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How “American ‘Psycho” Serves As The White Man’s Code for Behavioral Dysfunction
American Psycho is a film that was released in 2000 — starring Christian Bale in the role of Wall Street serial killer Patrick Bateman — a character that was made famous by American author — Bret Easton Ellis — who authored the 1991 novel that inspired the film version.
The New York Times described Psycho as a “mean and lean horror comedy classic.” The late Roger Ebert praised Bale’s performance — particularly “the heroic way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor.”
Truth be told — I was star-struck by Bale’s efficient portrayal of the cold-blooded yuppie investment banker with a penchant for sex and mayhem — way before I realized that he was just another privileged actor who scoffs at the idea that he has to be of Egyptian descent in order to authentically portray an Egyptian god.
But now — almost twenty years later — the film I once hailed with heightened enthusiasm has evolved into to the blueprint of the White man’s celebrated dysfunction — which has been endorsed with the allowances of a privilege that doesn’t extend to darker counterparts.
We see it everywhere because it’s not a hidden habit.
From Ryan Lochte who lied about being robbed in Rio during the 2016 Summer Olympics to the media’s annoying updates about Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock — it seems that when White men misbehave — the consequences aren’t nearly as brutal as they should be.
Paddock joins a growing network of domestic terrorists who match his racial makeup — and possess the same tendencies when it comes to wrecking irrevocable damage to the lives of innocent Americans — for reasons that border on the insatiable need for attention and misplaced martyrdom.
Similar to the madness that fueled Patrick Bateman who freely killed at will — Paddock was a regular sixty-four-year old guy with enough money to comfortably live out the rest of days — but his demonstrated refusal to do exactly that led to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Since the bloody massacre that resulted in his suicide — Paddock has been the subject of an ongoing…
