Friday, 17 September 2010
Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women, and for statements that were interpreted as claiming that all heterosexual sex is rape, an interpretation she rejected.
An anti-war activist and anarchist in the late 1960s, Dworkin wrote 10 books on radical feminist theory and practice. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, she gained national fame as a spokeswoman for the feminist anti-pornography movement, and for her writing on pornography and sexuality, particularly in Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981) and Intercourse (1987), which remain her two most widely known books.
"all heterosexual sex is rape"
Thursday, 16 September 2010
nah says:
idk we were thinking about it hard tonight
we got the basics of thought down for how you would establish a form of thought via association using probability flux something or other using multiple stimuli to calulate similarities between various correlating sets of data
but past that we couldn't figure out how to apply those connections to anything tangiable
WTF
MYYYYYYYYY CONCLUSIONNNNN - NEED TO MAKE CUE CARDS BEFORE I DIE
The essential premise of American Psycho is probably not a sexual one, and to focus on Bateman's sexuality is to risk missing the point. The caricatured inhumanity of the central character focuses on markers of maleness, a "pre-metrosexual" 1980's masculinity defined by materialism. While it is true that perverse or extreme sexuality are very evident in the character of Bateman, they are used more as striking symptoms of his psychosis than as general identifiers of his male character. He is a psycho who happens to be male, rather than a man who has become psychotic about his maleness.
If anything, the implication would seem to be that he is psychotic about his Americanness, and the masculine, sexual, manner in which his psychosis manifests is a product of his sociocultural location. Perhaps we are supposed to notice that Bateman is American before he is psychotic, that he is American before he is male, and that Americanness, maleness, and psychosis are inextricably linked.
Bateman himself may well be a misogynist, but whether the text can reasonably be read as some kind of misogynist propaganda depends on many more factors: how sympathetic he is; what the "realist" agenda of the story is; how the female characters are portrayed; what the express intentions of the author are, etc. Looking cursorily at the realism, for example, it is quickly obvious that Bateman is not supported by the style of the book. The writing is surely "darkly comic"- a feature made even more apparent in the film.
Nevertheless the film is not exempt from accusations of misogyny. The core of the discussion about American Psycho and many other texts related to it lies the question of whether it is truly possible to have a male protagonist and not to expect the audience to identify with him, ultimately in some way condoning his actions. The same debate surrounded the openly woman-hating In the Company of Men, which was nevertheless defended by the director as being a demonstration of "how awful men can be". In Laura Mulvey's view,
“The reader will identify with the male protagonist, as the apparatus of cinema is synchronous with societal ideologies to the extent that it indoctrinates us into the dominant paradigm. “
The swaggering and posturing of the identikit guys like Bateman and his peers can be convincingly interpreted as a kind of hollow self-inflation that actually only highlights weakness, sameness, and never autocratic power. If the men display elements of misogyny, they appear to be acts of distinction- ways in which they move the spotlight off themselves and onto a lesser "other" in order to validate that they are still men. Bateman is not significant in his individuality, so the point cannot be that he, or indeed Ellis, hates women: Bateman is a representative, part of a symphonic group of people so fatally embroiled in the monotony of their worlds they must desperately, seek an "other" by which to define themselves.
Unlikely Hitchcock's "Psycho", Bateman's violence does not appear to be a way of compensating for his emasculation- he is sexually primal and irresistibly alpha. Yet all the sex in the world will not compensate for the real emasculation that the book in concerned with. Bateman finds himself trapped in an inescapable and torturous pattern of grovelling and bootlicking in order to hold onto his job and material possessions. As David Reilly writes,
"American Psycho" lets us envy the lifestyle while pretending to criticize it. Neither the book nor, apparently, the movie, actually satirizes these guys' greed. The target is their swaggering masculinity (making the old, old Andrea Dworkinish point that just being male is an act of misogyny). We're left with a loophole: Lives built around money and expensive consumer goods are only bad if you're not a woman or a sensitive male who would never hurt a fly or open his."
In fact there may be another level to this. Misogyny is not only apparent in exhibitions of homogenous males; many of the most emphatic displays found in homosexual culture represent barely concealed disdain for womankind. American Psycho is a homosexual story because it is about the price of fabulousness, the irresistible capitalist infringement on individual style. Since the lifestyle and trappings of flamboyance require money, capitalism will always ask subcultures to forfeit their marginalized chic, if they wish to survive in society.
Ellis's novel is an extravagant cautionary tale about the fragility of human desire and its propensity to buckle and warp quite readily under pressure. Even the content of their bizarre conversation is alien to the men, they have become strangers to everything that is supposed to identify them as unique: their clothes, their homes, their business cards, words, are all governed by a complicated rule system that has come to represent nothing more than income.
Sexism and misogyny is still present among gay men, who enjoy certain privileges as men in a patriarchal culture. It has been suggested that characters like Carrie in Sex and the City provide gay men with a portal into the heterosexual norm. They enable a degree of acceptance by giving them some "use" beyond their usual isolation. The sense of "shame" attached to homosexuality is alleviated through the homosexuals' efforts towards assimilation into heteronormative society and as such, flamboyance and caricatured femininity may be a system of neutralization.
It seems that Bateman and his colleagues are subject to this "homosexual" compromise in society in two ways: their desire to be individualized only makes them more normal; and it leads them to a cold impersonation of femininity. By traveling so far up the scale of feminine affectation, homosexuals appear distanced from the bodily acts of sex and to the extent that everything is about appearances, are accepted into the sanitized, sexless subjectivity in mainstream culture.
If anything, the implication would seem to be that he is psychotic about his Americanness, and the masculine, sexual, manner in which his psychosis manifests is a product of his sociocultural location. Perhaps we are supposed to notice that Bateman is American before he is psychotic, that he is American before he is male, and that Americanness, maleness, and psychosis are inextricably linked.
Bateman himself may well be a misogynist, but whether the text can reasonably be read as some kind of misogynist propaganda depends on many more factors: how sympathetic he is; what the "realist" agenda of the story is; how the female characters are portrayed; what the express intentions of the author are, etc. Looking cursorily at the realism, for example, it is quickly obvious that Bateman is not supported by the style of the book. The writing is surely "darkly comic"- a feature made even more apparent in the film.
Nevertheless the film is not exempt from accusations of misogyny. The core of the discussion about American Psycho and many other texts related to it lies the question of whether it is truly possible to have a male protagonist and not to expect the audience to identify with him, ultimately in some way condoning his actions. The same debate surrounded the openly woman-hating In the Company of Men, which was nevertheless defended by the director as being a demonstration of "how awful men can be". In Laura Mulvey's view,
“The reader will identify with the male protagonist, as the apparatus of cinema is synchronous with societal ideologies to the extent that it indoctrinates us into the dominant paradigm. “
The swaggering and posturing of the identikit guys like Bateman and his peers can be convincingly interpreted as a kind of hollow self-inflation that actually only highlights weakness, sameness, and never autocratic power. If the men display elements of misogyny, they appear to be acts of distinction- ways in which they move the spotlight off themselves and onto a lesser "other" in order to validate that they are still men. Bateman is not significant in his individuality, so the point cannot be that he, or indeed Ellis, hates women: Bateman is a representative, part of a symphonic group of people so fatally embroiled in the monotony of their worlds they must desperately, seek an "other" by which to define themselves.
Unlikely Hitchcock's "Psycho", Bateman's violence does not appear to be a way of compensating for his emasculation- he is sexually primal and irresistibly alpha. Yet all the sex in the world will not compensate for the real emasculation that the book in concerned with. Bateman finds himself trapped in an inescapable and torturous pattern of grovelling and bootlicking in order to hold onto his job and material possessions. As David Reilly writes,
"American Psycho" lets us envy the lifestyle while pretending to criticize it. Neither the book nor, apparently, the movie, actually satirizes these guys' greed. The target is their swaggering masculinity (making the old, old Andrea Dworkinish point that just being male is an act of misogyny). We're left with a loophole: Lives built around money and expensive consumer goods are only bad if you're not a woman or a sensitive male who would never hurt a fly or open his."
In fact there may be another level to this. Misogyny is not only apparent in exhibitions of homogenous males; many of the most emphatic displays found in homosexual culture represent barely concealed disdain for womankind. American Psycho is a homosexual story because it is about the price of fabulousness, the irresistible capitalist infringement on individual style. Since the lifestyle and trappings of flamboyance require money, capitalism will always ask subcultures to forfeit their marginalized chic, if they wish to survive in society.
Ellis's novel is an extravagant cautionary tale about the fragility of human desire and its propensity to buckle and warp quite readily under pressure. Even the content of their bizarre conversation is alien to the men, they have become strangers to everything that is supposed to identify them as unique: their clothes, their homes, their business cards, words, are all governed by a complicated rule system that has come to represent nothing more than income.
Sexism and misogyny is still present among gay men, who enjoy certain privileges as men in a patriarchal culture. It has been suggested that characters like Carrie in Sex and the City provide gay men with a portal into the heterosexual norm. They enable a degree of acceptance by giving them some "use" beyond their usual isolation. The sense of "shame" attached to homosexuality is alleviated through the homosexuals' efforts towards assimilation into heteronormative society and as such, flamboyance and caricatured femininity may be a system of neutralization.
It seems that Bateman and his colleagues are subject to this "homosexual" compromise in society in two ways: their desire to be individualized only makes them more normal; and it leads them to a cold impersonation of femininity. By traveling so far up the scale of feminine affectation, homosexuals appear distanced from the bodily acts of sex and to the extent that everything is about appearances, are accepted into the sanitized, sexless subjectivity in mainstream culture.
Misogyny (pronounced /mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) is the hatred of women. Misogyny comes from Greek misogunia (μισογυνία) from misos (μῖσος, hatred) andgynē (γυνή, woman).
The word übersexual is a term claimed to be coined by the authors of the book Future of Men (O'Reilly, Matathia, Salzman, 2005) and is a variant of metrosexual. The word seems to have been inspired by the phrase "uber-metrosexual", used by the creator of the metrosexual Mark Simpson to describe David Beckham. Salzman appropriated Simpson's work on the metrosexual in 2002 to sell another book.
Simpson has pointed out that the book contains several deliberate misrepresentations of him, his work, and the history of the metrosexual, including the assertion that his coinage of the term in 1994 was "derisive", when in fact the article "Here come the mirror men" was clearly welcoming. The academic David Coad's book The Metrosexual (Suny, 2008) confirms this, and documents other misrepresentations by the marketers.
Many of the "top ubersexuals" named by Salzman, such as Bono, Bill Clinton and George Clooney were on her list of "top metrosexuals" in 2003. The authors of Future of Men argue that the übersexual is not derivative of the metrosexual man.
The future of men, proclaim the authors, is "not to be found in the primped and waxed boy who wowed the world with his nuanced knowledge of tweezers and exfoliating creams. Men, at the end of the day, will have to rely on their intellect and their passion, their erudition and professional success, to be acknowledged and idealised in contemporary society. Called the 'übersexual'—-a degree of greatness and perfection, an acknowledgment that this is an evolved species of man—he is so perfect as to leave little margin for error and fallacy."
Some, including Simpson and Armistead Maupin, have suggested that behind this congealed marketing-speak there was something rather simple going on: a homophobic attempt to stop the metrosexual being so "gay". Or, as Salzman herself put it proudly, the ubersexual (unlike the metrosexual) "doesn't invite questions about his sexuality".
Simpson has argued that from the beginning the appropriation of the metrosexual concept by American marketers such as Salzman in 2003 was always about trying to straighten him out. His original definition of the metrosexual was sexually ambiguous, or at least went beyond the straight/gay binary; marketers, in contrast, insisted that the metrosexual was always "straight" – they even tried to pretend that he wasn't vain.
However, they failed to convince the public – hence their attempt to create the uber-straight ubersexual.
Despite a large global PR push for their "new", completely "non-gay" metrosexual – and a largely uncritical press, which failed to notice that the list of top ten ubersexuals was essentially the same as the ones they had published two years previously as the top ten metrosexuals – the "ubersexual" failed to catch on with the public, as Salzman herself later admitted.
Metrosexual is a neologism portmanteau of metropolitan and heterosexual coined in 1994 describing a man (especially one living in a post-industrial, capitalist culture) who displays attributes stereotypically associated with homosexual men (such as a strong concern for his appearance), although he is not homosexual. Debate surrounds the term's use as a theoretical signifier of sex deconstruction and its associations with consumerism.
FIVE POINTS TO DISCUSS
ALL ABOUT SEX?
MISOGYNY
HOMOSEXUALITY/THE EFFEMINATE
THE PRICE OF FABULOUSNESS
THE NEED TO CONFORM
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH LIFE.
Again.
I want to talk about the music monologues but I can't bring myself to without laughing. Not that's not the reason, it's not that funny.
I want to comment on the fact that all of his opinions are derived from reviews and not himself. Another way he conforms.
And such.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
I'm not listening to Beyonce.
Is she good???????????????????????????????????????????
No, not like New Order.
When that song comes on ever, I die inside, happy, burst, explode, freakummmmm.
Beyonce doesn't understand.
I need five parts to talk about in my presentation...
MUSIC IS MY BOYFRIEND.
New Order
Phil Collins
The monologues?
Beyonce needs to calm down.
Lady in red.
POWER POINT SLIDE PLAN
Introduction; why I have made certain decisions.
What is good? What perception of good was I about to go into? I don't want to talk about the proverbial by going into insignificant lists of endless subjects objects whatever
I like a lot of things
And I want it to be something personal
I am drawn to the macabre, blood and sex and violence; and sometimes even simultaneously.
It's not a conscious effort to try to be out there or into darker things, and they aren't actually really that dark.
I generally go down the same route when left to my own devices so this time I'm going to look at popular culture, I want mainstream sex and violence.
SLIDE 1
________________________
American Psycho
The Vacuous Eighties
________________________
For the US theatrical release, director Mary Harron had to edit the following two scenes (which are available on the unrated edition) in order to receive an R-rating from the MPAA:
- The word "asshole" in the line, "Christy, bend over so Sabrina can see your asshole," was changed to just "ass".
- The threesome during the same scene was trimmed several seconds.
- "True Faith"
Written by Peter Hook, Stephen Hague, Gillian Gilbert, Bernard Sumner & Stephen Morris
Performed by New Order
Courtesy of Warner Music U.K. Ltd.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products, Universal Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music,
Inc. - "Walking on Sunshine"
Written by Kimberley Rew (as Kimberly Rew)
Performed by Katrina & The Waves (as Katrina and the Waves)
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI/Capitol Special Markets and EMI Music Publishing - "Simply Irresistible"
Written by Robert Palmer (as Robert Allen Palmer)
Performed by Robert Palmer
Courtesy of EMI
Under license from EMI/Capitol Special Markets and Warner/Chappell
Music Publishing - "I Touch Roses"
Written by Theodore Ottaviano
Performed by Book of Love
Courtesy of Sire Records Company
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products and Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. - "Hip to Be Square"
Written by Huey Lewis, Bill Gibson and Sean Hopper
Performed by Huey Lewis & The News
Courtesy of Chrysalis Records
Under license from EMI/Capitol Special Markets and Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. - "Lady in Red"
Written by Chris De Burgh (as Christopher John Davison)
Performed by Chris De Burgh
Courtesy of A&M Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets and Almo Sounds - "In Too Deep"
Written by Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford
Performed by Genesis
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products, Virgin Records America and Hit & Run Music Publishing Inc. - "Sussudio"
Written by Phil Collins
Performed by Phil Collins
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products, Virgin Records America and Hit & Run Music Publishing Inc. - "What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)"
Written by Paul Robb (as Paul Jason Robb) and Kurt Harland (as Kurt H. Larson)
Performed by Information Society
Courtesy of Tommy Boy Records and T-Boy LLC (ASCAP) - "The Greatest Love Of All"
Written by Linda Creed and Michael Masser
Performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra (as The London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Courtesy of K-Tel International and EMI Music Publishing - "Im Nin'al"
Ofra Haza - "Paid In Full (Coldcut Remix)"
Written by Eric B. (as E. Barrier) and Rakim (as W. Griffin)
Traditional Arranged by Nagari
Performed by Eric B. & Rakim
Courtesy of 4th & Broadway
Under License from Univeral Music Special Markets and Universal Music Publishing - "Music for 18 Synths"
Written by Sheldon Steiger
Performed by Sheldon Steiger - "Secreil Nicht"
Performed by Mediaeval Baebes (as The Mediaeval Baebes)
Taken from the album "Undrentide"
Courtesy of BMG Classics and Targo Entertainment Corp. - "Everlasting Love"
Written by Crispin Merrell
Courtesy of Opus 1 - "Deck the Halls"
Stock Music Provided by Chris Stone Productions Ltd. Canada - "Joy to the World"
Stock Music Provided by Chris Stone Productions Ltd. Canada - "Ya Llegaron A La Luna"
Written by Santiago Jiménez
Performed by Santiago Jiménez Jr.
Courtesy of Easy Disk/Rounder Records Corp. and San Antonio Music Publishers - "Cuatro Milpas"
Traditional Arranged by Francisco Gonzalez
Performed by Francisco Gonzalez - "Suicide"
Written by John Cale
Performed by John Cale
Courtesy of John Cale Music Inc. - "If You Don't Know Me By Now"
Written by Kenny Gamble (as Kenneth Gamble) and Leon Huff
Performed by Simply Red
Courtesy of EastWest American/Warner Music U.K. Ltd.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products and Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. - "Pump Up the Volume"
Written by Martyn Young
Performed by M/A/R/R/S
Courtesy of 4AD by arrangement with Warner Special Products and Blue Mountain Music - "Red Lights"
Written by Anderson, Julian Godfrey Brookhouse (as Brookhouse), Migi Drummond (as Drummond),
Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot (as Volpeliere-Pierrot), and Nicholas Bernard Thorpe (as Thorp)
Performed by Curiosity Killed the Cat
Courtesy of Mercury Records under license from Universal Music Special Markets, Universal Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music,
Inc. - "Try to Dismember"
Written by Mj Mynarski
Performed by Mj Mynarski
Published by Cherry River Music Co. (BMI) and Sammy J Music (BMI) - "Something in the Air (American Psycho Remix)"
Written by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels
Performed by David Bowie
Additional Production and Remix by Mark Plati
Courtesy of Nipple Music (BMI) administered by RZO Music, Inc., My Half Music (ASCAP)
administered by Bug Music, Inc. and Risky Folio, Inc./Virgin Records America, Inc. - "Who Feelin' It (Philip's Psycho Mix)"
Written by Chris Frantz (as C. Frantz) and Tina Weymouth (as T. Weymouth)
Performed by Tom Tom Club
Remixed by Phillip Steir (as Philip Steir)
Courtesy of Metered Music (ASCAP)
Tom Tom Club appears courtesy of Tip Top/Rykodisc - "Watching Me Fall (Underdog Remix)"
Words by Robert Smith
Music by Robert Smith
Music by Simon Gallup
Music by Perry Bamonte
Music by Jason Cooper
Music by Roger O'Donnell
Performed by The Cure
Remixed by Underdog
Courtesy of Fiction Songs
The Cure appears courtesy of Fiction Records/Elektra Entertainment - "Trouble"
Written by Daniel Ash
Performed by Daniel Ash
Produced by Adrian Utley
Published by Cherry River Music C. (BMI) and Sammy J Music (BMI)
- Boom mic visible: During Detective Kimball's second interview with Bateman, the reflection of the microphone can be seen on the CD to Bateman's right.
- Crew or equipment visible: In multiple scenes at Bateman's apartment, the crew and camera operators are visible in the reflection of his bedroom TV.
- Continuity: Bateman is at the Christmas party wearing reindeer antlers. As the camera shot changes from front to rear, the antlers move from behind Bateman's ear to in front of it.
- Anachronisms: The porno movie that goes on during Patrick's telephone conversation with his fiancé is taken from Red Vibe Diaries: Object of Desire (1997) (V), produced in 1997.
- Anachronisms: When Patrick is listening to his new Robert Palmer tape, you see the cab drive by an FDNY ambulance. FDNY didn't take over ambulance services until the early 1990s.
- Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Patrick Bateman is "watching" The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (while exercising) the screams of Sally Hardesty are inconsistent with the original soundtrack.
- Anachronisms: The TV that is shown at the end of the movie with President Reagan speaking is a late '90s model of Sony Trinitron.
- Crew or equipment visible: Camera and mount are briefly visible in the first shot of the title sequence, reflected in the silver knife (albeit distorted).
- Anachronisms: When Bateman is using the pay phone on Park Avenue, the skyscraper in the background says "Met Life", when it should say "Pan Am". Although the building was sold by Pan Am to Met Life in the 1980s, the name displayed on the building wasn't changed until the early 1990s.
- Errors in geography: Bateman's office is supposed to be located downtown, yet the view out his window is clearly of midtown.
- Anachronisms: The telephone next to Patrick Bateman's bed is a Bang & Olufsen model not available in the 1980s
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Patrick attributes the quote, "When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right. The other part just thinks what her head would look like on a stick", to Ed Gein. However, it was actually Ed Kemper.
- Continuity: When Patrick Bateman is being questioned for the first time by Detective Kimball, a pill bottle appears in front of him on the desk blotter between shots.
- Continuity: During Patrick Bateman's first meeting with Detective Donald Kimball, Jean brings Detective Kimball mineral water that he does not want. She sets the bottle of water and glass on the corner of the desk. During the conversation between Bateman and Kimball, the glass and bottle move from the corner of Bateman's desk to a slightly deeper part of the corner, and an ashtray moves into their original place.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Patrick Bateman stated that the Huey Lewis & The News album "Fore!" was released in 1987 when it actually was released in early 1986 as a follow up to their single "The Power of Love".
- Continuity: When Patrick and Evelyn arrive at Espace, Vandon and Stash are sitting next to Bryce and Carruthers when being introduced to Patrick. Later in the conversation, they are sitting on the opposite side of the table.
- Crew or equipment visible: When Bateman is at the ATM getting cash out, the lady walks by him. As he walks to catch up to her, the camera and crew are reflected in the glass of the storefront windows.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Patrick tries to order drinks at the Tunnel bar, he asks for "two Stoli on the rocks." Instead, he receives two Stoli's up (no ice).
- Revealing mistakes: All of the windows show views of the cityscape with the horizontal line far above normal. This signals that the views are backdrops which are set too high. Often one looks up at a character and at the same time looks down on the streets, which is impossible.
- Anachronisms: The film is set in 1987. In his apartment, Patrick offers 'Christie' and 'Sabrina' a Varda truffle. Varda Chocolatiers was not established until 1989.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While rhapsodising about Genesis' "Invisible Touch" LP, Bateman states that "Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority" on the song "Land Of Confusion." That song's lyrics were written by the band's guitarist/bassist, Mike Rutherford.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The album Bateman holds up while entertaining the escorts is Phil Collins' solo album "No Jacket Required", although "In Too Deep" is from the Genesis album "Invisible Touch". Although it seems like a minor error, someone as obsessed with pop music as Bateman is would be unlikely to make such a mistake.
- Revealing mistakes: Patrick pronounces "Robert Palmer" as "Robert Parmer", revealing a flaw in Christian Bale's staged American accent.
- Continuity: In the scene where Patrick is sitting on his couch making reservations for Dorsia, the camera angle from the side shows his hair styled entirely back from his face. When the camera angle switches to the front there is a noticeable lock of hair hanging in front of his face. The camera switches back to the side view and his hair is styled entirely back from his face again.
- Revealing mistakes: 'Acquisitions' is spelled incorrectly (as "aquisitions") on all the business cards.
- Anachronisms: Early in the movie, Bateman comments that he is listening to the new Robert Palmer album. The song that's heard during this scene is "Simply Irresistible", which was on his album Heavy Nova, which came out in November 1988.. But the Ronald Reagan speech seen at the end of the movie occurred in early 1987, not 1988.
- Anachronisms: While it's true that they Huey Lewis album Fore! is "of the period" and was certainly released by the time the film takes place, it was not available on the Compact Disc format until October 25, 1990.
- Anachronisms: Several of the CDs seen in in the film appear to be silver, blank "burned" CDs. CD burning software was not available to the public until the late 1990s.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When being questioned by Detective Kimball, Patrick states on the night of Paul Allen's murder, he was at dinner with a woman named "Veronica". Later, however, when he and Kimball are at lunch, he says he must have had dinner with "Victoria" the following night. He changed the name of the woman. While it is possible Patrick got mixed up, it is unlikely a man of his organization would do such a thing when faced in such a situation.
- Errors in geography: During Patrick's killing spree towards the end of the movie, when he is running between the two nearly-identical buildings, a Canadian flag is intermittently visible flapping out from behind the building on the left, revealing that this scene was shot in the Toronto-Dominion Plaza, not in New York.
- Audio/visual unsynchronized: As Jean is leaving Patrick's apartment, she reminds Patrick of his lunch appointment the following day, but the second-half of Jean's line appears to have been dubbed. It is unclear what the actress was actually saying.
- Revealing mistakes: SPOILER: When Bateman hits Paul Allen with the axe for the first time, the blood sprays on him before he actually hits him. Also the blood comes from a different angle than where Allen's head is supposed to be.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When Patrick Bateman is packing a suitcase in Paul Allen's apartment, the light is switched off in the bathroom behind him. But as he stands up and heads for the door the light is now switched on.
- Continuity: SPOILER: After killing Paul in his apartment, dragging his body through the lobby you can see the blood trail following the bag. But once he's outside flagging down the cab, the view back into the lobby shows no blood.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): SPOILER: Bateman could not have killed Jean with the nail gun because that model of nail gun must be plugged into an air compressor for
Guinevere Turner, co-writer and actor of this film, has publicly stated that she hates the novel American Psycho and even threw a glass of water at the novel's author Bret Easton Ellis' face when she first met him, yelling at him, asking why he wrote such a "disgusting" book and has even called the book "trash". She herself has admitted to being offended by the graphic nature of the book and often asked 'Mary Harron' how could she make a film of such a "sexist" novel. Harron would argue that she doesn't find the book sexist and that she found it to be a satire of the behavior of men and the upper class. Turner has also admitted to only agreeing to write and actor in the film mainly because she couldn't find other work at the time and her Bettie Page project she was working on with Harron fell through.
The film had various problems with designer labels during production. Cerruti agreed to allow Christian Bale to wear their clothes, but not when the character was killing anyone; Rolex agreed that anyone in the film could wear their watches except Bateman (hence the famous line from the book "Don't touch the Rolex" had to be changed to "Don't touch the watch"); Perry Ellis provided underwear at the last minute after Calvin Klein pulled out of the project; Comme des Garçons refused to allow one of their overnight bags to be used to carry a corpse, so Jean Paul Gaultier was used instead.
The scene in which Patrick and Courtney are in bed (when she asks him if he'll call her before Easter) is taken from Ellis' first novel "Less Than Zero". The conversation between Clay and Blair in that novel is almost identical to the one in the film (Easter has been substituted for Christmas). Although in the book "American Psycho", Courtney (while lying in bed) does ask Patrick if he will call her before thanksgiving.
This goes unrecognized in his behavior, and he continues in his day to day routines and rituals. Bateman, like his fellow businessmen, is a bland faced and well spoken man with impeccably sleek hair, beautiful designer suits, sculpted glasses and embossed business cards. The only variable in their day comes from who has the better (i.e., more expensive) apartment, or business card, or trophy girlfriend.
Director Mary Harron co-wrote this adaptation with Guinevere (Go Fish) Turner, and shows a remarkable prowess for sinking her teeth into Bateman's world. With polished cinematography and carefully composed images, she films the beautiful men and women of his universe with style, delicacy and grace.
We see a place where the spacious white apartments and minimalist furniture could have been taken from Kubrick's futuristic fantasies, but clearly belong to the '80s judging from the Robert Longo artwork hanging on the walls. The clubs our Wall Street lads frequent smell of the stylized, carefully sprayed and modulated hair and the velcro attire. A man is judged by his ability to secure a tacky, overpriced restaurant where the specials come in small portions resembling the vacuous paintings of the '80s art world - all presentation and no substance.
Of course, it's not treated with such hoary seriousness as this might suggest. It's fit for our laughter and derision, and the acting in the film is broad and slightly caricaturish. Christian Bale's fascinating performance as Bateman suggests a man without a soul, whose Ivy League speech patters somehow feel premeditated, often discussing the state of the world, or the latest music by Huey Lewis and the News or Whitney Houston, as though he had learned it by heart.
It was a decade of surface veneer and the value of objects, something American Psycho obsessively recreates in its satire of the '80s. Patrick Bateman, the monstrous cipher at the center of Brett Easton Ellis' controversial novel, is a Wall Street Master of the Universe, and a Swiftian product of his times. Like most of the protagonists in Ellis' novels, he is vacuous, possessing neither a moral center nor a conscience for his reprehensible deeds - perhaps because he is among the elite, and from that feeling of having everything, there's nowhere else to go other than into sinful revelry. Even that is not enough to make him actually feelsomething.
Guinevere Turner, who plays Patrick's friend "Elizabeth" (in the scene with Christie the call girl), also wrote the film's screenplay.
When Lions Gate picked up the rights for the film, Mary Harron was set to write and direct. Initially, she considered various actors for the role of Patrick Bateman, including Billy Crudup (who was offered the part but turned it down), Ben Chaplin, Robert Sean Leonard, Johnathon Schaech, Jonny Lee Miller, and Jared Leto. Eventually, Harron offered the part to Christian Bale, who accepted. The producers tried to talk Harron into casting Edward Norton, but she refused, and was ultimately allowed to cast Bale, but only on the proviso that she cast at least two other big name actors in supporting roles. To this end, Harron hired Willem Dafoe to play Kimball and Reese Witherspoon to play Evelyn. However, after they had agreed to appear, Lions Gate told Harron they were going to make an offer to Leonardo DiCaprio to play Bateman. Harron told them if they did, she would leave the project, which is exactly what happened. Oliver Stone was subsequently hired to replace Harron, working from a script by Matt Markwalder. Stone was set to cast James Woods as Kimball, Cameron Diaz as Evelyn, Elizabeth Berkley as Courtney and Chloë Sevigny as Jean. Stone also decided to keep Leto on the project as Paul Allen. However, DiCaprio left the project to shoot The Beach (2000) instead, and as the budget began to get out of control, Stone also left, prompting Lions Gate to rehire Harron, who returned to her original castings decisions, and decided to keep Sevigny on the project.
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