Because he basically has malignant narcissism. He simply needs to be the best at everything as anything that lowers this status amongst others is a threat to his own self image. It could be anything from bringing the best present to a housewarming to having the nicest tie at a meeting to picking the best business card.
Patrick Bateman is meant to be a representation of capitalism. He suffers from a lot of repressed anger, but holds it back in order to better appear "fit in" at work. He turns to killing poor people at night to let he anger out, as he knows he can get away with it due him being a wealthy businessman.
Directed by Mary Harron and based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel of the same name, American Psycho follows Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), a wealthy New York City investment banking executive by day and a psychopathic serial killer with an eclectic music collection by night.
Why does Patrick Bateman always return videotapes?
Originally Answered: Why does Patrick Bateman return video tapes? As he is so unsure of the real world and what is around him that by saying he is returning videotapes he sees it as a just and valid reason or excuse. He thinks it is a good phrase to escape the situation he is in.
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.
What does return some videotapes mean in American Psycho?
Perhaps the book's most iconic line, antihero Patrick Bateman repeatedly says he needs to return some videotapes to the store; it demonstrates how monotonous his life is, as well as the extent to which his identity is utterly defined by material possessions.
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.
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.
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.
Despite his affluence and high social status, Bateman is constantly plagued by unsettling feelings of anxiety and low self-esteem. He kills many of his victims because they make him feel inadequate, usually by having better taste than he does.
As journalist Shaurya Singh wrote in the newsletter The Digital Native, Bateman's main characteristics – his sexual insecurity, insensitivity, shallowness and obsession with money – connected with some of the obsessions of Generation Z (and plenty of other generations) during the pandemic.
TL;DR: Patrick Bateman has a mental disorder caused by lifelong conflict-of-interests with his father. He doesn't actually kill anyone in the film; all the murders take place in his sleep, but they're vivid enough dreams that he can't separate them from reality.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
Throughout the film, Patrick Batemen's deranged thoughts and actions only get weirder and weirder until eventually reaching a true breaking point. But one theory believes that the mass murderer only killed one person, leaving his body count nothing more than a hallucination.
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.
After Bateman confesses all of his crimes, he returns to Allen's apartment but finds no traces of any of his murders and the property put up for sale. Confused, he meets colleagues for lunch and bumps into his lawyer who took his confession for a practical joke.
'Feed Me A Stray Cat' Scene | American Psycho - YouTube. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) attempts to murder a cat after following the instructions of an ATM, which leads to more killings.
What did Patrick Bateman do with the coat hanger in American Psycho?
In the book Bateman does not describe to the reading audience what he does with the coat hanger. The mention of it is brief and almost an afterthought. Easton Ellis leaves the bizarre details to our imagination (thanks Bret!).
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.
Toxic masculinity is depicted in American Psycho through its destructive aspects. In the movie, Patrick Bateman is the main character who portrays destructive aspects of toxic masculinity.
