Cold, calculating and bloody — very bloody. Those are the adjectives that I would use to describe the beautifully grim character of Patrick Bateman from the infamous film “American Psycho,” which the Browning Cinema screened on Saturday. I mean, haven’t we all been shown a clip from this movie at least once, somehow keeping it relevant over the years?
Whether it’s the extensive morning skin care regimen with the iconic blank stare into the clear mirror as Bateman’s blasé voice drones in boredom and his hands peel off what seems like skin from his face (but is actually a perfectly intact face mask) or the model-esque power walk in his Armani suit and tie — hair gelled and styled back — with his thin black headphones, for some reason, “American Psycho” has become something of a cultural phenomenon. I feel like Halloween would be incomplete without at least one guy dressed in a full suit and a clear raincoat. It’s a matter of the beautiful and the gory.
Maybe the reason for this movie’s constant relevance is that seeing someone so unfeeling and blood-thirsty not hunched over with maggots worming their way into open flesh wounds all over their skin (like “Nosferatu”) but instead as a portrait of perfection is confusing. Yes, we’ve all heard that the worst monsters are the ones with pretty smiles and drippingly sweet words, but in the cinematic world, monsters tend to look pretty vile. “American Psycho” even explicitly addresses this picture, with Bateman spastically doing crunches in front of his TV while the tall, uncouth, chainsaw-wielding man runs from “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” runs after the screaming Sally loudly in the background — the spitting image of total opposites in looks, but a copy-paste in character.
What caught my attention in the opening of the film was the way director Mary Harron made it seem as if someone was cutting and spilling the blood of a creature in the most nefarious way possible, and then, next thing you know, it was an artwork of meat and garnishes on a porcelain white plate and ready to eat. I mean, what!? Two thoughts came to my mind when I saw this.
First, it eerily reminded me of the intro to the TV show “Dexter.” In a similar fashion, the opening credits include an elaborate, mind-turning scene of blood and slicing only for it to end up as food. What is it with food that pulls directors to do cooking scenes in thriller movies and TV shows — could it be a sly reference to their vegetarianism?
Second, what came to my mind was the doctor of madness, Hannibal Lecter. The cooking in the introductory scene and later the sweaty, crazed phone call that Patrick Bateman has with his lawyer as well as his confession of trying to eat the brains of his victims screamed of “Silence of the Lambs” to me. Throughout the movie, Patrick plays the part of a human with as few flaws as possible. In other words, he is obsessed with perfection. It wouldn’t be a wonder if he wanted to perfect the gruesome “art” of killing a person by stealing a page from literature’s most classy killer and cannibal.
Maybe this movie shows that falling for perfection to the point of not comprehending whether you are even you is a one way trip to being Patrick Bateman–style “utterly insane.” So take that chocolate chip cookie that’s eyeing you in the dining hall, return some videotapes, book a table at Dorsia (if you can) and don’t forget the duct tape — for taping, obviously! In the end, if you feel that your “mask of sanity is about to slip,” make sure to wear a pressed Armani suit, a clear raincoat and maybe a killer smile.
