Christian Bale's Inspiration For American Psycho's 'Patrick Bateman' Was Tom Cruise! Here's How The 'Stylish & S*xy' Actor Inspired This Helluva Serious Role.
Christian Bale's portrayal of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman wasn't inspired by a serial killer but by a Tom Cruise interview. Christian Bale's portrayal of the psychopathic murderer Patrick Bateman has become iconic.
According to co-writer and director Mary Harron, Bale saw in Cruise "this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes," and Bale subsequently based the character of Bateman on that. Interestingly, Tom Cruise is actually featured in the novel.
Patrick Bateman is the titular main protagonist of Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 controversial novel American Psycho and its film and stage adaptations. He is also a minor character in the novels The Rules of Attraction and Glamorama.
Tom Cruise Was The Inspiration For "American Psycho"
Is Patrick Bateman schizophrenic?
This, combined with sex, violence, drugs, and other desires of the id, is how Bateman enacts his sociopathic violence in a superficial world. Bateman's episodes of schizophrenia also shows clear signs on how he copes with being an affluent person living in a superficial world, fashioned on consumerism.
Patrick Bateman's crimes were not a dream, at least not all of them, instead, the real message that both Herron and Eston Ellis wanted to convey was that a man of such social status could literally get away with murder.
He displays a high functioning form of Asperger's syndrome, yet there are still symptoms present in Bateman of which even the highest functioning people with Asperger's syndrome cannot rid themselves. One of the key symptoms in Asperger's syndrome is the need for strict routine.
In Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is apparently simply a psychopath. However, Bateman can be diagnosed with other mental illnesses such as Asperger's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder.
By now, most people have figured out that the true inspiration behind the investment banker turned serial killer, Patrick Bateman, is Ted Bundy. The reference goes back to the book in which the film is based on. The book's author, Bret Easton Ellis, studied Ted Bundy and even read all his books.
While it's true that Patrick is experiencing delusions and hallucinations, it doesn't mean that the murders are in his head. Turner blames the muddiness of the ending on the dichotomy between the fantasy world that Bateman is currently living in and the reality of the murderous situation at hand.
It's made clear there is no "top" to Bateman. There is only becoming more successful than the previous day. Therefore, Bateman would be a Sigma in that regard. In American Psycho's first act, Bateman makes it known to his fiancée that he wishes to conform to society as best he can, unlike his other roles.
Whilst most people do not have a conscious desire for murder, even sane people will have some small allure to chaos and destruction. Like Patrick Bateman, many are sick of the tedium of day to day life and crime gives us an insight into a world that goes against the order of society.
My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis; my punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself.
The psychopathology Arthur exhibits is unclear, preventing diagnosis of psychotic disorder or schizophrenia; the unusual combination of symptoms suggests a complex mix of features of certain personality traits, namely psychopathy and narcissism (he meets DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder).
“In the morning if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1,000 now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water-activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub.
In entertainment, the disorder has been misrepresented in characters like Monica from Friends and Adrian from Monk. Patrick Bateman's psychopathy also shows up with his OCD as his thoughts directly impact his behavior, which he seems to not be in control of either despite his consciousness in murdering people.
The first time we see Paul Allen — and then for the remaining time he's in the movie — he mistakenly refers to Patrick Bateman as Marcus Halberstram, who Patrick tells us also works at P&P doing the same exact thing he does. They also dress similarly and go to the same barber.
Patrick Bateman is the protagonist in the film "American Psycho", and he suffers from three personality disorders, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder.
American Psycho ends with Patrick staring into the camera, with his voiceover confessing, “There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it I have now surpassed.
Whose head is in Patrick Bateman's fridge? The woman who he picked up in the previous scene at the club with Bryce, where he did the cocaine in the back room.
What is the deeper meaning behind American Psycho?
American Psycho explores the inherent violence of corporate greed, using Patrick Bateman's sadistic acts as a metaphor for the callousness of Wall Street. The film's ambiguous ending signifies Bateman's moral awakening, as he tries to hold himself accountable for his actions while those around him remain indifferent.
According to the Wiki article, the lawyer "mistakes him for another colleague". This is supposed to drive home the fact that although he is somewhat of a narcissist, he is unimportant to certain people around him.
Thankfully Patrick Bateman is purely fictional, and psychopaths are not the murderers they are perceived as in literature. Instead, those with ASPD succeed in business thanks to their mastery of maintaining a personal image and ability to manipulate others for personal gain.
