/11/scans-show-psychopaths-have-brain-abnormalities/38540.html

http://psychcentral.com/lib/what-causes-antisocial-personality-disorder/000652

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist

THIS POST has a bunch of links about Patrick/the book.

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Who or what was your first kill ever?

I don’t really remember.  My past is irrelevant to me.

"An animal, probably a mouse or a rat.  Maybe even a bug.  Something small and pointless.”

At the age of six I used to keep fish in a tank, and I remember scooping one out and watching it flop back and forth, helpless, until it died.  This wasn't my first kill, but for some reason the memory is etched clearly into my mind.

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Visit Original Link

Sussudio  |  Phil Collins  |  ...Hits

Phil Collins' solo efforts seem to be more commercial, and therefore more satisfying in a narrower way, especially songs like "In the Air Tonight" and "Against All Odds."

Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it.

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To the person who asked about a report on American Psycho I did mine as a junior (year 11). I had to read a section from the book (Tries To Cook and Eat Girl) &it sucked but I went over it with my teacher first&he was okay with it. If you don't focus on how graphic the book is it's great to analyze for a class- focus on the social satire and less on the sex/murders and you're good!!

Thanks!

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