Does Patrick Bateman exist?
That is a question that may be asked about the protagonist of the film, American Psycho. In the start of the film, Bateman declares, while peeling off a face mask,
"There is an idea of Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there."
That is a question that may be asked about the protagonist of the film, American Psycho. In the start of the film, Bateman declares, while peeling off a face mask,
"There is an idea of Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there."
By him stating that he is "simply not there," is to say that he does not exist. Yes, there is a flesh and blood, but within, he is hollow, unidentifiable, an illusion. In class, a quote was mentioned; "the one thing, one can be in sure of, is ones existence." That is to say, "I think, therefore I am." Yet Bateman had stated that he does not exist. There is no "real him," or an identity of him. For Bateman, he created an existence solely by forming an image or a facade. For him, he considers this image that he has formed to equal identity. Bateman is essentially all exterior; a composite of many things, where none of them are truely him.
Similar to the mind of a psychopath, Patrick Bateman has no real emotions or empathy. Psychopathy is defined as a personality disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with strongly amoral conduct but masked by an ability to appear outwardly normal. Essentially, Bateman and psychopaths create a facade that may appear normal on the outside, but in actuality are completely abnormal on the inside. Yet, in the book, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice," by Chris Parker, it states that "identity is best understood not as a fixed entity but as an emotionally charged discursive description of ourselves that is subject to change" (216). Would this mean that all psychopaths including Bateman do not have a true identity because of their lack of emotions? I'll let you answer that.
Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. Sage, 2008.
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