Tattoos would have surely been frowned upon in Bateman’s social circle, so how great is it that times and perceptions are changing? If you want that American Psycho tattoo, you go and get that American Psycho tattoo. Just be sure to select the right reputable artist so you won’t have to go all Patrick Bateman on their ass!
Before he was Batman, Christian Bale was best known for his portrayal of Patrick Bateman in 2000’s American Psycho, based on the 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
Behind the scenes, co-writer and director Mary Harron and Christian Bale were initially attached to the project before briefly being replaced by Oliver Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe if DiCaprio had stayed on it wouldn’t have taken him until 2016 to win an Academy Award?
American Psycho is a satirical take on the ’80s and the rampant materialism, social status, and vanity, with a little bit of black comedy and murder thrown in there.
While, in my opinion, Patrick Bateman does have excellent taste in music (Huey Lewis and the News, Phil Collins and Whitney Houston), he is an unreliable narrator as we’re unsure of what has actually happened and what was a hallucination – it’s really up to the audience to decide.
One travesty – now that physical media is being replaced by streaming services – is that we can no longer use the excuse of having to return videotapes as an reason to leave uncomfortable social situations.
Despite the film’s success, Bret Easton Ellis didn’t believe it ever needed to be made. Do you prefer the novel or the movie?
Let’s not talk about the abomination that is American Psycho 2 (learn more about it from Dead Meat’s Kill Count episode), and instead take a look at this curated list of American Psycho tattoos.
The Tattooed Archivist 