“American Psycho” Director Talks Masculinity Satire

Mary Harron, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed 2000 film adaptation of “American Psycho,” says that 25 years on from the satirical thriller hitting cinemas she remains baffled by those who don’t seem to get that it is a satire.

Christian Bale stars in the film that centers on a wealthy, narcissistic and vain young Manhattan investment banker named Patrick Bateman who lives a double life as a serial killer.

The film was a success, grossing over $34 million on a $7 million budget and developing a cult following along with a strong critical appreciation over the years. Participating in an interview for the Letterboxd Journal’s website reflecting on the movie, Harron says she doesn’t understand those finance workers who idolise the character:

“I’m always so mystified by it. I don’t think that [co-writer Guinevere Turner] and I ever expected it to be embraced by Wall Street bros, at all. That was not our intention. So, did we fail? I’m not sure why [it happened], because Christian’s very clearly making fun of them… But, people read the Bible and decide that they should go and kill a lot of people.”

Harron says she’s well aware that TikTok and memes have played a big role in this idolization of the character. Part of that is the film plays him as both a handsome guy with money and power, and also incredibly awkward in social situations with Harron dubbing him “dorky and ridiculous”.

That he’s lifted up to being an aspirational figure in particular by some of these ‘Wall Street Bros’ she finds especially interesting as both the original work and the film are effectively a “gay man’s satire on masculinity” from both a gay author and two women – Harron and Turner:

“[Ellis] being gay allowed him to see the homoerotic rituals among these alpha males, which is also true in sports, and it’s true in Wall Street, and all these things where men are prizing their extreme competition and their ‘elevating their prowess’ kind of thing. There’s something very, very gay about the way they’re fetishizing looks and the gym… They’re so obsessed with their looks, and Brett could see it and focus it and underline it.”

One difference between when she made the film and now is that the ‘predatory society’ of the book and film has changed somewhat, in fact she thinks it’s worse now: “The rich are much richer, the poor are poorer. I would never have imagined that there would be a celebration of racism and white supremacy… I would never have imagined that we would live through that.”

The comments come as a new “American Psycho” is in development with “Challengers” and “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino directing and Austin Butler rumored to play Patrick.

For the full interview, which goes into the film’s making, perspective shifts, physical comedy elements, book changes, and surprise modern resurgence with female viewers, head over to Letterboxd Journal.

The post “American Psycho” Director Talks Masculinity Satire appeared first on Dark Horizons.