Patrick Bateman. He is arguable more infamous than Alex from "A Clockwork Orange" even though it is unclear whether his murders are real or all in his head. Why, then, does Patrick Bateman terrify us? My argument is that it's because on the outside he is everything society tells us we want to be: handsome, rich, successful at his job, fashionable, and is engaged to a beautiful woman that will give him even more social standing. But underneath his moisturized skin, Patrick Bateman is the exact opposite. He is a racist, misogynist, necrophiliac, rapist, murderer, and cannibal. He is the ultimate satire of greedy yuppie culture that was particular apparent in the 80's. But more than that, Patrick Bateman is frightening because whether or not he actually committed these acts, he could be the handsome man next you on the subway thinking these thoughts.
In most children stories, and especially in Disney Films, the villain has physical attributes of ugliness or a color palate of darker tones to show their role. For example, Scar is darker than the other lions in "The Lion King" and has a scar, while Simba and Mufasa have no wounds and are of a more golden color. Although the Evil Stepmother is beautiful at the beginning she still wears dark robes and turns into an old hag when she tries to kill Snow White herself. Ursala always appeared to be unattractive in "The Little Mermaid." Jafar, as well, had a large nose, mustache, and dark robes and then later transforms into a giant snake and then demon-like Genie. My point is that they are clearly identifiable. But Patrick Bateman is anything but that. First of all, he is attractive. In multiple chapters he lays out for us his hygiene routine in great detail. For example, on 106, we get to see the contrast between the attractive surface and the serious problems hiding underneath: "Before leaving my office for the meeting I take two Vallium, wash them down with a Perrier and then use a scruffing cleanser on my face with premoistened cotton balls, afterwards applying a moisturizer. I'm wearing a wool tweed suit and striped cotton shirt, both by Yves Saint Laurent, and a silk tie by Armani and new black cap-toed shoes by Ferragamo. I Plax then brush my teeth and when I blow my nose, thick, ropy strings of blood and snot stain my forty-five-dollar handkerchief from Hermes that, unfortunately, wasn't a gift. But I've been drinking close to twenty liters of Evian water a day and going to the tanning salon regularly and one night of binging hasn't affected my skin's smoothness or color tone. My complexion is still excellent. Three drops of Visine clear the eyes. An ice pack tightens the skin. All it comes down to is: I feel like shit but look great."
But despite all of this hard work, the extensive workout routines, the many products for the skin and hair, Patrick Bateman has less of a name than his clothes do. All of the Wall Street characters in this novel can name almost every piece of clothing that the other characters are wearing but they cannot remember the names of their colleagues. Surface is all that people put importance into and yet no one seems to have their own identity, not even the narrator of the book. Example: "Owen has mistaken me for Marcus Halberstam (even though Marcus is dating Cecelia Wagner) but for some reason it doesn's matter and it seems a logical faux pas since Marcus works at P&P also, in fact does the same exact thing I do, and he also has a penchant for Valentino suits and clear prescription glasses and we share the same barber at the same place, the Pierre Hotel, so it seems understandable; it doesnt irk me" (Ellis, 89).
When the only thing that seems of value becomes meaningless we begin to feel the hopelessness Patrick Bateman feels. The movie, and Christian Bale's performance, does a great job of hitting all of the surface points - the business card scene, naming the designer clothes, the hygiene scene is particularly on key. The credits are even a throw back to all of the ridiculous menu items named in the novel. But what it misses is the suffocation that the reader really begins to feel along with Bateman in the first hundred pages or so of the novel. Up until that point nothing graphically violent is mentioned. It is just a grinding of these surface details, again and again and again. And when Bateman does start saying violent things, then confessing his crimes, and no one listens or just thinks he is joking around, it becomes even more suffocating. The movie, on the other hand, goes straight into Bateman yelling at a waitress, "You're a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, and then play around with your blood." The pacing of the movie and the book is different. Patrick Bateman's psychological deterioration is linear in the novel, really taking off after the first 250 pages when he begins to start saying things like, "‘You know, guys, it’s not beyond my capacity to drive a lead pipe repeatedly into a girl’s vagina,’ I tell Van Patten and McDermott, then add, after a silence I mistake for shock, finally on their parts an acute perception of my cruelty, ‘but compassionately.’ ‘We all know about your lead pipe, Bateman,’ McDermott says. ‘Stop bragging’" (Ellis, 325). While the movie begins with that outrageous quote then settles back down into his hygiene routine and then speeds back up again.
But I would say that so far, Patrick Bateman is the character that has been translated on screen most successfully. The voice overs and having him be the star of every scene makes us just as conflicted at the end of the movie as we are in the novel about whether he actually committed these heinous acts. Christian Bale's performance is really incredible. He was able to bring to life this terrifying character but also portray his suffering in this world where every door "IS NOT AN EXIT” (Ellis, 399).
No comments:
Post a Comment