Dear Jodie - American Psycho

Dear Jodie,

I must be shallow.  I watched America Psycho and shrugged my shoulders.  I didn't get it. 

Well, I did. 

Here is a movie that satirizes the excesses of American capitalism.  The movie takes it to such an the extreme that one man in New York City manages to wipeout eight, ten people including four police officers and no one walked down the street to see.  No one opened their windows to look out at two police cars bursting into flames and Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman standing sixty feet away staring at his handiwork, half thrilled, half frightened?

Really?

Oh, and how about this one.  He's chasing a woman down the stairs of a high rise apartment complex, both of them screaming, chainsaw on full throttle, and no one came out to see what the hell was going on?

One critic theorized that Patrick Bateman fantasized the murders he commits, and that was the movie's brilliance, and the reason that no one in a crowded city saw anything untoward.

I sure as hell missed that.  Went over my bald head like a 747.

To me, that's like milking a cow and hoping to get Chardonnay.  Milk's great!  And with a good piece of fudge or chocolate cake, I prefer it to Chardonnay!  But it ain't Chardonnay!

At the end of the day, after much murder and mayhem and materialism and misogyny, American Psycho is a movie about men's vanity, highlighted in the person of one sociopathic narcissist.

You'll have to tell me if "sociopathic narcissist" is an accurate psychological description.

As far as the movie goes . . .

Whoop-dee-doo.

The movie, to my mind, was well acted.  My issue was with the story itself.  I can name a number of movies that present better examples of American greed and male vanity, not the least of which was The Wolf of Wall Street.

Or how about another movie the Welsh actor Christian Bale appears in, American Hustle?  Only in American Hustle he is not quite so ripped, gotta pot belly.

I have no doubt that Christian Bale had a wonderful time making American Psycho. Roles like that where you get to chew up the scenery (or, in this case, hack it up with a chainsaw), are a blast for everyone.

What's your take on American Psycho, Jodie?  I really am curious. 

Maybe my first thought is the best.

I'm just shallow.

I give the movie 5 out of 10.

P. S. Whooo, Jodie!  Did you cut loose on it!  LOL!

Check out Jodie's chain sawing here.