The business card scene.


I have read online several interpretations that seem to come to the conclusion that the scene where Patrick Bateman compares his own business card with that of his associates, and then becomes angry and snaps before "going on a murder spree" (put in inverted commas because the film kinda wants the audience to decide for themselves whether its all real or a figment of his twisted imagination), well...

I have read that many seem to say that this scene actually wants to make us emphasize with the fact that Patrick Bateman's character in this film is basically a PATHETIC LOSER, that he would go nuts over something so small and trivial as someone having a more stylish and better looking business card than him, that he is basically although an adult but one with a very immature, practically school-bully like mentality, but is all of that even true?

And are we really meant to go like "Eww, look at how PATHETIC that guy is" and think "Blimey, I DEFINITELY would NOT want to be like him", even if in some or OTHER ways, the film can sort of make him seem or look like an interesting character, besides the murders of course (even if they aren't real), and also the fact that in this film, he is at least our MAIN character.

But are we, in a nutshell, REALLY supposed to think and feel about how 'pathetic' he is based on that scene, was THAT the trait that scene in him meant to establish? Thanks.

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i think you are on the right track, but i also think it's more that "he" feels pathetic, the entire book is a commentary on the shallowness of society, and what people view as "important"

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And I am guessing the movie is also a commentary on that too, with him being very much part of if not in the center of the society. But then are we meant to really seriously think that and feel for real and passionately about how pathetic he is, emphasized by that scene, or is it entirely up to the audience to make up their mind but if that's how they feel, they are correct as well, yes?

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yes!

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I believe American Psycho works best as a commentary on materialistic and temporal hysteria. The card scene is important because it highlights Patrick's hierarchy and social status. With the film highly remarking on how the object has triumphed over the subject, one's identity is now assumed through signs. Within this context, the card's watermark, the font, coloring, and print establish a sense of status. The notion of the loss of identity is reified throughout the film, as people frequently forget each other's names, they all hold the title of vice president, and Patrick even leaves a voice message on Paul Allen's answering machine, unafraid that someone might recognize his voice.

And so what we see is that the card is not just a piece of paper, it is Patrick's identity. It is his essence. The dark commentary is reflecting on the idea that in order for Patrick to assume a place on the top of the hierarchy, he must have a business card which reflects such a role. This is because in such a society social roles and hierarchies are unstable. The quote from Fight Club is apt, where Edward Norton, in looking at his IKEA catalogue, states, "What kind of dining room set defines me as a person?"

The book emphasizes this relationship with objects, as there are entire pages devoted to Patrick listing objects he owns.

Ultimately, if we consider that an object is replaceable, we see that because of the object's role in such a consumer society, the individual himself also becomes replaceable. From a thematic standpoint, this explains why nobody really knows where Paul Allen is, or remembers what he sounds like.

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Just a comment on "one-upsmanship" in a hyper-competitive field of fiance.

Your view of the scene being pathetic is interesting. Wall Street types of the 1980's would consider a person who DOESN'T care about style/taste/fashion as pathetic.

The movie has a very GQ vibe (Gentleman's Quarterly), which was a very big magazine at the time for the straight upwardly mobile male.


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On sites like reddit, that scene highlighted for many viewers the fact that for one, we are NOT supposed to like and in any way sympathize with the character of Patrick Bateman here, and it also told them how pathetic he is if he is willing to go insane and start killing people over a trivial little business card design matter .

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