History Literature / AmericanPsycho

* InterchangeableAsianCultures: While on his way to Evelyn's Christmas Eve party, after one of Bateman's associates alarms him of [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld the growing influence of Japan and Japanese business in New York City and America]], Bateman feels compelled to murder the first Japanese bike messenger he sees and dump the hot food his victim was delivering on top of his body, only to discover in doing so that his victim was actually carrying Chinese food. Realizing he had made a "mistake" in "killing the wrong type of Asian," Bateman then attempts to "amend" the situation by leaving a threatening note [[PekingDuckChristmas for the Jewish family that the food was being delivered to]] before halfheartedly telling his victim, "Uh, sorry."

''American Psycho'' is a novel by Creator/BretEastonEllis first published in 1991. It is the story about the archetypal [[TheEighties 80's]] businessman: rich, shallow, unhappy, self-absorbed -- [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and a]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{serial killer}}.

Most of the people in Pat's life don't really know anything about him, but then again, he doesn't know anything about them either. Most of the people he knows can't even be bothered to remember his name -- but he isn't so sure about their names either, so it all evens out. There is no one who listens to him; he confesses at least once a week, but no one seems to notice or indeed care. And Ellis explains that Patrick may not ''really'' be a serial killer. Patrick may just be harmlessly insane. Or bored. Or even both. But Patrick may also be speaking the absolute truth. [[{{Applicability}} It's up to the reader to decide.]]

* SuperOCD: The frequent (often unimportant) detail Patrick gives of clothes, decor, and food seems to manifest out of a completely compulsive desire take note of every detail. In the opening chapter, for instance, after already enumerating every article of clothing Courtney is wearing at her house party, Patrick can't simply say anything to the effect of, "Evelyn is wearing the ''exact'' same clothes as Courtney," and, instead, repeats the same dry description of Courtney's entire outfit to describe Evelyn's appearance. Later on, after describing the "dumpy girl" behind the counter at his video store and her non-designer clothes from the waist up, Patrick begins to have a panic attack as he realizes he has not seen what shoes she is wearing and must desperately try to get a look at them.

* PopCulturedBadass: Deconstructed. In place of an authentic, cultivated human personality, Patrick Bateman constantly strives to be recognized by his peers (as well as the reader/audience) for his knowledge and appreciation of music, art, and pop culture, but his grasp and understanding of the art and media that he consumes is reduced to what material is made the most appealing to the widest audiences and LowestCommonDenominator[[note]]In-universe[[/note]], such as dismissing early Music/{{Genesis|Band}} albums with Music/PeterGabriel (and his "lame solo career") as being "too artsy, too intellectual" and favoring the more commercially-driven direction of the group after Music/PhilCollins became the group's frontman. Other assessments he makes of popular singers and bands are frequently off-the-mark and factually wrong, like being convinced that Music/WhitneyHouston is a ''jazz'' singer or believing [[Music/TheRollingStones "You Can't Always Get What You Want"]] is a song by Music/TheBeatles. In the book and musical, he often speaks of owning what's described as the original version of [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/5e/2e/c5/5e2ec5ee9ec77bb094ef1b45e762d45a.jpg "Sunrise with Broken Plates"]] by artist David Onica (while discreetly boasting of the high cost he paid to obtain it), only for his ex-girlfriend to later point out to him that he hung it upside down. All of this only serves to further demonstrate Patrick's emptiness, shallowness, and delusions about having "good taste."

** Timothy Price makes the claim when trying to sound world conscious that "Sikhs are killing ''tons'' of Israelis" in Sri Lanka. Israelis certainly do not have a large presence in Sri Lanka in either a military or civilian capacity, and neither do Sikhs.

** Timothy Price/Bryce makes the claim when trying to sound world conscious that "Sikhs are killing ''tons'' of Israelis" in Sri Lanka. Israelis certainly do not have a large presence in Sri Lanka in either a military or civilian capacity, and neither do Sikhs.

** Most significantly, Patrick dismisses the early progressive rock albums by Music/{{Genesis}} as "too artsy, too intellectual," and he couldn't begin to appreciate their music until after Music/PhilCollins became a greater presence and took the band in a different direction, and Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews was "too new wave" for Patrick's liking until the release of their third album, ''Sports'', found greater commercial appeal.

* PopCulturedBadass: Deconstructed. In place of an authentic, cultivated human personality, Patrick Bateman constantly strives to be recognized by his peers (as well as the reader/audience) for his knowledge and appreciation of music, art, and pop culture, but his grasp and understanding of the art and media that he consumes is reduced to what material is made the most appealing to the widest audiences and LowestCommonDenominator[[note]]In-universe[[/note]], such as dismissing early Music/{{Genesis}} albums with Music/PeterGabriel (and his "lame solo career") as being "too artsy, too intellectual" and favoring the more commercially-driven direction of the group after Music/PhilCollins became the group's frontman. Other assessments he makes of popular singers and bands are frequently off-the-mark and factually wrong, like being convinced that Music/WhitneyHouston is a ''jazz'' singer or believing [[Music/TheRollingStones "You Can't Always Get What You Want"]] is a song by Music/TheBeatles. In the book and musical, he often speaks of owning what's described as the original version of [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/5e/2e/c5/5e2ec5ee9ec77bb094ef1b45e762d45a.jpg "Sunrise with Broken Plates"]] by artist David Onica (while discreetly boasting of the high cost he paid to obtain it), only for his ex-girlfriend to later point out to him that he hung it upside down. All of this only serves to further demonstrate Patrick's emptiness, shallowness, and delusions about having "good taste."

** The book ends with Bateman reading a sign that says "This is not an Exit".

* SuperOCD: The frequent (often unimportant) detail Patrick gives of clothes, decor, and food seems to manifest out of a completely compulsive desire take note of every detail. In the opening chapter, for instance, after already enumerating every article of clothing Evelyn is wearing at her house party, Patrick can't simply say anything to the effect of, "Courtney is wearing the ''exact'' same clothes as Evelyn," and, instead, repeats the exact same dry description of Evelyn's entire outfit to describe Courtney's appearance. Later on, after describing the "dumpy girl" behind the counter at his video store and her non-designer clothes from the waist up, Patrick begins to have a panic attack as he realizes he has not seen what shoes she is wearing and must desperately try to get a look at them.

[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/americanpsycho_40.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:228:''[[Music/TrebleCharger Prima donna, self-absorbed, wide awake and never bored...]]'']]

*** The competition between Bateman and his associates is taken to the extreme: Who has the best business card?[[note]]To make this funnier, the cards look almost exactly the same in the film.[[/note]] Who can get a reservation at Dorsia?

*** While trying to fit in, Bateman also wants to retain his uniqueness, and to reach this goal, he even tries to confess the murders he committed. This doesn't work, as hinted by [[spoiler: the "This is not an exit" sign in the film and the book and his final monologue and the close-up of his face showing his acceptance of his own fate in the end of the film]].

*** In some scenes where Bateman doesn't act conformist, "Hip to be Square" is ironically referred to or played (buying cereal with an obsolete coupon in the book, killing Paul Allen in the film).

*** Bateman is obsessed with his appearance, which is shown in the book as over-the-top costume, morning-routine and exercise descriptions and in the film as Bateman exercising obsessively and making hilarious faces and funny poses in front of mirrors.

*** In the film, a framed poster for the musical hangs in Bateman's bathroom, above his toilet, which Patrick is shown staring deeply into and finding his own reflection in the glass casing.

[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes Present in ''American Psycho'']]















* SnootyHauteCuisine: Patrick Bateman and his colleagues repeatedly sing praises of the nouvelle cuisine that they eat to flaunt their wealth and social status. In one instance in the book, Luis Carruthers describes business clients from out of New York City as "total hicks" for ordering "the boudin blanc, the roasted chicken, and the cheesecake" because it sounds so ordinary, in comparison to the [[HauteCuisineIsWeird fairly ridiculous fare they regularly eat]], and Patrick finds ''this'' weird:
-->'''Patrick:''' What sauce or fruits were on the roasted chicken? What shapes was it cut into?\\
'''Luis:''' None, Patrick. It was... roasted.\\
'''Patrick:''' And the cheesecake, what flavor? Was it heated? Ricotta cheesecake? Goat cheese? Were there flowers or cilantro in it?\\
'''Luis:''' It was just... regular.
* TheSociopath: Patrick Bateman's entire personality is a sham to look good in front of other self-absorbed yuppies, which he achieves by obsessive grooming and droning on about superficial claptrap. On the inside, he's a sadist who hates everybody, especially himself, and brutally murders people for fun. [[spoiler:Even with the implication that none of the murders are happening, all it changes is that he has incredibly graphic fantasies instead of outright deeds.]]
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: While Patrick is superficial and phony, no one notices how facile his persona is. Even his obsessive grooming habits go unnoticed, since he blends right in with the rest of the self-absorbed yuppie crowd. In fact, Patrick is constantly mistaken for other people in his circle.
* ThreeWaySex: Patrick does it with call girls several times.
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Patrick Bateman is clearly insane and has bizarre hallucinations (i.e. a Cheerio interviewed on a talk show, himself stalked by a park bench in the book; an ATM machine ordering him, "FEED ME A STRAY CAT" in both book and film) which he believes to be true. It's also ambiguous whether he committed the brutal (and, occasionally, ''preposterous'') murders that occur. Right at the end, another character insists that Paul Owen/Allen is alive.
* TortureCellar: Properly, Torture Apartment. He uses Paul Owen's place for this after killing him.
* TorturePorn: In-universe example, Patrick is particularly fond of these sorts of movies.
* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: The book and musical feature Bateman getting in an elevator with Creator/TomCruise and attempting to make small talk with him. The conversation is extremely awkward. This is based on a real event: Ellis lived in the same apartment building as Tom Cruise for some time.
* UnreliableNarrator: It's difficult to take Patrick at his word when he [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness obviously experiences surreal hallucinations]], [[CannotTellFictionFromReality occasionally sees his own actions and behaviors as if they are occurring in a work of fiction he might regularly enjoy]] (in the book), and other characters even dispute his accounts of events.
* UpperClassTwit: Everyone in Bateman's social circle.
* VillainProtagonist: The story is told from the perspective of a deranged, AxCrazy SerialKiller. [[spoiler: Even if a reader/audience believes Patrick is just imagining his crimes, he is still unlikeable, self-centered, elitist, racist, and shallow.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: When Patrick confesses his crimes to his lawyer, Harold Carnes, only to find out that he thinks it's a joke, even mistaking his client for someone else while unknowingly trashing him right in front of his face, he grows increasingly frustrated at Harold's defiance as he tries to convince him that his confession is genuine. Patrick then makes one final attempt by telling him that he killed Paul and liked it, only for Harold to say that that's impossible, with Bateman reaching his boiling point demanding to know why. Harold tells him it's because he had dinner with him twice ten days earlier, leaving Bateman in stunned shock as he's left alone while quietly going back to his friend group.
* WateringDown: Tim Price/Bryce (Patrick in the musical) complains about how the cocaine they've been sold is "a fucking milligram of... ''Nutrasweet''." (Brand name omitted in the movie.)
* WhamLine: Two instances:
-->'''Real estate agent:''' There was no ad in the ''Times''. I think you should go now.
** Then a little later...
-->'''Carnes:''' ...I had dinner with Paul Owen/Allen... twice... in London... just ten days ago.
* {{Yuppie}}: Patrick Bateman is the archetypal affluent yuppie. He's rich, works on Wall Street, has a pretty girlfriend, and spends most of his life in trendy restaurants and clubs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes Also Present in the Book]]

[[/folder]]

----
->''"You like Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews?"''

* RaincoatOfHorror: Patrick Bateman wears a clear plastic raincoat over his suit, to prevent it from being stained with blood.
* RiddleForTheAges: Is Patrick a real serial killer, or is it all in his head? Even the author doesn't know.
* RunningGag:
** [[IHaveToGoIronMyDog "I have to return some videotapes."]]
** Bateman can never get that reservation at Dorsia.
* SarcasticConfession: Bateman confesses his murders openly to a lot of people, but nobody takes him seriously. Sometimes, his confessions aren't really sarcastic; he actually wants people to believe him, but they never do. More to the point, all the Stepford Yuppies he reveals himself to are too self-involved to hear him correctly. They aren't even hearing or caring enough to not take him seriously. When he declares himself to work in "murders and executions", the conversation goes on about mergers and acquisitions. And when he tries to break up with Evelyn over lunch, his declaration that his need to commit murder on a massive scale was out of control zings right through her hair. Of course, as noted, it's possible that [[UnreliableNarrator this might not all be real]].
* {{Satire}}: A common theme in the story.
** On 1980s consumerism, greed, and materialism:
*** Bateman gives lengthy [[DescriptionPorn descriptions]] about meals, clothes and gadgets. In the book, to add more humor and make the satire more pointy, some of these costumes would actually look clownish and some foods would in fact be inedible in real life.
*** In the book, Bateman's descriptions sound like commercials, with emphasis on positive traits of the products, such as clothes, gadgets and music albums.
*** Not only does Bateman consume products, he also consumes people by using, raping, killing, and even eating them, before he finally disposes of what's left of them.
*** The name of Pierce & Pierce, the company Bateman works for, alludes to the aggressiveness and greed of the era as well as Bateman's life as a serial killer (and human consumer).
*** The [[ReferenceOverdosed omnipresence of brands]] and Bateman's over-the-top obsession with them.
*** In the book, the character descriptions are mostly about their clothes and accessories - not their personalities.
*** The competition between Bateman and his associates is taken to the extreme: Who has the best business card?[[note]]To make this funnier, the cards look almost exactly the same in the film.[[/note]] Who can get a reservation at Dorsia?
*** The first half of the chapter "Rat" is written like a shopping list which has ridiculously detailed descriptions of the items.
** On social conformity, fads, and trends:
*** Characters look the same (probably because they all follow trends and try to get the best clothes, haircuts, etc.) to such extent that they often confuse each other, most notably Paul Owen/Allen always mistakes Patrick Bateman for Marcus Halberstam/Halberstram.
*** While trying to fit in, Bateman also wants to retain his uniqueness, and to reach this goal, he even tries to confess the murders he committed. This doesn't work, as hinted by [[spoiler: the "This is not an exit" sign in the film and the book and his final monologue and the close-up of his face showing his acceptance of his own fate in the end of the film]].
*** Bateman's masks and ice packs he wears in mornings reflect putting on a mask and giving up on one's own personality when trying to fit in. This is also symbolized by the masked-looking yuppie on the cover of the book and Bateman thinking there's no real him, only an idea.
*** In some scenes where Bateman doesn't act conformist, "Hip to be Square" is ironically referred to or played (buying cereal with an obsolete coupon in the book, killing Paul Allen in the film).
** On narcissism:
*** Bateman is obsessed with his appearance, which is shown in the book as over-the-top costume, morning-routine and exercise descriptions and in the film as Bateman exercising obsessively and making hilarious faces and funny poses in front of mirrors.
*** Characters don't pay much attention to discussions, and when they do, they - especially Bateman - try to direct the conversations to be about themselves. Not listening to other people is taken to such extremes that no-one really cares even when Bateman talks about murders and executions (They mishear him, don't take him seriously, don't hear him at all, or simply ignore him.).
** Even the work's title can be seen as a TakeThat to greed, narcissism, materialism, hedonism, and consumerism. In this interpretation, the "American" refers to the American society and the "Psycho" to the (exaggerated) behavior of people in it.
* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes:
** In the novel, Patrick mentions that he has rented ''Film/BodyDouble'' 37 times. One chapter follows his train of thought at a video rental store as he picks the movie out "as if he'd been programmed." He also pretends to ignore "the horrified reaction" of a store employee who recognizes Bateman upon being handed the movie box when renting it out for what would be the 38th time. He sometimes likes to describe some of the film's more violent moments to both the reader and other characters throughout the story. "The power drill scene" is Patrick's favorite part.
** In the musical's opening, this is pointed out by a clerk when Patrick rents ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' at his video store:
-->'''Video Store Clerk:''' You've rented this movie 37 times.
-->'''Patrick:''' ''[slowly leaning in]'' And I find something new ''every... single... time.''
* SeinfeldianConversation: Long drawn out conversations about shallow topics, with the Business Card scene being the most famous.
** A phone conversation between multiple people about where to make dinner reservations is drawn out over a complete chapter.
* SerialKiller:
** Patrick Bateman. [[spoiler:[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness Probably.]]]]
** Some details in the book suggest a possibility that there may be one or more ''other'' serial killers on the loose and acting independently of--but very similar to--Bateman. In the first chapter, for instance, Patrick details a story in a day's newspaper about the disappearances of two people aboard a yacht belonging to a New York socialite who are believed to have been attacked with a machete and dumped off the boat; Patrick seems to have nothing to do with this. Later, Detective Kimball makes explicit reference to "a young stockbroker" in New Jersey who had been arrested and charged with murder and using corpses in "performing voodoo rituals".
** Patrick is obsessed with real serial killers like Ted Bundy or Ed Gein, to the point that his friends complain that he always brings them up in conversations.
* SeriousBusiness: Things that most people would find irrelevant or trivial are blown out of proportion all over; for example, Paul Owen/Allen is murdered over a business deal that nobody even knows the details of (as well as for having a better business card than Bateman's and for being able to get a reservation at a popular restaurant).
* SexySecretary: What Patrick wants Jean to be. In her first appearance, Patrick dislikes her clothes so much that he tells her to never wear them again, insisting that she wear dresses or skirts with high heels.
* ShaggyDogStory: Patrick becomes increasingly insane and homicidal and a lot of people die at his hands, culminating in him confessing to his lawyer... but in the end, no one believes him, and the book and film end as they begin, with him making boring small talk with boring, self-absorbed people. Patrick himself even concludes, "There has been no reason for me to tell you any of this. This confession has meant nothing..."
* ShoutOut:
** The book and the movie end with Bateman reading a sign that says "This is not an Exit", also the closing number in the musical--a reference to ''Theatre/NoExit''.
** All interpretations of the work include references to the Broadway production of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''. Significantly, Patrick's secretary, Jean, being the most "normal" and moral of all the story's characters, shares her name with Jean Valjean, the redeeming moral protagonist of ''Les Mis''. However, the play itself is repeatedly referenced to establish it as yet another popular commercial product and extension of the consumerist and self-centered lifestyle to which Patrick adheres, irrespective of the work's intended artistic message (which paints a contrast with the wealth, immorality, and emptiness exhibited by Patrick and his peers). Worth noting that the original Broadway run of ''Les Mis'' through the late 1980's was so popular and tickets were in such high demand that theatergoers had to pay several hundred--even several ''thousand''--dollars to get in to see it, making the show most accessible to a wealthy clientele who can afford to spend excessive cash (and vie for seats just like other characters in ''American Psycho'' itself would try to get a table at Dorsia). Other, more direct, references to the musical include:
*** In the opening chapter of the book, Patrick spots a poster for the musical at a bus stop with the word "DYKE" scrawled across Cossette's[[note]]Who Patrick repeatedly mistakes for Eponine throughout his narration[[/note]] face. In a later chapter, when Patrick collapses out of nausea, he ends up leaning against the same poster.
*** In various places and different parties and social gatherings, Patrick keeps hearing music from the production soundtrack, which regularly leads to Patrick beginning light conversations with colleagues, asking whether it's the "American or British" cast recording being played (no one else ever knows) before boasting that he personally finds the British recording to be "far superior" (no one else ever cares). In one instance, Patrick hears a "muzak version" of the soundtrack.
*** The show's playbill is brought up variously as a sort of fashion accessory when Patrick describes strangers' clothes and appearances and as discarded refuse left in the back of New York City cabs.
*** In the film, a framed poster for the musical hangs in Bateman's bathroom, above his toilet, which Patrick is shown staring deeply into and finding his own reflection in the glass casing.
*** In the musical, Bateman tells Jean he has plans to see a popular musical "with a homeless girl on the poster", which Jean points out he means ''Les Mis''. Patrick and Evelyn later attend the musical together but can't be bothered to pay attention to anything going on in the play or its themes. Their only interest is that it's popular. Jean attends the same performance by herself, and is the only one among the three of them to be paying attention to it.
** In the early chapter "Morning Routine" and the opening of the musical, Patrick describes his suit for the day as "an eighties drape from Alan Flusser". The same suits were worn by Michael Douglas's character, Gordon Gekko, in ''Film/WallStreet''.
** Another possible shout out to ''Wall Street'': During the "business cards" scene in the movie, everyone's job title is given as "Vice President," but over the course of the movie [[OneHourWorkWeek we never see any of them, including Patrick, ever actually working]]. In ''Wall Street'', Gordon confronts the management of the Paper Company he's taking over he points out that the company has 33 Vice Presidents all earning more than $200,000/yr. but has no idea what any of them do.
** In the book, Patrick inquires at his video store about movies starring actress Jami Gertz. Jami Gertz played Blair in the [[Film/LessThanZero movie adaptation]] of Brett Easton Ellis's first book, ''Literature/LessThanZero'' (Ellis's later novel, ''Imperial Bedrooms'', also confirms that this movie adaptation exists within his SharedUniverse).
** The rat torture idea originates from an author's note at the end of ''Literature/The120DaysOfSodom''
* SlashersPreferBlondes: So do Patrick's presumably non-murderous friends.
* SlippingAMickey: In a few instances, Patrick spikes his victims' drinks to make it easier for him to have his way with people.
** He drops tabs of Ecstasy (unnamed in the movie) in a wine bottle to help convince Elizabeth and prostitute Christie to have sex with each other.
** In the musical, when Patrick brings a drunk Paul Owen back to his apartment, after Paul mentions he's feeling mellow, Patrick flatly tells him that's because he slipped a date rape drug in his drink.

* NiceToTheWaiter: Patrick and his associates are absolutely horrible to waiters and other people who do services for them (dry cleaners, housemaids, etc.).
-->'''Waiter:''' Would you like to hear today's specials?
-->'''Patrick:''' Not if you want to keep your spleen.
* NobodyPoops: Bathroom stalls at nightclubs and restaurants are seemingly used exclusively for snorting lines of cocaine and nothing else.
-->'''Club Patron:''' [Leaning over adjacent bathroom stall] Will you keep it down? I'm trying to ''do drugs''!
* NoEnding: The novel ends with the words "This is not an exit" (on a sign that Patrick reads). The chapters also often end abruptly, and one even ends in mid-sentence. The movie shows a sign with those words above and behind Patrick's head in the last shot. Also [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in the book, as some chapters ''begin'' abruptly.
* NoFameNoWealthNoService: Patrick and his peers have trouble getting reservations at Dorsia, presumably because it's always booked up by those even richer and more connected. When Patrick tries to book a table for the same day without dropping his name (or any name), he is simply laughed at.
* NotListeningToMeAreYou: Used repeatedly. Patrick often confesses his sociopathic tendencies to friends and associates. They are either not listening or don't care.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Prostitutes "Christie" and "Sabrina" are given their names by Patrick with instruction to only answer to those names when in his presence.
* OnlySaneMan:
** Jean is the only character to show little to no regard for material desires and actually seems to care about the people around her.
** PlayedWith concerning Bethany, Patrick's ex-girlfriend in the book. She shows the attributes above and seems like a genuinely intelligent person...[[AlcoholInducedIdiocy that is, until Patrick gets her drunk]] and lures her back to his apartment, where he kills her.
* PoliceAreUseless: The police do not call backup to deal with Bateman whatsoever, leading him to escape after the attempted ambush.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Apart from being a sadistic {{serial killer}}, Patrick is also racist, antisemitic, misogynistic, elitist and homophobic (though so are most of his associates, except the serial killer part).
* PopCulturedBadass: Deconstructed. In place of an authentic, cultivated human personality, Patrick Bateman constantly strives to be recognized by his peers (as well as the reader/audience) for his knowledge and appreciation of music, art, and pop culture, but his grasp and understanding of the art and media that he consumes is reduced to what material is made the most appealing to the widest audiences and LowestCommonDenominator[[note]]In-universe[[/note]], such as dismissing early Music/{{Genesis}} albums with Music/PeterGabriel (and his "lame solo career") as being "too artsy, too intellectual" and favoring the more commercially-driven direction of the group after Music/PhilCollins became the group's frontman. Other assessments he makes of popular singers and bands are frequently off-the-mark and factually wrong, like being convinced that Music/WhitneyHouston is a ''jazz'' singer or believing [[Music/TheRollingStones "You Can't Always Get What You Want"]] is a song by Music/TheBeatles. In the book and musical, he often speaks of owning what's described as the original version of [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/5e/2e/c5/5e2ec5ee9ec77bb094ef1b45e762d45a.jpg "Sunrise with Broken Plates"]] by artist David Onica (while discreetly boasting of the high cost he paid to obtain it), only for his ex-girlfriend to later point out to him that he hung it upside down. All of this only serves to further demonstrate Patrick's emptiness, shallowness, and delusions about having "good taste."
* PopularIsDumb: Bateman's associates are highly powerful and successful people who are oblivious to current events or even basic scientific knowledge.
* PyrrhicVillainy: By the end of the story, it's clear that [[spoiler:all of Patrick's evil and depravity have afforded him nothing. He's still as lonely and miserable and empty as he was at the beginning, and no one gives a shit about him.]]
%%* PluckyOfficeGirl: Jean.
* QualityByPopularVote: InUniverse. Patrick and his yuppie friends' appreciation of music, art, and culture is so far driven by popularity and mainstream appeal that the early, more radical, avant-garde work made by their favorite artists before they became commercialized is generally discarded for not fitting with their norms:
** Most significantly, Patrick dismisses the early progressive rock albums by Music/{{Genesis}} as "too artsy, too intellectual," and he couldn't begin to appreciate their music until after Music/PhilCollins became a greater presence and took the band in a different direction, and Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews was "too new wave" for Patrick's liking until the release of their third album, ''Sports'', found greater commercial appeal.
** In the book and musical, one of the last things Paul Owen says in a drunken stupor before Patrick murders him with an axe is, "...I used to hate Music/IggyPop, but now that he's so commercial I like him a lot better..."

* {{Jerkass}}: Every person Patrick surrounds himself with, except Jean, is every bit as shallow, self-centered, and materialistic as he is. His male associates, especially, are frequently sexist, casually racist, or both.
* KarmaHoudini: Patrick actually confesses (earnestly) all the horrible things he's done to his lawyer, and still nothing comes of it. Of course, that's assuming he did do all the things he describes.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Patrick's very cold dumping of Evelyn was cruel, no doubt about that, but it's difficult to imagine anyone wanting to commit to a lifetime of Evelyn's company.
* KillThePoor: Patrick feels nothing but ill will and contempt for the lower classes, as do his friends, although they, unlike Patrick, don't go out and stab them for fun.
* KnownByThePostalAddress: Patrick Bateman lives at 55 West 81st Street, Upper West Side on the 11th floor of the American Gardens.
* LackOfImagination: Patrick Bateman has no imagination to speak of. Much of the reason he fails to stand out from a crowd and resorts to murder to try to define himself is that the murder is (probably) the only thing he does that nobody in his social circle does; they all wear the same clothes, go to the same restaurants, watch the same movies, listen to the same music, and really seem to have no hobbies or ambitions apart from keeping up with the latest fad.
* LiterallyLaughableQuestion: Patrick tries to get same-day Friday night reservations at Dorsia. The maître d' laughs uncontrollably and hangs up on him.
* LoveDodecahedron: Patrick Bateman is engaged to wed Evelyn Williams, who is believed to be having an affair with Patrick's best friend, Timothy Price/Bryce. Meanwhile, Patrick is having an affair with Evelyn's best friend, Courtney Rawlinson, who is engaged to Patrick's business associate, Luis Carruthers, [[spoiler:who is also secretly in love with Patrick.]]
* MasterOfDelusion: Most everybody.
* MindScrew: Since he's an UnreliableNarrator, it's very hard to tell just how much of Patrick's actions were real, if any.
* MistakenForGay: Bateman is about to kill his associate, Luis, by strangling him from behind, but Luis mistakes this as Bateman coming onto him, causing him to reveal that he's gay and in love with Bateman.
* MistakenIdentity: Throughout the story, characters address each other by the wrong name. Bateman himself is called Marcus Halberstam, [=MacLoy=], Davis, Smith and Paul Owen/Allen, among others. Craig [=McDermott=] is addressed as Baxter at one point. This is a part of the social commentary in the story; these yuppies are so self-centered they can't even remember each others' names. Or, more to the point, they all look exactly like one another and engage in the exact same activities to a point where everyone is interchangeable, no one else can tell anybody apart from anybody else, and no one can even realize when one of their own associates and so-called "friends" is murdered...maybe.
* MoonwalkDance:
** In the film, Bateman does this with an axe in hand immediately before killing Paul Allen. Creator/BretEastonEllis, who wrote the source novel, said this was one of the only problems he had with the adaptation, as he felt it was out of character.
** Played up even more in the musical, while Bateman dances in his apartment to "Hip to Be Square" with a drunk and drugged Paul Owen [[spoiler: prior to killing him]].
* TheMovieBuff: Bateman is an avid fan of horror films and gory B-movies, which he often rents on VHS. He frequently rents ''Film/BodyDouble'' in the novel, is seen watching ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' in the film, and regularly enjoys ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' in the musical. In both the novel and musical, Bateman's associates grow tired with him always talking about movie killers like Leatherface from ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (which causes Patrick much annoyance when they also mistakenly call the character "Featherhead"). In the musical, Patrick also makes passing references to ''C.H.U.D.'', mentions watching ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight'' prior to attending Evelyn's Christmas party, and considers Freddy Krueger an "American icon".
* MyCard: Early on, there's a scene where several stockbrokers compare business cards.
* {{Nepotism}}: Bateman's father "practically owns" P&P. See OneHourWorkWeek.

* OneHourWorkWeek: Patrick's job is very high-paying, with a cushy office, but he doesn't seem to ''do'' any actual work there and [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob has a lot of free time on his hands]]. He frequently arrives late to his office, cuts out early, or does ''both'', while he prioritizes shopping errands, lunch meetings, or feeding his more personal obsessions back at his apartment. Whenever Patrick actually ''is'' at his office, his time is still spent watching TV, listening to music on his walkman, doing crossword puzzles, lifting weights, and doing any number of other unrelated activities. Famously, when Patrick and all his associates attend a business meeting, the entire time is spent showing off their business cards, and later, when Patrick attempts to ''look'' busy when visited by Detective Kimball, all Patrick can think to do is pick up his phone receiver and ramble on about men's fashion and proper tipping etiquette, rather than pretend to actually be in the middle of business. When his secretary looks through his day planner, it's almost empty save for lunch dates (plus doodles in the film). It's mentioned both in the book and the film that [[{{Nepotism}} it's his dad's company]]. In his review of the film, Creator/RogerEbert mused that Patrick's spree might have been averted if he'd been put to work hitting nails with a hammer, which is about the only task he's qualified for.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Late in the novel, Bateman is held up at gunpoint and robbed by a cabbie, who is convinced that Patrick killed his associate Solly]].
* LameComeback: When someone calls Patrick a "fucking yuppie", all he can come up with is: "Hey... You may think I'm a really disgusting yuppie but I'm not, ''really''."

* HookersAndBlow: Part of Patrick's exceptionally decadent lifestyle.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Early in the narrative, Bateman publicly puts forth to his peers that it is on themselves to work towards solving social crises, such as providing food and shelter for the homeless, opposing racial discrimination, supporting civil rights and equal rights for women, and return to traditional moral values. However, privately, Bateman is an ardent bigot without ethics who only feels disgust for the poor.
*** In the book, as Bateman lays this all out, he even tries to openly support both sides of divisive social issues, such as stressing a need to "change abortion laws to protect the life of the unborn while also maintaining a woman's right to choose," which is further contradicted later in the book in separate scenes where Bateman forces women who he sleeps with to get abortions [[spoiler: even performing several of them himself against their will.]]
** Patrick shows open disdain for people who smoke cigarettes, while he himself enjoys smoking cigars.
*** In the film, Patrick disallows one of the prostitutes from smoking in his apartment after she takes out a cigarette, but Patrick lights a cigar in the exact same room after murdering Paul Allen.
*** In the book, Patrick loudly complains about being seated next to smokers at a restaurant (hoping the "nicotine addicts" hear him and feel guilty about their habit) when meeting with his ex-girlfriend Bethany. Later, when torturing Bethany back at his apartment, Patrick momentarily pauses to show her a cigar and gloat that he still smokes them, in spite of telling her earlier that he had quit.
** Patrick chides his colleagues for making anti-semitic comments about another one of their co-workers and confusing words like "menorah" and "dreidel", but in the book, while suffering some kind of mental breakdown, Patrick wanders into a kosher deli and repeatedly tries to order a cheeseburger and milkshake, failing to understand the waitress when she explains that they don't serve anything with dairy products and believing the waitress to be the one who is having a problem. When the manager approaches Patrick, he stands up and shouts anti-semitic slurs and insults before storming out back onto the street.
* INeedToGoIronMyDog:
** "I have to return some videotapes." Patrick uses other, more outlandish excuses too; in the book, for example, he once tells to Courtney that "I'm going to... Noj's. I'm buying coke from Noj." She protests that Noj is not a drug dealer but the chef at the Deck Chairs.
** Bateman excuses himself when speaking with Detective Kimball by explaining he's got to run to a lunch date with [[Series/TheCosbyShow Cliff Huxtable]].
* ImAHumanitarian: In the book, Bateman eats the brain and part of the insides of one of his victims, and later bursts into tears while cooking another... because he thinks he's doing it wrong and can't cook. In the movie, eating people's brains is one of the things Patrick confesses to his lawyer.
* InUniverseFactoidFailure: As much as Bateman tries to present himself as [[PopCulturedBadass possessing immense knowledge and informed opinions in appreciation of pop culture, music, movies, TV, and other trivia]], he does occasionally get things wrong, although this isn't always made glaringly obvious:
** In all adaptations, there's a scene where Bateman references a quote which he attributes to infamous murderer Ed Gein. In actuality, [[GeniusBonus the quote in question was said by another serial killer, Edmund Kemper.]]
** In the book and musical, a character points out that he hung his cherished, original David Onica painting upside-down. [[DisproportionateRetribution This gets her killed.]]
** Moreover in the book:
*** Patrick frequently refers to the depiction of "Eponine's" face on posters for the Broadway musical ''Theatre/LesMiserables''. The actual character appearing in [[http://www.paminasopera.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/les-miserables-musical-poster-01.jpg the promotional posters]] is Cosette.
*** In the first chapter, Patrick refers to "The Crystals still blaring on the radio" while Timothy Price is trying to enjoy the 60's pop song "Be My Baby" being played at maximum volume in the middle of a cab ride, but the song is actually performed by The Ronettes.
*** Inversely, at Pastels, Patrick mentions The Ronnettes singing "Then He Kissed Me," which is actually sung by The Crystals.
*** He identifies the saddest song he knows as " 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' by Music/TheBeatles". It's actually by Music/TheRollingStones. It also humorously demonstrates complete ignorance of the uplifting, reassuring quality of the song's pop hook that explains, "You get what you need."
*** Conversely, Patrick names the happiest song he knows as Music/BruceSpringsteen's "Brilliant Disguise", whose lyrics actually paint a troubling image of a narrator expressing confusion, doubt, and anxiety over whether his lover holds any true feelings for him [[BeneathTheMask beneath her mask]].
*** At a Music/{{U2}} concert, Patrick and his friends aren't sure which one is "The Ledge".
*** He attempts to compliment Creator/TomCruise while sharing an elevator by telling him how much he liked the actor in the movie "''Bartender''". Tom Cruise corrects Patrick on the film's actual title--''Film/{{Cocktail}}''.
*** Patrick kills a street performer with a .357 Magnum revolver, somehow managing to attach a suppressor to it, but the suppressor doesn't do anything [[spoiler: and a police car passing by immediately responds to the loud gunshot.]] Unless specifically designed for them, revolvers can't be suppressed.
*** He describes [[Music/GenesisBand Genesis']] ''Music/AndThenThereWereThree'' as referring to [[Music/PeterGabriel Peter Gabriel's]] departure, when it was actually about Music/SteveHackett leaving. Gabriel left Genesis a few albums earlier.
** Timothy Price/Bryce makes the claim when trying to sound world conscious that "Sikhs are killing ''tons'' of Israelis" in Sri Lanka. Israelis certainly do not have a large presence in Sri Lanka in either a military or civilian capacity, and neither do Sikhs.
** In the movie, Patrick says Huey Lewis' ''Fore!'' was released in '87, although in reality, it came out in 1986.
** Bateman says Music/WhitneyHouston's debut album had four number one singles on it when it only had three.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Luis Carruthers is in love with Bateman, who is not only straight but a virulent homophobe as well.
* InsistentTerminology:
** Patrick and his peers refer to women who meet their standard of objectified physical beauty as "hardbodies". The terminology is so prevalent, it directly inspired the tune "Hardbody" in the musical adaptation.
** For the first half of the novel, he can never call his secretary 'Jean.' No, it's always 'Jean, my secretary, who is in love with me.'
* IronicHell: Assuming Patrick really is a murderer, he'll likely never be caught. But that doesn't matter, because his life is already punishment enough. He's surrounded by people he hates, but doesn't know how to live away from them; he can't get anyone to stop him, because nobody hears what he says; even killing people isn't any fun, because everyone is so interchangeable that when one of them dies, nobody notices - and what's the point of a murder nobody knows about?
* ItWasHereISwear: Inverted with Bateman's return to the torture chamber he set up in Paul Owen/Allen's apartment, which has inexplicably been repainted from top to bottom, erasing any trace that he was ever there.
* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Bateman says he attended Harvard.
* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Many references are made to characters enjoying Japanese electronics (Patrick's prized TV set, VCR, stereo system, walkman, and home video cameras, for instance, are all made by Toshiba, Sansui, Panasonic, and Sony--with electronic components from NEC) and food (The opening of the book and musical features Evelyn and Courtney co-hosting a dinner party where guests dine on sushi and sake). Meanwhile, [[HypocriticalHumor everyone voices resentment over growing Japanese influence in American culture]]:
** Luis Carruthers is said to dislike the Japanese because of this. In the chapter "Concert," he admits and explains his hatred:
---> '''Luis Carruthers:''' "They save more than we do and they don't innovate much, but they sure in the fuck know how to take, steal, our innovations, improve on them, then ram them down our fucking throats!"
** Another character says this in the chapter "Christmas Party:"
--->'''Charles Murphy:''' "They've bought the Empire State Building and Nell's. Nell's, can you believe it, Bateman?"
** In the chapter "New Club" and near the end of the film:
--->'''Harold Carnes:''' "The Japanese will own most of this country by the end of the '90s."

* DisproportionateRetribution: Several of Bateman's victims are killed out of jealousy or vengeance over incredibly petty grievances.
* DumbBlonde: Evelyn and Courtney, primarily. Also, three models (Libby, Daisy and Caron) Patrick and his associates mingle with in a nightclub. In the book, when they're asked to name any of the planets, two guess the Moon, and the third one guesses Comet. This is deconstructed with one of the models lamenting this and saddened by how Bateman sees her as nothing but a brainless squeeze, suggesting [[HiddenDepths there is more to her character]], but she doesn't mind because [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter she thinks Patrick is actually a nice person]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Three characters who Bateman does not kill are Evelyn, his fiancee; Jean, his secretary; and Luis, his gay associate, all of whom are in love with him. Notable, as Bateman finds Evelyn incredibly annoying, but never considers murdering her, and he was actually about to kill Luis, until he revealed he was gay and in love with Bateman. Even though Bateman is disgusted by this he still does not kill Luis. Also inverted in the book, where Bateman kills a small boy but doesn't find it evil enough.
* EvidenceDungeon: Patrick Bateman uses both his apartment and appropriates Paul Owen/Allen's apartment[[spoiler: after killing him]] to commit most of his murders. In his apartment, there is a head in the fridge and numerous implements of murder and torture. In Paul Owen/Allen's apartment, there are two bodies hanging on hooks in a closet, another on the bathroom floor and [[RoomFullOfCrazy a room with 'Die Yuppie Scum' scrawled on the walls.]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted as ]][[spoiler: the ending implies that Bateman may be having psychotic delusions about his murders. As he is an [[UnreliableNarrator incredibly unreliable narrator]], it calls into question everything we've seen and whether the 'evidence' was really there.]]
* EvilIsPetty: Patrick kills people for such things as having fancier business cards than he does.
* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: Bateman ''could'' be caught, but no one cares to catch him.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: After killing Paul and visiting his apartment, Patrick records a message on his dead colleague's answering machine while impersonating as Paul Owen/Allen and saying he's in London. [[spoiler:When Bateman is ready to confess his crimes to his lawyer, Harold Carnes, his murder of Paul being among them, the lawyer rebuts his claims by saying that he had dinner with Paul in London, twice, just ten days ago.]]
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Patrick has an extreme hatred for homosexual males (whom he derides as "faggots") but is deeply aroused by lesbian sex. If he's not going to lengths to pay prostitutes and/or drug women just to watch them get it on, he's often seeking it out in pornographic videos. In one instance late in the book, Patrick relates to the reader that, when the topic of his favorite daytime talk show turns out to be "Teenage Lesbians," he finds the program "so erotic" that it causes him to miss a business meeting.
* HateSink:
** Patrick Bateman, a soulless corporatist who butchers people for both fun and to vent his own superiority complex. [[spoiler:Even if he isn't actually killing anybody, he's fantasizing about it.]]
** Patrick's coworkers aren't much better, given that they spend their entire pagetime talking about superficial nonsense while spewing sexist remarks.
* HauteCuisineIsWeird: Many of the dishes Patrick and his friends order at fancy restaurants feature strange or exotic ingredients, bizarre combinations, and even outright inedible materials. Various dishes named through all adaptations include "Red Snapper Pizza," "Mud Soup with Charcoal Arugula," and "Goat Cheese Sashimi." While much of this depiction of food plays into the story's satire and criticism of wealthy, upper class excess, some foods described by Patrick [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness appear to be further evidence of his own insanity]], such as a mental breakdown described in the novel as being exacerbated by Patrick not remembering what he ate for lunch ("Did I order the partridge sandwich on brioche with green tomatoes, or a big plate of endive with clam sauce? Oh god, ''I can't remember''...").
* TheHerosIdol: PlayedWith. VillainProtagonist Patrick Bateman is infatuated with Creator/DonaldTrump. In Patrick's view, Trump's public image defines the positive features of a life of supreme wealth, luxury, and extravagance which Patrick wants for himself. However, Patrick's own pursuits of such a lavish, materialistic lifestyle leave him a BrokenAce leading a meaningless existence--hollow, sentimentally empty, alienated, morally bankrupt, and purely evil.
* HideTheEvidence: [[OneHourWorkWeek Bateman does so little, if any, productive work at his office]], and when Detective Kimball visits him at work and remarks, "I know how busy you guys can get," Patrick suddenly notices his still-running Walkman on top of a small stack of skin mags on his desk, which he quickly tries to slip into his top drawer.

* BrokenAce: Patrick outwardly appears wealthy, handsome, and successful, but BeneathTheMask he's a soulless, deeply disturbed man with an empty life.
* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: No one suspects Patrick of anything, even after he confesses everything.
* CapitalismIsBad: Patrick's and his associates' entire existences revolve around being shallow consumers of high class commercial products like designer clothes, expensive watches, fancy electronics, and getting reservations in highly fashionable restaurants. For Patrick, this emphasis on commercial consumption not only compels him to murder people out of jealousy for having more or better stuff than he does, like Paul Owen/Allen, but also causes him to see other people as products for his personal consumption, first realized through his penchant for prostitutes and escorts and later taken to a metaphorical extreme when he [[HighClassCannibal turns to cannibalism]].
* CassandraTruth: There are times when Bateman openly confesses his crimes to people, who either don't believe him, mishear him, or think he's joking.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "I have to return some videotapes."
* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: Whenever anybody around Patrick is speaking about something that puts him at unease (or if he is feeling uneasy about things on his own mind), Patrick frequently evokes his idol Donald Trump (or his first wife, Ivana) in efforts to put himself back in control.
** In the book and film, when meeting Paul Owen/Allen for lunch, as Paul complains about the restaurant being nearly empty and Patrick is on edge knowing he hopes to convince Paul to come back to his apartment, Patrick exclaims he sees Ivana Trump in the restaurant with them.
** In the book and film, during a limo ride with his mistress Courtney, Patrick tries to ignore Courtney's drugged state while wondering aloud if Donald Trump's limo is beside theirs in traffic.
** In the book, when nervously meeting his ex-girlfriend Bethany for lunch, Patrick makes up a story about recently returning to New York after a flight on the Trump Shuttle.
** In the book, when meeting his brother Sean for his birthday at Dorsia, jealous that his brother was able to get a table, Patrick outright lies about personally knowing Donald Trump, having plans to attend a party of his, and being able to introduce him to Sean.
** In the book, when Detective Kimball visits Bateman's office, Patrick successfully derails the conversation about Paul Owen's disappearance by directing the detective's attention to the copy of Donald Trump's book ''The Art of the Deal'' on top of his desk and asking Kimball if he's read it.
* CrapsackWorld: Almost every character, with the exception of Jean, is an absolutely odious, shallow, and self-centered individual, lacking in anything even remotely like a redeeming feature. They pretend to be conscious of tragic news stories and global crises (murders, drugs, mafia, nazis, AIDS, homelessness, Sri Lanka, et. al.) but don't really care about any issues strongly enough to do anything to fix them.
* DamnedByAFoolsPraise: The music Bateman talks about is an example of this. Ellis didn't like any of the music Bateman liked; he used it because "it seemed to reflect a certain kind of mass-taste" Bateman wanted to be a part of. He [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/6296671/bret-easton-ellis-regrets-linking-huey-lewis-and-the-news-to-american-psycho later came to regret]] associating Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews with Bateman.
* DelusionsOfEloquence: Patrick has an incessant habit -- in narrative and dialogue -- of describing something at length and then haughtily opining on it, even though the things he fixates on are usually deeply banal, and his opinions or conclusions are dull, misinformed, and bigoted. In some ways this is his supreme ego talking, making him think he's above everyone, and thus the ultimate arbiter of taste or judge of human nature; in other ways, it's how he feigns having a human personality -- pretending he always knows what the hell he's talking about, just like everyone else around him. The one thing he seems to know well enough to speak genuinely eloquently on is what a monster he is.
* DisposableSexWorker: "Christie" in the movie, and Bateman murders several more prostitutes in the book.
* DisposableVagrant: Bateman also targets homeless people just as often as prostitutes. A beggar named Al, in particular, is presented to readers/audiences as Patrick's first victim. In the book, Al is suggested to have survived his encounter with Patrick and reappears later in the second half.

* CatchPhrase: Sean Bateman's "Rock 'n' roll. Deal with it.", which also is a ShoutOut to Bret Easton Ellis's previous novel, ''Literature/TheRulesOfAttraction''. His brother Patrick makes it clear he's too familiar with the phrase ("I know, I know, rock 'n' roll, deal with it, right?"), although [[spoiler:he misquotes it in the end of the book ("Rocking and a rolling.").]]

* TheEighties: The story is set in the late-1980s with a substantial focus on the fashion, music, and lifestyle of yuppie culture of the decade.
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Victims who get themselves intoxicated when meeting with Patrick for lunch dates are easily convinced to return with Patrick to his apartment without ever suspecting his ulterior motives, particularly Paul Owen/Allen in all adaptations and Patrick's ex-girlfriend Bethany in the novel.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: All adaptations allow for the possibility that the murders and other events recounted by Bateman only take place inside his head. According to a DVD commentary track for the movie version, when the two co-writers were writing the film they thought of it as having every single murder in the story really taking place in some fashion or other [[UnreliableNarrator but never in exactly the way Bateman hallucinates/lies about/misremembers it.]]]]
* AluminiumChristmasTrees: Peanut butter soup is actually a real thing (nkatenkwan, the national dish of Ghana), although it's usually made with chicken and yam, rather than duck and squash.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Patrick is driven to kill Paul Owen/Allen because Paul's own successes make Patrick feel deeply inadequate, and outside his own social circle, Patrick constantly looks up to and admires the wealth and lifestyle of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, who Patrick would hope to meet one day.
* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: What will happen to Patrick? Is he really a murderer, or is just crazy? We do not get an answer.]]
* AmbiguouslyJewish: Both the book and movie portray an early scene of dialogue where Bateman plays devil's advocate for political correctness when he calls out a colleague for claiming that a business rival is Jewish and was "spinning a menorah" in his office.
* ArcWords: "This is not an exit."
* AssholeVictim: Paul Owen/Allen was a colossal prick and Evelyn (not killed but definitely emotionally devastated) was a pretty horrid individual.
* AnAxeToGrind: Patrick uses an axe to kill Paul Owen/Allen.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: In both the movie and the book, Patrick stomps a dog to death that belonged to a homeless man he previously stabbed. In a chapter in the book, he disembowels another dog, then shoots its owner; in a chapter set at a zoo, he throws nickel coins to the seals, just because he saw a table asking people not to do so (because they can choke on them).
* BeneathTheMask: Publicly, Patrick is charming, mild-mannered, and likable to those in his circle of friends. Privately, Patrick is a violent sadist incapable of empathy, remorse, or compassion. He explicitly refers to his friendly facade as his "{{mask of sanity}}".
* BerserkButton: Anything that gives Bateman [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex the idea that he has/gets less than the absolute best or that there is someone in his social circles that might be better than him]]. For instance, the very thought that Patrick will not get a good table at a restaurant is enough to put him "on the verge of tears". Also (in the movie), as much as he despises Luis, it's the fact that Luis had business cards that Patrick thinks are better than his own that drives him to [[spoiler: attempt to]] murder Luis almost immediately.
* BlackComedy: Much of the violence and morbidity is punctuated by humor derived from Bateman's (and/or his peers) shallowness and materialism, like Bateman attempting to dispose of a dead body stuffed in an overnight bag, and Luis only wondering who designed the bag.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: In part of the work's satire in shaping Bateman as a product of 1980's American culture and values, as molded by its media and most prominent political figures, Patrick appropriates other popular phrases of the era for himself. Most notably, Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No", and, more humorously while speaking on a telephone, George H.W. Bush's "Read My Lips".

** He describes [[Music/GenesisBand Genesis']] ''Music/AndThenThereWereThree'' as referring to [[Music/PeterGabriel Peter Gabriel's]] departure, when it was actually about Music/SteveHackett leaving. Gabriel left Genesis a few albums earlier.

** He describes [[Music/GenesisBand Genesis']] ''Music/AndThenThereWereThree'' as referring to [[Music/PeterGabriel Peter Gabriel's]] departure, when it was actually about Music/SteveHackett leaving. Gabriel left Genesis a few albums earlier.

** He describes [[Music/GenesisBand Genesis']] ''[[Music/AndThenThereWereThree]]'' as referring to [[Music/PeterGabriel Peter Gabriel's]] departure, when it was actually about [[Music/SteveHackett]] leaving. Gabriel left Genesis a few albums earlier.

** He describes [[Music/GenesisBand Genesis'] ''[[Music/AndThenThereWereThree]]'' as referring to [[Music/PeterGabriel]]'s departure, when it was actually about [[Music/SteveHackett]] leaving. Gabriel left Genesis a few albums earlier.

There is also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_%28musical%29 a musical version]] that ran in 2013 at London's Almeida Theatre, featuring Creator/MattSmith as Bateman, and in 2016 at New York's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, starring Creator/BenjaminWalker.

Inspired the song and album title of the same name from Music/TheMisfits. Not to be confused with the song by Canadian rock band Music/TrebleCharger or the experimental track by Music/JohnZorn on ''Music/{{Radio}}''.

[[folder:Tropes Also Present in the Musical]]
* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: There's one small change to the ending of the musical that doesn't occur in the other sources. [[spoiler:Patrick never dumps Evelyn, and by the closing number, they're expected to marry.]]
* AdaptationalNameChange: Prostitute "Christie" becomes "Christine".
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
** Inverted. Paul Owen enters the play from the audience, handing out his business card to people on his way down the aisle, before joining the other characters on stage.
** During "Killing Spree", Patrick will sing the lines "Hey pretty girl/You wanna dance?/You wanna get lucky?/Well this is your chance!" to some random woman in the front row.
* BSODSong: The closing tune "This is Not An Exit".
* CannotTellFictionFromReality: In reading off on a litany of headlines and stories in a day's newspaper about murders, communists, nazis, AIDS, etc., Patrick Bateman mentions [[Film/{{CHUD}} "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers"]].
* CompositeCharacter: Several different side-characters with standalone scenes in the novel and/or film are combined, giving these characters more concise arcs.
** Detective Kimball is merged with Patrick's lawyer from the book and film, [[spoiler: to whom Patrick originally confesses his crimes at the end and does not believe him]].
** Patrick's neighbor who bumps into him while at the dry cleaners later meets the same fate as Patrick's ex-girlfriend Bethany from the novel, [[spoiler: whom he murders with a nailgun, after she notices his David Onica painting is hung upside-down]].
** Several of Timothy [=Price's/Bryce's=] most outlandish outbursts and actions from the book and film are given to Bateman.
* IAmSong: "Not a Common Man" ("I'm not a common man"), sung during Bateman's night with call girls Christine and Sabrina, and "I Am Back", after Bateman returns from a tranquil vacation in the Hamptons to continue in his madness.
* LastSupperSteal: Patrick's birthday party at Evelyn's place gathers all of his closest associates (Jean, Paul Owen, Evelyn, Courtney, Timothy Price, Patrick's mother, and brother Sean) around one side of a table with Patrick in the center. Patrick is presented with a red velvet birthday cake and mashes it with a kitchen knife.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Literally conveyed at the beginning and end of Act I with the aid of a clear, plastic curtain dividing the audience from the stage. At the beginning of Act I, as the stage fills with smoke behind the plastic barrier, a woman's figure appears and presses her hands up against it, before Patrick's larger figure appears behind her.
* MythologyGag:
** Some songs are named after quotes in the book or in the movie, for instance, "Mistletoe Alert", "Hardbody", "I Am Back", and "This is Not An Exit".
** It's revealed to Patrick by the conclusion that his brother Sean could get a reservation at Dorsia at any time because, Sean explains, the restaurant maître d' was his roommate at college--a subtle reference to Bertrand, the French exchange student, in Bret Easton Ellis' ''Literature/TheRulesOfAttraction'' where Sean Bateman was originally a principal character.
* PaintingTheFourthWall: With Paul Owen's blood. Just prior to killing Paul, a clear plastic curtain descends from above the stage. Patrick then hacks Paul to death with an axe, and his blood splatters onto the plastic screen.
* SanitySlippageSong: A common theme of several of the musical's numbers, including some that precede some of Bateman's biggest on-stage outbursts ("Killing Time", "Mistletoe Alert") and "Killing Spree", which is more clearly about Bateman having a mental breakdown.
* ScareChord: Before the plastic curtain is raised in Act I, when Bateman's figure appears behind a woman pressing up against the curtain.
* SummonBackupDancers: Appearing in Patrick's apartment for two separate numbers, suggested to be a manifestation of Patrick's own psyche. First, during Bateman's opening morning routine, he's flanked by dancers in various states of dress and sporting various bleeding wounds. Second, while entertaining prostitutes Sabrina and Christine, backup dancers appear in assorted fetish gear.
[[/folder]]

In 2000, the story was adapted into a feature film by Creator/MaryHarron and Creator/GuinevereTurner and starring Creator/ChristianBale as Bateman, which has since grown a cult following. A movie sequel InNameOnly is described [[Film/AmericanPsycho2AllAmericanGirl on another page]].

[[folder:Tropes Also Present in the Film]]
* AdaptationalContextChange: In the novel, Bateman's diatribes about the popular music of the day were streams-of-conscious narration. In the film, they're stuff he says out loud to people before he kills them.
* AdaptationalTimespanChange: While the film takes place over the course of several months, the novel takes place over the course of two years.
* AdaptationNameChange: Paul Owen, Timothy Price, Evelyn Richards, and Marcus Halberstam in the novel become Paul Allen, Timothy Bryce, Evelyn Williams, and Marcus Halberstram in the film.
* AdaptedOut: Bateman's favourite talk show ''The Patty Winters Show'' is omitted, as are his brother Sean and his friend Paul Denton, the main characters of Ellis' previous novel ''Literature/TheRulesOfAttraction''. The film omits the cameos from Creator/TomCruise and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]].
* AllThereInTheManual: As part of an advertising campaign for the film, there were several e-mails written from Patrick Bateman to his therapist. These emails depict several events after the film/book, acting as a sequel (such as Patrick being married, then divorcing Jean). These were written by one of the film's writers and approved by Ellis.
* ArtImitatesArt: Before filming, the entire cast and crew reportedly watched Mario Bava's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHVg77l0kro Hatchet for the Honeymoon]]'' for additional cinematic inspiration. Consequentially, its influence on adapting Bret Easton Ellis's source material is practically omnipresent in everything from cinematography (including numerous [[HomageShot Homage Shots]]), acting performances, the inclusion of voiceover narration from the main character, and more.
* AsceticAesthetic: Patrick's stark white apartment. The production notes asked for the surfaces in Bateman's kitchen to be covered in stainless steel, like a morgue.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Patrick Bateman's first on-screen victim in the film is a homeless black man.
* BloodIsTheNewBlack: Bateman killing Paul Allen just as he finishes lecturing him about Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews. Then, with his face covered in blood, he takes off the raincoat that was keeping his suit clean and casually sits down in a chair facing the co-worker's hacked-up corpse to smoke a cigar.
* BloodyHorror: Patrick Bateman kills Paul Allen which results in his face being covered in blood. Then he takes off his raincoat that was keeping his suit clean, sits down at the desk facing the coworker's corpse, and smokes a cigar.
* BondOneLiner: "Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now, you fucking stupid bastard! You, fucking bastard!"
* BoringInsult: At the end, Patrick Bateman confesses several crimes to his lawyer, Harold Carnes, who [[MistakenIdentity mistakes his client for someone else]] and believes his list of [[RefugeInAudacity audacious]] killing sprees to be a hilarious joke that was otherwise undermined by the fact that the perpetrator was ''"Patrick Bateman"'', whom he views as being too much of a dorky, boring and spineless lightweight to commit murder. Adding insult to injury, Harold goes on to say that the "joke" would have been perfect had the perpetrator instead been [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Timothy Bryce or Craig [=McDermott=]]], both of whom are part of Patrick's friend group. Patrick is visibly bothered by Harold's remark that was obliviously aimed towards him.
-->'''Harold Carnes:''' Davis, I'm not one to badmouth anyone. Your joke was amusing, but come on, man. You had one fatal flaw: Bateman is such a dork. Such a boring, spineless lightweight. Now if you said Bryce or [=McDermott=]... Otherwise, it was amusing. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going.
* BreakTheCutie: Jean, who seems to have a crush on Patrick, is subjected to his cold personality and a sour date. [[spoiler: In the end of the film, she also finds his journal depicting murder and rape of women.]]
* CallBack: Patrick shows Paul Allen ''Fore!'' and asks him if he likes Huey Lewis and the News. After Allen has said "They're okay." Patrick rambles about the band like a fan. Later, while interviewing Patrick about Allen, Detective Kimball shows Patrick a copy of the album and asks if he has heard it. Patrick says no and adds Huey's too "black-sounding" for him.
* ColorMotifs: Bateman's apartment is coloured white. This was a deliberate choice in order to make it look like a morgue.
* CompositeCharacter:
** A young, successful businessman named Montgomery from the book is merged with Paul Allen for the business card scene in the film.
** Daisy (the character who had sorbet at Bateman's apartment) is combined with Jean.
* ConversationCasualty: Patrick Bateman certainly ''contemplates'' taking a nail gun to Jean's head.
* CostumePorn: Played straight, unlike the novel.
* CreatorCameo: The film's co-screenwriter, Creator/GuinevereTurner, plays Elizabeth, Patrick's (supposed) friend whom he drugs and convinces to engage in a threesome with "Christie" and himself, before Patrick kills them both.
* DiegeticSwitch: Inverted in the scene which begins as an exterior view of Patrick's workplace and then cuts to interior. During this time, the song played ("Walking on Sunshine" by Music/KatrinaAndTheWaves) is BackgroundMusic. However, When Patrick is shown walking on a hallway, it is revealed he's listening to the song on his Walkman.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: During the porn film he's making with two prostitutes, Patrick Bateman spends more time looking at himself in a mirror, flexing his biceps.
* EnvironmentalSymbolism:
** In the film, the door to Paul Allen's apartment (where Bateman accumulates most of his kills) is lettered "B".
** Bateman's kitchen is largely made of gray steel, making it resemble a morgue.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: At one point, Patrick shoots at a police car, which promptly explodes. Patrick then [[EyeTake looks at the gun]], [[LampshadeHanging confused as to how he managed to do that]].
* EveryoneHasStandards: After laughing at overtly misogynistic banter that can't even be said to qualify as jokes, Bateman's buddies awkwardly stop laughing when he obliviously brings up the thoughts of Ed Gein, SerialKiller.
* FanDisservice: When Bateman is running around with nothing but shoes and socks on... [[ChainsawGood and a chainsaw]] intended for another murder. Also the sex scenes really aren't that sexy, and very intentionally so. (The scene with the streetwalker and the call girl should be sexy, since all three actors are very attractive, but Bateman's overwhelming egoism and gross instructions to the girls make it most unsexy indeed.)
* TheFilmOfTheBook
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Bateman watches a porn film featuring a threesome and ends up doing that later. He also watches ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' film and then kills a woman with a chainsaw.
* FreezeFrameBonus: Watch carefully during the business card scene and you'll notice that 1) Bateman's card lacks a space between the "&" and second "Pierce" that's present on the others, and 2) all four cards misspell the word "acquisitions" as "aquisitions". Luis Carruther's card (shown later in the film) has the same error.
* FullFrontalAssault: With a {{chainsaw|Good}}.
* GoryDiscretionShot: One scene ends with a vapid model accompanying Bateman back to his home. Her apparent murder takes place offscreen, but in the next scene Bateman is quietly passing the time in his office, clutching a piece of hair which he apparently pulled from the model's head.
* {{Goth}}: Vanden's and Stash's style of dress and fashion during the dinner at Espace.
* IdenticalStranger: Almost ''everyone'' who works at Pierce & Pierce is a glasses-wearing late-20s white male in a nice dark suit with a generically Anglo PreppyName, which means everyone is constantly mistaking Bateman for someone else.
* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: Paul Allen says this when Bateman asks him how he got the Fisher account.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Bateman stays at the murdered Paul's apartment with two hookers, with one of them, Elizabeth, saying it's better than his other apartment (Bateman's actual apartment), not realizing she's implying Paul has better things than Patrick, something the latter is insecure about.
* LighterAndSofter: The film is much, ''much'' tamer than the book, featuring only [[GoryDiscretionShot Gory Discretion Shots]] instead of the chapter-long, extreme, graphic descriptions of what Bateman does to his victims.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: When Paul Allen mistakenly calls Patrick "Marcus" at Evelyn's Christmas party, the ''real'' Marcus Halberstram seen in the business card scene can be spotted standing behind Patrick, in the middle of a separate conversation, and momentarily turned around wondering who called out his name.
* MoodWhiplash: Done quite brilliantly-- the film opens with an extremely dark monologue by Patrick describing his sociopathic tendencies, only for the scene to switch to the sounds of "Walking On Sunshine".
* MrFanservice:
** Christian Bale + ShowerScene = [[EatingTheEyeCandy Most of the women on the set showing up to watch them film that one scene]].
** Yet note also that even in these scenes, where Bale's handsome face and chiseled body are shown off to maximum advantage, the fanservice starts to slide into creepiness and FanDisservice. Bateman's endless monotone about his beauty regimen, and the shot where he slowly peels a facial mask off his face, are both off putting.

** Many of the pictures in [[spoiler:Patrick's journal]] are illustrations of murders from the book that were cut.
** He also mentions some victims (his girlfriend Bethany, the gay man with a dog) that are only present in the book during his confession scene.
* NoodleImplements: Bateman's drawer full of "sex toys" which he uses on the prostitutes. This is one of those times when you really ''don't'' want to picture how they're used. There's a hole puncher, for one. What did he ''do'' with that? The fact that Christie says she had to go to the emergency room and might need surgery gives you some clue.
* NotInTheFace: At one point in the film, Patrick Bateman chases a hooker through an apartment and tries to eat her leg. She kicks him in the face and, being a self-absorbed yuppie, he screams at her, "Not the ''face''! Not the fucking face, you piece of bitch trash graagh (''unintelligible'')!"
* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Happens during Patrick's date with Jean. During the whole date Patrick is going back and forth if he should kill Jean, ultimatly he uses an unexpected phone call from Evelyn as an excuse to send Jean on her way. He tells Jean that he can't control himself and that he might hurt Jean. Jean thinks he's talking about them having sex and him hurting her emotionally by returning to Evelyn. To the audience it's clear he will kill her if she stays.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Creator/ChristianBale's Welsh accent can be briefly heard during the scene where Bateman confesses to the murders over the phone to his lawyer.
* OverlyNervousFlopSweat: Patrick does this a lot when under pressure or when coming close to getting caught in a lie. According to Mary Harron, Christian Bale was so talented an actor that when doing repeated takes of the famous business card scene, he was capable of sweating on cue.
* ThePeepingTom: {{Implied|Trope}}. Gathering from Patrick's deviant behaviors and morbid pastimes, it would be highly doubtful that he would be using the telescope seen inside his apartment for stargazing. Its presence may also be a subtle nod to the movie ''Film/BodyDouble'', referenced several times in the novel, where the main character takes interest in a neighbor whom he regularly watches through a telescope.
* PragmaticAdaptation: If you watch the film without reading the book, it's obvious that a lot of the content has been excised without detriment to the narrative. The horrible {{Gorn}} is reduced to quick cuts and off-screen violence (especially the nigh-unfilmable rat scene, which is removed altogether - thankfully). Bateman's interminable lectures about boring '80s pop music is rendered on-screen as him babbling to guests at his apartment, and moreover serve as a hint to the audience since he always recounts them before committing violence.
* PreMortemOneLiner: "Hey Paul!"
* PrettyInMink: Evelyn wears a lynx coat.
* TheRichHaveWhiteStuff: Patrick's apartment, while luxurious, is also almost all white (except for the bathtub). The whiteness gives it an alienating quality.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: In the film, the goriest room in Bateman's lair is decorated with the words "DIE YUPPIE SCUM" on the wall.
* SexInASharedRoom: After Patrick gets bored of [[GirlOnGirlIsHot watching the two women make out]], he starts having sex with his society friend Elizabeth while Christie the {{Streetwalker}} watches...and then starts doing [[GoryDiscretionShot something else]] to Elizabeth. This also serves to help Christie get a running start when Patrick comes after her with a chainsaw.
* SignificantSketchbook: [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Patrick Bateman's secretary finds his planner, which is filled with horrifying sketches of women being tortured, maimed and dismembered.]]
* SleepMask: The ever-posh Courtney Rawlinson is seen wearing one in the movie.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Bateman axe-murders Paul Allen while playing Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews' "Hip to be Square".
* SourceMusic:
** All licensed music in the film is established as being played over an audio source present in the scene; Bateman's walkman or home stereo, a car radio, a nightclub's sound system, etc.
** When Bateman listens to his Walkman, the music is played like he hears it: it comes in stereo when he has both headphones on, only through one channel when he has only one on (e.g. right channel when he only wears a headphone only on his right ear), and no music is played when his headphones are off.
* StabTheSalad:
** During Bateman's last killing spree, he seems certain to pull a gun on the security guard in his office -- but whips out a pen instead.
** The opening credits have what seems to be blood dripping all over, but then is turns out to be some sort of red sauce being drizzled on a plate.
* TheUnsmile: Bale's used car salesman grin becomes even more comical when he's agitated.
* VisibleBoomMic: One casts a reflection off of a CD case in Bateman's office during his second meeting with Detective Kimball.

[[folder:Tropes Also Present in the Musical]]
* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: There's one small change to the ending of the musical that doesn't occur in the other sources. [[spoiler:Patrick never dumps Evelyn, and by the closing number, they're expected to marry.]]
* AdaptationalNameChange: Prostitute "Christie" becomes "Christine".
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
** Inverted. Paul Owen enters the play from the audience, handing out his business card to people on his way down the aisle, before joining the other characters on stage.
** During "Killing Spree", Patrick will sing the lines "Hey pretty girl/You wanna dance?/You wanna get lucky?/Well this is your chance!" to some random woman in the front row.
* BSODSong: The closing tune "This is Not An Exit".
* CannotTellFictionFromReality: In reading off on a litany of headlines and stories in a day's newspaper about murders, communists, nazis, AIDS, etc., Patrick Bateman mentions [[Film/{{CHUD}} "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers"]].
* CompositeCharacter: Several different side-characters with standalone scenes in the novel and/or film are combined, giving these characters more concise arcs.
** Detective Kimball is merged with Patrick's lawyer from the book and film, [[spoiler: to whom Patrick originally confesses his crimes at the end and does not believe him]].
** Patrick's neighbor who bumps into him while at the dry cleaners later meets the same fate as Patrick's ex-girlfriend Bethany from the novel, [[spoiler: whom he murders with a nailgun, after she notices his David Onica painting is hung upside-down]].
** Several of Timothy [=Price's/Bryce's=] most outlandish outbursts and actions from the book and film are given to Bateman.
* IAmSong: "Not a Common Man" ("I'm not a common man"), sung during Bateman's night with call girls Christine and Sabrina, and "I Am Back", after Bateman returns from a tranquil vacation in the Hamptons to continue in his madness.
* LastSupperSteal: Patrick's birthday party at Evelyn's place gathers all of his closest associates (Jean, Paul Owen, Evelyn, Courtney, Timothy Price, Patrick's mother, and brother Sean) around one side of a table with Patrick in the center. Patrick is presented with a red velvet birthday cake and mashes it with a kitchen knife.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Literally conveyed at the beginning and end of Act I with the aid of a clear, plastic curtain dividing the audience from the stage. At the beginning of Act I, as the stage fills with smoke behind the plastic barrier, a woman's figure appears and presses her hands up against it, before Patrick's larger figure appears behind her.
* MythologyGag:
** Some songs are named after quotes in the book or in the movie, for instance, "Mistletoe Alert", "Hardbody", "I Am Back", and "This is Not An Exit".
** It's revealed to Patrick by the conclusion that his brother Sean could get a reservation at Dorsia at any time because, Sean explains, the restaurant maître d' was his roommate at college--a subtle reference to Bertrand, the French exchange student, in Bret Easton Ellis' ''Literature/TheRulesOfAttraction'' where Sean Bateman was originally a principal character.
* PaintingTheFourthWall: With Paul Owen's blood. Just prior to killing Paul, a clear plastic curtain descends from above the stage. Patrick then hacks Paul to death with an axe, and his blood splatters onto the plastic screen.
* SanitySlippageSong: A common theme of several of the musical's numbers, including some that precede some of Bateman's biggest on-stage outbursts ("Killing Time", "Mistletoe Alert") and "Killing Spree", which is more clearly about Bateman having a mental breakdown.
* ScareChord: Before the plastic curtain is raised in Act I, when Bateman's figure appears behind a woman pressing up against the curtain.
* SummonBackupDancers: Appearing in Patrick's apartment for two separate numbers, suggested to be a manifestation of Patrick's own psyche. First, during Bateman's opening morning routine, he's flanked by dancers in various states of dress and sporting various bleeding wounds. Second, while entertaining prostitutes Sabrina and Christine, backup dancers appear in assorted fetish gear.
[[/folder]]

The book also crosses over with Ellis' earlier novel ''Literature/TheRulesOfAttraction'', but like everything else, it's of [[RedSkiesCrossover no consequence]] whatsoever. The main character Patrick Bateman also makes appearances in his later books ''Literature/{{Glamorama}}'' (1995) and ''Literature/LunarPark'' (2005).

** Timothy Price/Bryce makes the claim when trying to sound world conscious that "Sikhs are killing ''tons'' of Israelis" in Sri Lanka. Israelis certainly do not have a large presence in Sri Lanka in either a military or civilian capacity, and Sikhism is an incredibly pacifistic religion, with kindness and servitude to one's fellow man among its core tenets. The idea of an organized group of radical Sikhs killing ''anyone'' would be laughable to anyone with even the barest understanding of the religion.

* BlackComedy: Maybe even ''vantablack'' comedy.