Real Life American Psycho?
I recently re-watched the cult classic movie American Psycho. I did this mainly because it's on Netflix--and because my wife had never seen it. But it turned out to have inspired a couple of days’ worth of thought.
The film, which stars Christian Bale, came out in 2000, and is based on a 1991 novel about 1980s New York City yuppie culture (you know, the era when Donald Trump was first making a big splash).
In it, Bale plays a narcissistic young man named Patrick Bateman, who spends his days in the financial industry, and his nights as a serial killer.
Or, does he?
By the end of the film, it's not at all clear whether Bale's character has actually committed any of the murders--or whether he is simply a delusional unreliable narrator who imagined the whole thing.
Indeed, the first time I saw it, I assumed the latter.
The film's biggest mystery revolves around whether Bateman actually kills his co-worker, Paul Allen (Jared Leto). Initially, we are led to believe that he does. In fact, the film's most famous scene involves Bateman, donned in a raincoat, taking an ax to Allen's head, while blasting the Huey Lewis song, "It's Hip to Be Square."
By the end of the film, however, Bateman's friends miraculously provide an alibi for the night (claiming he was with them the night the murder allegedly occurred)--and another of Bateman's colleagues swears he just had dinner with Paul Allen in Paris.
This is obviously confusing. How did Bateman kill Paul Allen if Paul Allen is in Paris having dinner with people. Moreover, how did Bateman kill Paul Allen if he was, as his friends tell a detective, with them that night?
What is more, in the film, Bateman uses Paul Allen's apartment to stage numerous other gruesome murders. Yet, when he returns to the scene of the crime, he finds no murder scene (in fact, the apartment is being cleaned and renovated).
Like so many others who have seen this movie, I found myself confounded. So, I did a little research. According to the screenwriter, the ambiguity was unintentional: The audience is supposed to believe Bateman committed the murders, but that he gets away with them because his entire community is screwed up.
The film is clearly meant to be a commentary about Wall Street's superficiality, materialism, and the decade of greed.
Upon a closer watching of the movie, it is clear that the people in Bateman's social circle are so self-absorbed that they continue to confuse one another (which explains the mistaken alibi).
What explains the apartment renovation where the murders took place? Presumably, the owners are willing to cover it up in order to ensure they don't lose their property value.
The film is actually not about a killer, but instead, about how a perverse culture can empower--even enable--someone to get away with murder. Whether it's the perverse incentive of greed, incompetence, or self-centeredness, everyone unintentionally conspires to let him get away with it.
Sound familiar?
Washington, DC, may not be as quite as disturbing as this Hollywood production based on New York City, but a real-life political drama is playing out before our eyes.
In this real-life drama, all sorts of people have their own reasons for empowering and enabling a self-absorbed man who seems to be losing his grip on reality. In some cases, it's weakness or incompetence. In other cases, it's about career advancement. It's easier just to look the other way while democracy dies, and norms and institutions are snuffed out.
The narcissist in the White House hasn't literally committed murder (though, he did say he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose votes). But figuratively speaking, he gets away with it. And just like in the film, it couldn't have happened without the help of a weak, superficial, culture.
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