Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if anyone's read/watched American Psycho? (I need friends to discuss this with!)

60 replies

YesMadamDeputySpeaker · 14/04/2022 22:05

I watched the film yeeears ago and didn't think much of it, but I recently rewatched it and I found it one of the best pieces of cinema I've ever watched. (And not just for Christian Bale and Jared Leto Blush). I'm currently in the middle of rereading the book and I have so many theories - it's just fascinating. I know people are put off because of the gore (in the book at least) which is completely fair enough, but I think it's so cleverly written.

Please tell me I'm not the only one!

OP posts:
TheBitchOfTheVicar · 14/04/2022 22:06

I read it when I was 26 and it actually gave me nightmares. Someone had ripped out a couple of the pages and I’m really, really glad they had

DoubleChinWoes2 · 14/04/2022 22:07

I read it as a teenager and I'm scarred. Have never seen the film because of it. I was too young - 15/16!

Dazedandconfused10 · 14/04/2022 22:08

The book is fantastic!

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 14/04/2022 22:08

Movie is awesome. One of the very best pieces of black comedy going.

Gynaesaur · 14/04/2022 22:10

Have watched it a couple of times, not read it.
On one level, I really did enjoy the premise of it, the background of the wall Street yuppies, and it's brilliantly acted. But neither time did I quite enjoy watching it. It's just slightly too discomforting. The bit with the chainsaw scares me shitless.

bellinisurge · 14/04/2022 22:10

Absolutely not my thing at all but I found the film and, subsequently the book, hypnotic. Christian Bale was astonishing. It was the first time I'd seen him as an adult- he was brilliant in Empire of the Sun as a kid.
Still hate that kind of thing but I was so drawn into it

Lottapianos · 14/04/2022 22:11

I adore the film, it's one of my favourites ever. Christian Bale is perfect

lljkk · 14/04/2022 22:12

Not seen the movie but did enjoy the book. well, enjoy is wrong word. It was hugely controversial, 1980s, so I read it for myself. My theory is that ~ half of the extreme events were supposed to be his hallucinations, but we reader didn't know which.

The fury & jealousy PB felt towards others, almighty to behold.

Kazziek · 14/04/2022 22:13

Not seen the film but read the book several times. Does the film do justice to the book? The book is deeply thought provoking and disturbing

WimpoleHat · 14/04/2022 22:13

I read it - and all the other BEE books - a long time ago, but haven’t seen the film. Couldn’t get my head around how one would make a film of that and accurately capture it. I always preferred Jay McInerey (sp?) as a writer, but accept that American Psycho did break the mould!

Original poster
YesMadamDeputySpeaker · 14/04/2022 22:14

I've found my tribe!

@DoubleChinWoes2 - I don't blame you for not wanting to watch it! However, the film is drastically less gory than the book - there's no onscreen rape or cannibalism and the rat scene is, thankfully, emitted.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX - it is so funny! The scenes with his friends and the one with Luis in the bathroom could almost be straight out of some buddy comedy flick.

OP posts:
user75 · 14/04/2022 22:14

The book is an amazing piece of satire. The film suffers the same fate as Fight Club where wankers take it as an instruction manual for 'cool' instead of a satirical story about psychopathy in the modern world.....

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 14/04/2022 22:14

@Kazziek

Not seen the film but read the book several times. Does the film do justice to the book? The book is deeply thought provoking and disturbing
The film is more shock/comedy, with Bateman probably even more ridiculous and impossible to take seriously than in the book.
VeggieTables · 14/04/2022 22:15

I wrote my dissertation on American Psycho many many years ago: a fantastic book.

Josephsrose · 14/04/2022 22:16

I read it and found it gripping and fascinating. Not seen film.

Original poster
YesMadamDeputySpeaker · 14/04/2022 22:19

@lljkk - I can definitely get on board with that theory. As a pretentious English teacher I adore a good old unreliable narrator and I know the ambiguity over the degree to which it was all in his head can be frustrating for some people, but I loved it because it lets the reader form their own opinion and theories.

@Kazziek - the film is fantastic! Whether it does the book justice or not depends on who you ask tbh, but in my opinion it absolutely does. I did find the way the events were portrayed in it more unbelievable than the book, but I also found it a lot funnier. Also, if nothing else, Christian Bale is just divine

OP posts:
Original poster
YesMadamDeputySpeaker · 14/04/2022 22:22

@user75

The book is an amazing piece of satire. The film suffers the same fate as Fight Club where wankers take it as an instruction manual for 'cool' instead of a satirical story about psychopathy in the modern world.....
Just realised how to quote posts...can you tell I haven't been on MN since 2017? Grin

But yes, absolutely this - I have teen DC and work with kids of a similar age and I'm not sure if you know about the whole 'sigma grindset' movement that, afaik, revolves around taking literature/media like AP, Fight Club, Nightcrawler etc, and treating them as a manual for how to be a misogynistic prick - which completely misses the satirical point!

OP posts:
Original poster
YesMadamDeputySpeaker · 14/04/2022 22:23

Oops, didn't make that clear enough - I meant that whole movement is predominantly popular amongst teenagers, hence why I mentioned them! Blush

OP posts:
LillyLeaf · 14/04/2022 22:27

I love the bit with the business cards. Read the book a few times when I was at college and the film is great. Actually might read it again soon as I've probably forgotten a lot.

RaelImperialAerosolKid · 14/04/2022 22:31

Love the book - especially the rant about Phil Collins and Genesis and lunch with Bethany. It is so good.

Igottissues · 14/04/2022 22:31

I read it over 20 years ago and found it really hard going tbh. Endless narrative, describing food or clothing in minute detail, boring to the point of wanting to skim read most parts, then BAM - quick gruesomely psychotic murder - and back to discussing his loafers again Confused

Eaumyword · 14/04/2022 22:32

I read the book when it first came out and watched the film too. I remember feeling so racy as a copy was circulated round 6th form!
It highlights the superficiality, consumerism, excess/greed (is good), designer obsession and social competitiveness that was the worst of the '80's.
My favourite bit was Patrick's stress over not having the most expensive/classy business card!
Yes it is gory and dark but very good.

dayakie · 14/04/2022 22:36

I read the book ages ago and re-read more recently. I love it. Yes it is gory but it's also very funny - the excess of it all is so over the top that I think it's not meant ti be taken seriously. The film I also love but not as much.

ScrambledSmegs · 14/04/2022 22:49

I thought the film was great, thought Bale was perfectly cast. Still can't decide to what extent he was imagining the murders etc.

I found the book hard going - felt like a lot of lists - but it's one I knew I would re-read later on in life because there was so much more to it than just gruesome murders and diatribes about music.

crackersforcrackers · 14/04/2022 23:03

I read the book as a teen and hated it but when I finally psyched myself up to watch the movie I loved it!