American Psycho

Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale in the movie American Psycho (2000), is the antihero of the book American Psycho, written by Bret Ellis. Bateman works in the mergers and acquisitions department and is the Vice President of a fictional Wall Street banking firm called Pierce & Pierce. From the beginning of the movie, it is clear that there is something…wrong about Patrick Bateman; however, that something is not revealed immediately to the viewer. The movie never explicitly states that Patrick Bateman has a specific psychological disorder (nor does the book, I think), however, from Chapter 16 in our textbook I can make several assumptions as to the disorders he might have. 

Evidence for antisocial personality disorder and psychopathic personality disorder is practically littered throughout the movie. Bateman has no remorse for his unfriendly and violent actions, nor does he have any regard for the feelings of others he comes in contact with. When asked by a woman if he is seeing anyone, Bateman replied “maybe…I don’t know…not really”, the next day he broke up with his fiancé in a restaurant at lunch and when she started to cry he said “I’ve assessed he situation and I’m leaving. [Where are you going?] I have to return some video tapes”. His need to return video tapes is a recurrent quote throughout the movie and is an excuse to remove himself from the situation when it becomes undesirable to him. 

Throughout the movie (and even more so throughout the book that I have not read) Patrick Bateman kills many people in a variety of different ways. He kills men, women, children (though he didn’t particularly enjoy killing the child), animals, the rich, and the poor, whether he knows them or not indiscriminately for pleasure and to satisfy his bloodlust that consumes him. Though the bulk of the psychological evidence in the movie points to antisocial and psychopathic personality disorder, he has many other symptoms/characteristics that suggest other disorders too. Bateman has many obsessive interests, such as constantly trying to improve his physique and appearance and have the best apartment, business card, and taste in music and food (the restaurant Dorsia). This may suggest a generalized form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder His compulsive workout and cleanliness routine reflect these obsessions that control his life.

 Also, throughout the movie, Bateman experiences several auditory and visual hallucinations (many of which he thinks he actually says/does, such as saying he is in “murders and executions”, but other people hearing it as “mergers and acquisitions”). At the end of the movie it is revealed that his killing rampage from the whole movie was all inside of his head. One more thing is certain; he suffers from a psychotic disorder