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“American Psycho” director Mary Harron marked the 25th anniversary of her satirical thriller by speaking to Letterboxd Journal about how puzzling it is to see “Wall Street bros” idolizing Patrick Bateman, the sociopathic New York City investment banker and serial killer played by Christian Bale in her film. As GQ magazine proclaimed a few years ago: “TikTok’s toxic worshipping of Patrick Bateman is another sign young men are lost.”
“I’m always so mystified by it,” Harron said. “I don’t think that [co-writer Guinevere Turner] and I ever expected it to be embraced by Wall Street bros, at all. That was not our intention. So, did we fail? I’m not sure why [it happened], because Christian’s very clearly making fun of them… But, people read the Bible and decide that they should go and kill a lot of people. People read ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and decide to shoot the president.”
Harron understands that TikTok and memes have played a role in the idolization of Patrick Bateman because “there’s [Bateman] being handsome and wearing good suits and having money and power. But at the same time, he’s played as somebody dorky and ridiculous. When he’s in a nightclub and he’s trying to speak to somebody about hip hop — it’s so embarrassing when he’s trying to be cool.”
That men could aspire to be Patrick Bateman is ironic considering Harron always viewed “American Pyscho” as “a gay man’s satire on masculinity.” The film is based on the book of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. She thinks Wall Street bros are missing that piece of the puzzle.
“[Ellis] being gay allowed him to see the homoerotic rituals among these alpha males, which is also true in sports, and it’s true in Wall Street, and all these things where men are prizing their extreme competition and their ‘elevating their prowess’ kind of thing,” the director said. “There’s something very, very gay about the way they’re fetishizing looks and the gym.”
Harron went on to say “American Psycho” is “about a predatory society,” one that is actually much worse today. She added: “The rich are much richer, the poor are poorer. I would never have imagined that there would be a celebration of racism and white supremacy, which is basically what we have in the White House. I would never have imagined that we would live through that.”
Patrick Bateman could soon be back on the big screen as a new interpretation of Ellis’ “American Psycho” novel is currently in development from “Challengers” director Luca Guadagnino. The film’s script was written by by Scott Z. Burns and Austin Butler has been tipped to play Patrick, although no official casting has been announced yet.
Head over to Letterboxd Journal’s website to read Harron’s interview in its entirety.
