American Psycho Book to Movie Essay

Allister Baudoin Mr. Jason Raush Lit. of perfectgoing Situations 8 April 2013 American Psycho Novel and pic Comparison After the release of Bret Easton Ellis American Psycho, and the vital response that soon followed, cosmosy a(prenominal) would believe that a charge version of such a creatively gruesome novel would be an impossible labor movement to undertake. The ext closeed obviously end little descriptions, stream of informed narrative, countless scenes of grotesque violence, and not to mention a literary ban in both Germany and Australia be just a few reasons why so many believed a photo could never exist.However in the spring of 2000, director Mary Harron defied the odds and transform this controversial work from hardcover to the big screen. signally a huge success, the film captures the weaving, often-satirical, fores of the account book, while staying unfeigned to the not so hidden horrors of a 1980s New York yuppie turned serial killer Patrick Bateman. Where the book gave readers the eyes and insight of a warped Patrick Bateman, the movie displayed a more than outward perspective, balancing the in darkness comical with hints of insanity that built toward the unraveling of this American Psycho.Some may argue that serial killers argon born with the needed urge to murder, while others believe these actions are a direct result of environmental culturing. The character of Patrick Bateman would mightily cause anyone to question this notion. In the film, Mr. Batman, ingeniously depicted by Christian Bale, begins the film with a seemingly levelheaded temperament. This illusion is short lived however and is disjointed when a scene, mirroring that of the second chapter of the book, yields Batemans obsessively thorough morning routine.The film quite accurately depicts the respective(a) crossings and processes that were read as lists upon lists of description within the novel. another(prenominal) point in which Mary Harron illustrates th e maddening obsessive tendencies of Bateman occurs during the often one-sided dialogues about his favorite melodious artists. Full chapters of the novel are dedicated these modify ramblings that send readers into an al nearly absorbed state of psychosis.Although the film could not hold this exact effect, many of these lines were forthwith from the novel, except for the Phil Collins references, and were stated under a comical tone that stayed true to the satirical temper of the work. Each of these scenes shows the progression of a Patrick Bateman that has become less of a human and more a product of society. The greatest difference from book to film lies in the scenes of abundant violence.Although the film had to alter certain portions to earn an R not NC-17 rating, the movie, even with the old cuts in place, would still not even scratch the originate of the horror and revolting actions found within the novel. Events similar the killing of an innocent child at a zoo, the piece s of body go forth in his Hells Kitchen apartment, cannibalism, and other more disgusting ways of agony women were not visually placed in the movie.Nevertheless many of them were hinted at throughout which allowed audiences to imagine the terrifying acts that Bateman partook in themselves, actors the ability to play with dialogue, and readers to notice the inner most references to scenes from the book. Not all violence and gore was left to the imagination however, but were subtly shown for example by a scrape on a womens back or by the image of a severed head tucked away intimate of Batemans fridge until the climax where shots of former bodies are exposed during a chase seen with a women urgently trying to escape.All of the shots are creatively angled to show just enough violence to make you whole step the impact of the act while crafting an air of stress that increases until he cracks. The progression of Patrick Batemans mental dysfunction and the unreliability of the main ch aracters perspective, hit its peak at the end of the film. Surreal scenes of confusion and dialogue began to denigrate the interactions that Bateman had with those around him. A growing sense of exigency in his demeanor countered by the cold blazing of the other characters gave a perfect bridge to the theme of the novel.Now that we see Bateman shocked that his sick acts have gone with out consequence, the audience begins to question whether or not his horrid acts are only mere imagination. The end of the book, and most of the novel, give readers the assumption that these acts must be too extreme to have actually happened. The consequence of the film lets the wall reliability crash eat up with the realization that you may have just glimpsed into the consciousness of the main character. Just like in the book, audiences hold the line that Bateman may just simply be more psychotic than original perceived.The unraveling of his sophistication being the first sign brings question to the events that occurred and further notions of insanity. Although much of the floor may have been in the mind of Patrick Bateman, the ideas and fantasies that were birthed their and why they came about, are the root of what both Bret Easton Ellis and Mary Harron are trying to being to question. Was it instilled in a man to have these desires, or was it a society that brought him to it?