Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches: American Psycho, part 3: The Bloodening

April 6, 2006

American Psycho, part 3: The Bloodening

Ryan McFadyen

"Shortly after an exotic dancer claimed she was raped at a Duke University lacrosse team party, a member of the squad sent an e-mail announcing that the following night he planned "to have some strippers over" and would be "killing the bitches" as soon as they walked into his dorm room...The e-mail from McFadyen's account notes that, after the strippers were killed, they would be skinned..."

Gosh, that type of sick, violent hatred of women sure sounds familiar. Hmmm, who is it I'm reminded of...Oh yeah! Another mentally unstable Ivy Leaguer:

Patrick Bateman

Bateman has dinner with Paul Allen, an associate of his from Pierce & Pierce. Patrick hates Allen for many reasons (flirts with his girlfriend, has a nicer hair part, fancier business card, his own tanning bed, etc.). Bad things tend to occur to those Patrick Bateman does not like, and that's about everybody.

An ongoing theme in the novel is mistaken identity. Allen believes Bateman is another P & P worker named Marcus Halberstram.

Bateman: So, uh, wasn't Rothchild originally handling the Fisher account? How'd you get it?

Allen: Well, I could tell you that, Halberstarm, but then I'd have to kill ya! Ha, ha, ha, ha!

Marcus, er, Patrick, gets Allen nice and drunky slop.

He's so drunk by the time dinner is over that I (1) make him pay the check, which comes to two hundred and fifty dollars, (2) make him admit what a dumb son-of-a-bitch he really is, and (3) get him back to my place, where he makes himself another drink... (page 216)

"I like to dissect girls."

"You know, I'm utterly insane."

Now, why would Patrick have spread The New York Times and USA Today out in such a manner? He doesn't have a puppy he's trying to house break.

"You like Huey Lewis and the News? Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically."

"The whole album has a clear, crisp sound and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost."

In my bathroom I take out the ax I'd stashed in the shower, pop two five-milligram Valium, washing them down with a tumblerful of Plax, and then I move into the foyer, where I put on a cheap raincoat I picked up at Brooks Brothers on Wednesday... (page 216)

"He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor."

Allen: Is that a raincoat?

Bateman: Yes it is!

"In '87, Huey released this, Fore!. It's their most accomplished album."

(Soundtrack)

"It's hip to be a square

it’s hip to be a square"

"I think their undisputed masterpiece is 'Hip to Be Square', a song so catchy most people probably don't listen to the lyrics, but they should...

...because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of friends...

...it's also a personal statement about the band, itself."

"Hey Paul!"

Christian Bale is an extremely gifted actor, and one of the few child stars to make a truly successful transistion to adulthood. And I'm comfortable enough in my masculinity to observe he's a handsome fella, as well. Let us pause, and remember what was...

Empire of the Sun (1987)

...and now:

The ax hits him midsentence, straight in the face, its thick blade chopping sideways into his open mouth, shutting him up...I scream at him only once: "Fucking stupid bastard. Fucking bastard."...It takes Paul five minutes to finally die. Another thirty to stop bleeding. (page 218)