Doesn't feel like there’s much left to talk about these days. Airdrops? You burn out on those like pushing a millstone uphill. So I bought a new TV yesterday and figured it’s time to rewatch American Psycho. Haven’t seen it in over a decade.
Funny how Patrick Bateman slipped into meme culture over the years. People misunderstood him, then forgot him, like most memes do. I’m lucky enough to have read the book too, though I barely remember it. It’s thick, packed with descriptions of who wore what, where they dined, pure 80s yuppie Wall Street atmosphere.
And since Binance is basically a digital Wall Street, let’s be clear what Bateman really represents.
Bateman isn’t cool. He’s not some alpha icon for traders to plaster on their profiles. He’s emptiness in a suit. A man who mastered the art of blending in. Obsessed with status, but always envious of those a tiny step above. Stuck in a perfect, painfully shallow life. And behind all that? Confusion, exhaustion, and a gnawing sense of nothingness.
That’s why he kills. That’s the point. But on platforms like this, all we really kill is time. And maybe, from time to time, ourselves.
I didn’t remember the film this way. Watching it again now, a bit older, a bit more worn out, it hit differently. What really stood out this time? Bateman barely works. You never actually see him do anything at that office except call his secretary to book a dinner reservation. She’s the classic, sweet secretary-next-door character. And he lies to her constantly. Just like he lies to everyone else. That’s all he does, lie.
And maybe that’s why his little confession at the end feels like such a release for him. Even though nothing happens. No consequences. No justice. People like him are untouchable. They can do anything and nothing changes. Maybe that’s why life itself feels unbearable to them because the usual reward and punishment system doesn’t apply.
You could tear the film apart with criticism. Bateman, the supporting characters, the whole shallow social backdrop. Lots to attack. But none of it changes how well this film holds up. The cinematography, the editing, the pacing, the acting. It surprised me how sharp and deliberate everything felt.
For me, Bret Easton Ellis sits in the same corner as Chuck Palahniuk. Funny how Fight Club hit theaters just a year earlier. And both of these films? Not box office giants when they dropped. They became cult films with time. Maybe that’s the point. These aren’t films you just watch once or twice and move on. They age with you. They shift. You resonate with them differently every time.
This time, I felt even less empathy for Bateman. But also, less empathy for the world around him.