American Psycho is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, first published in 1991. In 2000 Mary Harron took the initiative to further materialize the psychological thriller into the big screen. The novel and its film adaption revolves around Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale as a wealthy stockbroker at a big firm. Bateman enjoys prestige from where he stands in the upper-class social hierarchy and armored with his privilege and wealth making him the ultimate serial killer. His drive to kill is fueled by fanatical materialism and bitter envy from inside the limbo that people call the American dream. The film is satire, cleverly combining materialism, narcissism, misogyny, and envy shown through Bateman’s desperation for a piece of reality …show more content…
The decor is a mixture of chi-chi and rustic, with swagged silk curtains, handwritten menus and pale pink tablecloths decorated with arrangements of moss, twigs and hideous exotic flowers. The clientele is young, wealthy and confident, dressed in the height of late-eighties style: pouffy Lacroix dresses, slinky Alaïa, Armani power suits. Timothy Bryce, played by Justin Theroux, one of Bateman’s acquaintances in the group of investment bankers laments at the fact that the restaurant they dined is considered a ‘chicks’ restaurant’. He chortled “God, I hate this …show more content…
His monologue begins “My name is Patrick Bateman. I am twenty-six years old. I live in the American Garden Buildings on West Eighty-First Street, on the eleventh floor Tom Cruise lives in the penthouse.” Bateman then walks into his bathroom, urinates while trying to see his reflection in a poster for Les Miserables above his toilet. “I believe in taking care of myself, in a balanced diet, in a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand now.” This quotes shows how Bateman takes extreme measures to maintain his physique, displaying how much great importance his external appearance is to him. The scene cuts to a mirror-lined bathroom. Bateman is luxuriating in the shower steam, scrubbing his body, admiring his muscles. After that Bateman stands in front of a massive marble sink applying a gel facial masque, as he opens the door of a mirrored cabinet, stocked with immaculate rows of skin care products. He begins selecting bottles jars and brushes, laying them in readiness on the marble counter. He continues to speak in monologue “I always use an after-shave lotion with little or no alcohol because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye
Each of these concepts are utilized at the advantage of men, and the disadvantage of women, and has shown to provide detrimental consequences and results for women in society. However, in this film, and other films by Tyler Perry, appear to take the added step to combat these aspects that are present in the media’s portrayal of women. While these are present in the movie, he often makes a point to combat it with an inverse portrayal of each
The movie also shows different stausticsand how it is a problem in society. There is a satistic of the money spent on plastic surgury can pay for a specific years of college depending on the type of college. The use of media, speaker, and satistics help to support the main idea that the media focuses more on womens apperence then they do of showing them in
When someone believes that it’s possible to time travel and get abducted by aliens, they clearly have a mental disorder. Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, though it is a fictitious novel, it contains serious and real content. It has its sadistic humor, but it is truly a war story where the outcomes are not good. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is said to be unstuck in time and is abducted by aliens. Though, there is a lot against the reality of that.
Sexuality in adolescence Sexuality is the most notorious and common sign of development in adolescence. “The House on Mango street”, by Sandra Cisneros is a coming of age novel, where Esperanza transitions from a girl into a young teen. In her journey, Esperanza comes across many challenges, she is forced to grow up by life’s adversities. In the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, a mother advises her daughter and scolds her into becoming a decent woman. In her guidance, the mother is worried about her daughter’s sexual activity and warns her about the consequences of improper behavior.
Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcocks powerful and complex psychological thriller, horror film “Psycho” (1960) was classes as the first sub genre of horror, the slasher. The film ushered in the era of slashes with graphic content of blood-letting and shocking killings of the time. Although this was Hitchcock’s first horror film, he was labelled as a horror film director ever since. The film contains disturbing themes of corruptibility, confused identities, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and victimisation. These themes symbolise the effects of money, oedipal murder and the dark histories.
This analysis will focus on questions of gender and notions of femininity existing during the Great Depression in US Culture, which are reproduced through the film itself. To support my thesis, I will analyze the most important key scenes
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social class is a key theme, as seen by every character having their own distinct class. Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and even Nick are old money, Gatsby is new money, and the Wilson 's are no money. In short, the more money you have, the better off you will be. In the epigraph of the novel, there is a poem by Thomas Parke D 'Invilliers, who is a fictional character created by Fitzgerald himself. This poem is about using materialism to win over the affection of someone, which is exactly what Gatsby tries to do.
The Piano man turns on his lights, which shine on Jefferies’ face to foreshadow a realization. The piano man stumbles into his studio apartment drunk. He then shoves his music off of the piano and collapses into a nearby chair. At first Jefferies laughs at the piano man. However, Jefferies soon realizes that the piano man’s actions merely animate his own feelings, causing Jefferies to cast his gaze down in shame for laughing.
When thinking about the harmonious and blessing Thanksgiving, one connects the setting and atmosphere to the painting of Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell. Norman Rockwell, an American painter and illustrator, was best known for his depiction of everyday American life. In Rockwell’s early years, he putted the emphases of his paintings on the warm and idealistic aspect of world, treating with simplistic charm and certain degree of humor. In January 1943, during World War II, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave an emotionally moving speech, addressing his vision to the American freedom and the desperate need of concern for the real threat of war, Rockwell was greatly inspired. Thence, he painted the Four Freedoms including Freedom
To exemplify specifically, the main character, Jordan Belfort makes a speech at the opening scene of the movie, and he tells about what you can buy with money, he orders many things a luxurious car, a good life style, and also a better "girlfriend". Thus, he commoditises the woman. Furthermore, the character whose name is Donnie says that he gets married to her cousin because she became a very sexy woman when she grew up. So this means that the most important side of a woman is her body not her thoughts, ideas and esteem. At this stage, Prof. Talip Küçükcan mentions the feminist film theory.
In the film American Psycho, the director uses satire to illustrate the life of Patrick Bateman, a typical Yuppie in the 1980’s who is a monster because of his psychotic tendencies, which are influenced by his destructive male ego. Set during the 1980’s in New York City, Patrick Bateman is an attractive, and successful man. He is ivy-league educated, works at a high-profile Wall Street financial firm, takes excellent care of his physique and engaged to an intelligent blonde named Evelyn who is “almost perfect looking.” Patrick also surrounds himself with similar people who share identical backgrounds in wealth and education. The only thing that sets Patrick aside from the rest of his friends is his tendency to mutilate and murder several helpless female
This greed also continues on through his intense desire to murder people. Once Bateman feels an urge to spill blood he cannot stop himself until he does so. This theme of greed also reflects high society, as society labeled high society as greedy human beings. These characters in this novel all represent wealthy people and they all display constant
A Psychological Analysis of Forrest Gump. The movie Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) tells a story of a simple man and his journey through life. Forrest Gump’s story takes place during a time of historical significance in our country, The United States of America. His story began in the 1950’s, and ran through the 1970’s.
This film shows the true layers that black women can have in films that is past the stereotypical The sassy black friend The ghetto black women The angry black woman storyline can only be done so many times. Seeing black women as strong and highly intelligent individuals in films and how this needed to related to real life. How this can be connected to the short book We Should All be Feminists, is
A Psychoanalytical Approach to A Doll’s House Sigmund Freud, a well known psychologist, argues that childhood experience influences adult life in the pursuit of happiness. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a prime example of Freud’s theory as the protagonist, Nora, regresses to her past childlike habits of happiness within a voiceless marriage. Nora is limited to mental developmental growth because she is fixated in an adolescent state. In order for Nora to truly find her identity in the end, her illusions of happiness must be shattered.