American Psycho Makes Me Psycho

One of my favourite films, American Psycho, starring Christian Bale is still one of the most confusing films I've ever seen because of the vagueness of the ending. To start off I'd like to warn all readers of the impending spoilers coming your way, if you haven't seen the film and plan to I suggest you read on with caution. I will not be discussing all of the details of the film only those that pertain to the ending. The film was released in 2000 and does an amazing job at satirizing the old money society of New York city. It follows a wealthy investment banker throughout his daily routine at first but becomes darker as the film progresses. The film opens with a couple of men in suits around a coffee table making crude remarks to not only those around them but to each other, this shows the lack of empathy and morals these businessmen have and all seem to share. A very important observation that I made while watching this scene was that even though the businessmen knew one another well, they worked in the same office, none of them could tell the other apart. They would get characters mixed up probably because they all dressed the same and did nearly identical jobs and of course had bland, materialistic and jealous personalities as part of the the satire of the film. Here we also see a glimpse of the pointless jealousy that is a reoccurring theme throughout the film. Among the men we see the main character, Patrick Bateman.

Who is Patrick Bateman?

We get more information about Bateman's character in the scene in his apartment showing him getting ready for the day, Bateman shows exaggerated personality traits such as extreme narcissism and self centeredness, we see this as he's working out and narrating his extensive skincare routine. The character also mentions in this narration that he is hollow and lacks emotions, which is an important fact to remember when we debate the ending of the film.

Bateman slowly starts his "killing rampage" first by killing a homeless man on the street and eventually moving up to hookers, but for some reason he hasn't yet had to deal with the consequences of these murders. He even brings bedsheets to his drycleaners stained with what looks to be blood and doesn't get so much as a glance from anyone about it.

Patrick Kills Paul Allen

The scene that really sets the tone for the film however is the famous business card scene (shown above) The scene has all of the business men desperately showing off their business cards to one another hoping that their card is the best. Bateman hesitantly listens to the other men as they show off their cards but is ultimately interested in comparing his own card to that of Paul Allen, a character he despises for getting a reservation at Dorsia (an upscale impossible to book restaurant in New York) again depicting the pointless jealous seen throughout the film. After seeings Allen's card, Bateman is extremely upset and decides to murder him. Since no one in the film can tell one another apart, Paul Allen thinks that Patrick Bateman is Marcus Halberstram and thinks they're having dinner together to discuss a business account, which ultimately gives Bateman the perfect alibi. He takes Allen to his apartment after dinner and kills him, then he goes to Allen's apartment and packs his bags to make it look as though he disappeared on a holiday, while doing this he takes the time to examine the apartment and gets upset at how nice it is, he also comments on how it's probably more expensive than his again showing pointless jealousy. He later takes on the name Paul Allen and uses Paul's apartment when entertaining hookers, presumably to again keep up appearance that Paul Allen is still alive.

Patrick Bateman's Mental Breakdown

Bateman starts to have a mental breakdown because of all the "murders" he has committed and because no one seems to care even though hes been dropping hints no one pays attention he just blends in with all of the other businessmen. He ends up calling his lawyer and confessing to the whole murder of Paul Allen, the homeless man and the hookers. Later when he sees his lawyer at a party the layer laughs and praises Bateman for his funny joke saying Paul Allen and him had dinner just the other night. Patrick Bateman is extremely confused by this because he believes he killed Paul Allen long before that. This is where the vague film ending lands, did patrick Bateman really kill all those people? Or did he imagine that he did?

So What Really Happened To Paul Allen?

I personally have thought about this ending for years and every time I watch the film I seem to agree on a different side of the argument but as of right now i'm siding with yes, Bateman did kill all of those people. It makes sense that he would with his lack of empathy and emotions he has the perfect foundations to be a killer. His pointless jealousy was what drove him to the edge to kill someone he viewed as somewhat of an equal, unlike the hookers and homeless. However as we have seen throughout the film no one really knows one another and characters mixed each other up all the time so did Bateman really kill Paul Allen? Or another man. Did the lawyer really have dinner with Paul Allen? these are the questions we should be asking. and even if Bateman did kill Paul Allen no one really cares because everyone is more concerned with themselves and their petty jealous. But truly i think the ending of this movie is subjective and reflects the viewers view on the world and society.

To read more opinions on the ending look at this forum; what happened to the bodies