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.
