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I need an explanation on the ending of American Psycho *** spoilers***
Posted on 3/18/16 at 7:47 pm
Posted on 3/18/16 at 7:47 pm
Watched American Psycho for the first time in its entirety last night, and the ending left me with some questions. I know this movie is a favorite of some on here, so thoughts and opinions are welcomed.
Was he hallucinating all the bodies in "Paul Allen's" apartment? Did he really kill the girl with the chainsaw toss? What was up with his encounter with the elderly woman in the apartment at the end? Why did the lawyer call him by the wrong name, and was Paul Allen really alive in London?
I thought it was a solid flick, and Bale was actually funny enough to be a likable serial killer.
Was he hallucinating all the bodies in "Paul Allen's" apartment? Did he really kill the girl with the chainsaw toss? What was up with his encounter with the elderly woman in the apartment at the end? Why did the lawyer call him by the wrong name, and was Paul Allen really alive in London?
I thought it was a solid flick, and Bale was actually funny enough to be a likable serial killer.
7
Posted on 3/18/16 at 7:58 pm to Honest Tune
quote:
Was he hallucinating all the bodies in "Paul Allen's" apartment? Did he really kill the girl with the chainsaw toss? What was up with his encounter with the elderly woman in the apartment at the end? Why did the lawyer call him by the wrong name, and was Paul Allen really alive in London?
It's all left to interpretation.
Personally, I think that the entire movie hints at him experiencing his own reality due to some magnificent hallucinations and fantasies. Hell, the early scene at the bar where he threatens the bartender seems to suggest that his actions are not factual (i.e. he's operating as a untrustworthy narrator).
Posted on 3/18/16 at 8:00 pm to Honest Tune
quote:
Was he hallucinating all the bodies in "Paul Allen's" apartment? Did he really kill the girl with the chainsaw toss? What was up with his encounter with the elderly woman in the apartment at the end? Why did the lawyer call him by the wrong name, and was Paul Allen really alive in London?
All of this stuff is meant to be ambiguous. You can interpret it either way. It might just be all in his head, and he really is just crazy. Or it all really happened, and various acts of selfishness and greed led to all of the crimes getting covered up.
If it really happened here are possible interpretations of a couple of the events you mentioned:
quote:
Was he hallucinating all the bodies in "Paul Allen's" apartment? Did he really kill the girl with the chainsaw toss?
The bodies at Paul Allen's apartment were covered up by the real estate agent selling the apartment because reporting it to the police would make it impossible to sell the apartment and greatly diminish the profit made from it.
quote:
What was up with his encounter with the elderly woman in the apartment at the end?
I don't specifically remember this scene. Sorry. I need to rewatch the movie.
quote:
Why did the lawyer call him by the wrong name, and was Paul Allen really alive in London?
Everyone is interchangeable and no one really cares about anyone besides themselves. This is why the lawyer doesn't bother to keep track of his clients names and gets them mixed up. The lawyer doesn't really care, and he is incapable of thinking past himself. Similarly with Paul Allen being in London. Maybe he really is, but maybe the person saying that just got Paul Allen mixed up with someone else because bothering to keep track of other people and actually pay attention to them beyond your own material needs is beyond the level of empathy that people are capable of. This idea of getting people mixed up is a recurring theme. Remember that Paul Allen thought that Patrick Bateman was a different person and was calling him by a different name the night and right before he got the axe.
A theme of the entire movie is that it is not just Bateman who is the "American Psycho" it is all of American society that is psychopathic. It's everyone.
This post was edited on 3/18/16 at 8:02 pm
Posted on 3/18/16 at 8:19 pm to Peazey
Thanks for the replies, guys. And the real estate agent was the elderly woman I was referring to. It seems that she is "psycho" as well for the Almighty dollar, covering up a gruesome murder scene in order to profit.
Posted on 3/18/16 at 8:46 pm to Honest Tune
He imagined everything out of frustration with his yuppie existence. Except for the hooker and chainsaw...that was real.
Posted on 3/18/16 at 8:47 pm to Honest Tune
Pretty sure the old lady wanted to make a buck and lease the apartment so got that all cleaned up and stayed hush-hush.
After that all the killing was real. Everyone is so vain and worried about themselves, his alibi and Paul Allen alibi are just completely unaware of the world around them.
After that all the killing was real. Everyone is so vain and worried about themselves, his alibi and Paul Allen alibi are just completely unaware of the world around them.
Posted on 3/18/16 at 9:19 pm to Pectus
I read that Oliver Stone was originally scheduled to direct, and that Leo was in line for the Bateman role. I doubt he could have gotten as in shape as Bale, which added to the character's lunacy via vanity. Also had Stone directed it, I believe it might have lacked some of the key humorous tones which made the movie and its insufferable schmuck characters "likable".
Posted on 3/18/16 at 9:43 pm to Honest Tune
It's based on a Bret Easton Ellis novel, so all you really need to understand is that EVERYONE in the 80's was rich, heartless, coked out of their minds, and they would have raped/killed you in a heartbeat if the could get away with it, just like evil Wall Street.
Posted on 3/19/16 at 9:01 am to Honest Tune
The 80s was all bullshite. A shell. A facade. You couldn't tell that bro club apart from each other. And the corporations and it's lawyers protected their assets and companies regardless of any wrong doings to the public. All the money hungry traders and salesmen were in essence the same person. In a way, he not only represented the greedy man of the 80s, but the entire decade in general and what it did to society.
Everyone in the 80s from dumb whores to landlords to brokers to lawyers was just looking to make a buck and it didn't matter how many people they killed or crushed on the way to do so.
Everyone in the 80s from dumb whores to landlords to brokers to lawyers was just looking to make a buck and it didn't matter how many people they killed or crushed on the way to do so.
This post was edited on 3/19/16 at 9:02 am
Posted on 3/19/16 at 9:30 am to Honest Tune
It's a power fantasy fueled by Bateman's inability to cope with the fact that he's simply not as important and chic than he imagines himself to be.
Posted on 3/19/16 at 9:33 am to JombieZombie
Let's see Paul Allen's card
Posted on 3/19/16 at 11:23 am to Paul Allen
"There is a moment of sheer panic when I realize Paul's apartment overlooks the park and is obviously more expensive than mine!"
That quote kind of sums up Bateman perfectly.
That quote kind of sums up Bateman perfectly.
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