Cannibalism In American Psycho

"The publication of Mary Harron’s Filming of Bret Ellis’ novel American Psycho in 2000 swayed the audiences’ opinion of it from controversial to critically acclaimed and well regarded. American Psycho entails a story of a young, handsome, twenty seven year old, stereotypical 1980’s yuppie Patrick Bateman on Wall Street. During the day he enjoys lunches, while at night he goes to clubs, does drugs, and partakes in horrendous acts of murder and cannibalism. Throughout the movie, the murder is completely devoid of any emotion. Bateman is a vehicle for satire created a lack of identity and humanity.
The American Dream has been deteriorating since the beginning of the twentieth century. The traditional pursuit of happiness, individuality, and humanity have been “consumed by the ‘culture of consumption;’” hope has been replaced by desire (Alina 1). During the Reagan years, the American Dream only became possible for the wealthy and created a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor. This decade has been “dubbed by many, including president Clinton, as the decade of greed”(Winn, 307). In the 1980’s, the yuppie, “young, urban professional,” emerged as a symbol of conspicuous consumption. They consisted of men and women between the ages of 25 and 39, earning $40,000 or more in professional or managerial positions (Andler 1984).
Patrick Bateman and his friends are the epitome of materialistic yuppies concerned with social status. The first hour of the movie details Patrick’s