...American Psycho Essay The text is from the movie American Psycho, a movie released in 2000 based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. In the text we are hearing his inner monologue as he goes to confront the dry cleaners about the blood that was still on his sheets. The simple sentence ‘’still covered with flecks of someone’s blood’’ uses verbs to describe his clothes. He tells us that he’s covered in blood which strongly suggests that he’s been involved in or has committed a murder. This starts off telling us that he is a murderous psychopath. The fact that he say’s ‘someone’s blood’ suggests that he didn’t know who it was that he’s just killed and therefore we see that he can’t have had much of a motive which further shows the intensity of his mental state. The first person narrative voice which is used, ‘‘I look sharp but my stomach is doing flip-flops, my brain is churning’’, uses metaphors to emphasize his emotions and exaggerates how he feels rather than just saying ‘I feel unwell’. We can also link this to levels of formality because even though he’s talking to himself he would still have a certain way of addressing his own character. We see that he takes a more informal approach with the use of ‘my stomach is doing flip-flops’ because it is a less formal way of saying his stomach is turning. He uses phrases that he would use himself and not necessarily with other people because there won’t be many people, if anyone, that understands him better...
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...Movie Critique Major plot of the movie The major plot of the movie American Psycho is about a twenty-seven year old man named Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). Patrick comes from a wealthy Wall Street family. Patrick who works in his father’s firm. Even though Patrick doesn’t need to work he chooses to so he can fit in and be “normal”. Patrick and his colleagues are all sitting around a table and when the bill comes they all say how cheap the bill is, and they all drop their platinum cards. After, dinner they head to a bar where they go to snort cocaine. The next morning, you see Patrick’s nicely decorated apartment where he goes into detail about his daily routine. Patrick believes in taking good care in himself by eating healthy, having excellent hygiene, and exercising regularly. Patrick goes into work and tells his secretary Jean (Chloe Sevigny) to tell all callers he’s not there and begins to watch Jeopardy after saying that she is...
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...Analytical essay- Christian Roe Vilandt 3.C 27/11/2015 Killing Child at Zoo in American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Evil is a strange word. Evil can be many things. They are many forms of evil and many motives for evil. Evil can either be when a man tells his wife that she is ugly, or when a teenager bully’s his classmate, both have motives that doesn’t please the victim, this is what defines evil. Gennerally people might not see these exampels as evil deeds but there are different levels of evil. The husband and wife example is gennerally seen as low level evil deed, meanwhile Osama Bin Laden’s attack on the world trade towers are seen from the American and the western peoples perspective as the most evil deed that anyone can do. But others might not see it that way, different societies and different countries have different definitions of how evil is viewed. E.g. Osama Bin Laden, destroys the World Trade Center’s, he is from the American and Western perspective as evil as a man can be. But from a terrorist perspective he is seen as a god, meanwhile Gorge Bush is the evilest profound man alive. The Evil that is present in this text, is not evil that a sane mind could perform. The title of the book “American Psycho” says a lot about the man’s character, he is a psycho. This psycho like evil is not something thats common, it’s evil that pleasures the individual. The main character, from an objective point of view, is a very wealthy and successful...
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...TUESDAY, a chapter from the novel “American Psycho” (1991) by Bret Easton Ellis. Lack of remorse and guilt, shallow affect, glibness/superficial charm and impulsivity are common characteristics found in the behaviour of a psychopath. Patrick Bateman, the main character of this novel, has similar behaviour. Even after spontaneously and brutally killing an innocent homeless man, he still finds his evening anticlimactic and boring, and regrets not attending dinner with some colleagues at the Salvadorian bistro. In this chapter of the novel “American Psycho”(1991) by Bret Easton Ellis, Patrick Bateman, a successful and wealthy businessman, brutally murders an innocent homeless man. Bateman approaches the bum as a kind and caring person, willing to lend him a few dollars for food and shelter. “”You want some money?” I ask gently. “Some food””? (p. 135 l. 3.). At first Bateman reaches for a ten dollar bill, but reconsiders and finds a five dollar bill instead. But before handing the homeless man the money, Bateman begins to interrogate him. The questions escalate from questions of genuine curiosity such as: “is this (a five dollar bill) what you need?”(p. 135 l. 6) into rude questions:” If you’re so hungry, why don’t you get a job?” — “I lost my job” — “Why? .. Were you drinking? Is that why you lost it? Insider trading? Just joking. No, really. Were you drinking on the job?”. (p. 135 ll. 13-19). The homeless man keeps telling Bateman that he is hungry and cold, but instead of...
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...to offer. Some people succeeded, but many more were confined to cramped and meager existences. The cities changed over time though, and went from places, which primarily contained the ruling class and the working class, to contain all classes, as the notion of a ruling class was disestablished during the late 1900’s. It seemed like a fine idea to start with but literature has described otherwise, issuing a warning to society about which turns it has taken and which values it as assumed. According to literature that describes the life of urban individuals in the post modern age, attributes such as greed, superficiality and narcissism play a big role. This was explicitly and effectively described in Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 Novel: ‘’American Psycho,’’ in which a seemingly harmless and normal businessman goes about his business during the day, but at night transforms into blood hungering lunatic bent on destroying everything and everyone he deems unfit for life. Another interesting aspect of postmodern life the novel points out, is the astounding contrast between rich and poor. At first Bateman (the main character of the novel), is described to be at a fancy dinner party – but only a couple of hours later he finds himself face...
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...filthy rich off of it. Clearly, these investors had to have had the education and long career in the financial industry in order to have the knowledge to pull off maneuvers like this. This whole idea of excess that ran rampant in the 80s leads us to ask the question “when is enough, enough?” This paper is going to compare and contrast the 1987 film Wall Street and the 1990 novel American Psycho. Out of both texts, there are common elements and themes found throughout. These themes include capitalistic greed, vanity and morality during the Reagan 80s. The paper will also touch on common perceptual elements seen throughout both texts, such as the perception of “yuppies” and the perception of Wall Street type professionals. After two successful books which detailed the life of rich, sexually ambiguous teenagers during the 1980’s, 27 year old Bret Easton Ellis developed a character that in some sick, twisted way can be relatable to by most people today. Patrick Bateman is a young Wall Street executive who lives a lifestyle anyone would want. He has a job that pays him plenty of money, all American good looks, a graduate of Harvard Business School and he is only 27 years old. There are two things about him though that people are unaware of though; he is a brutally insane sociopath that murders, tortures and kills people for fun, and he is obsessed with vanity. That latter...
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...In American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis, the main character Patrick Bateman plans both roles of antagonist and protagonist. Patrick Bateman and his Group of insanely wealthy Wall Street colleagues live a life of utter excess, purchasing nothing but the finest things, wearing the best clothes money can buy, eating only at luxurious restaurants, and looking down on those who don’t meet their standard. This along with many other aspects of the novel contribute to the theme of these characters being exaggerated stereotypes of the 1980s “yuppie” class. Ellis’s assessment of this stereotype contributed to satire in this novel. Ellis tries not to make an attempt at realism, but instead tries to increase the characters’ obsession with materiality...
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...Compare and Contrast American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro focussing on the topic of the unreliable narrator The unreliable narrator is a technique used by authors where a scenario is created in which the reader cannot trust the narration of the book usually done in the first person. In American psycho, Ellis explores the sinister nature of Wall Street yuppie culture by examining the sanity of the narrating protagonist Patrick Bateman using the unreliable narrator. Ishiguro also uses this, exploring ideas of regret and also self-justification in the character of Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day. Unlike Ellis who examines Bateman during his early working years, in his mid-twenties and presenting a snapshot of his life, Ishiguro uses his take on the unreliable narrator to look at Stevens towards the end of his life using a series of flashbacks narrated unreliably, by Stevens. Both novels are comparable in the sense they examine the topic of failure using unreliable narrators that will do anything to escape the idea that they are failures. A popular debate regarding American Psycho is whether Patrick Bateman is a murderer or not, certainly Bateman describes in detail of murders he commits and why he commits them, however, certain factors bring Bateman’s reliability of narration into question. Bruno Zerweck argues that due to the lack of ‘detective framework’ and ‘unintentional self-incrimination’ the narration of the novel is...
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...f you were asked to describe a trip to the Zoo it most likely would include phrases regarding exotic animals, great atmosphere, happy children and the chance to knife a kid in the throat. That is of course if you are Patrick Bateman. In the thirty-eighth chapter of American Psycho we are introduced to what will become a mothers worst nightmare. Patrick Bateman is filled with homicidal needs. “… my homicidal compulsion, which surfaces, disappears, surfaces, leaves again …” He is incapable of truly escaping this need for murder. He is a sadistic, lethal and complex person with the skill set needed to get away with murder. As we follow him through the Zoo of Central Park in New York City, we quickly learn what foul thoughts travel through Patrick’s devious mind. He sees joy but wants chaos. He sees laughter but wants despair. He throws coins into the seal habitat with the purpose of them choking to death for Gods sake. The man is without a doubt a psychopath! He gets a rush of excitement from the scene he can create and control. He wants the attention and he wants it now. As he’s standing in the darkness of the penguin habitat he spots a young boy with his mother. The mother asks the boy to throw away the wrapper of the last meal of the five-year-olds life – a candy bar. As the boy approaches the trash can in the dark corner of the room the merciless Patrick crouches behind it. Patrick quickly catches the attention of the young boy and lures him in his reach like a killer animal...
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...One of the most notorious moments in Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, the business card scene demonstrates the prominence of superficiality and materialism present in modern culture. Patrick Bateman, the novel's narrator and main character, epitomizes such ideals in his obsession of external appearances, driven to best his coworkers in almost every trivial aspect. Through his meticulous selection, or rather borderline obsession of over-priced and showy apparel, Bateman strives to present an image to those around him of success, while hiding his inner monster. Such materialistic zeal is present in nearly every interaction Bateman has with his peers, going to the utmost extremes to create an identity showing his self-perceived superiority. The collective self-interest among Bateman and his peers leads to a disregard for others in a society so obsessed with self-grooming and status that shadiness and immoral behavior are irrelevant....
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...Hitchcock Footprint Comparison Essay Alfred Hitchcock’s ability to draw the viewer into an atmosphere where you feel completely immersed is parallel to none. His style of directing has made movies recognizable beyond that of even a modern day film. His movies have been able to transcend that of many scary movies of the time because of the footprints that he embedded into each movie. These trademarks or seen throughout all of his movies, and they all share a common ground. In two of his greatest films Psycho and Rear Window you can see that these footprints attribute to the overall mise en scène of the movie. Some of the footprints that Hitchcock leaves in these two movies are extraordinary situations occurring to ordinary people, voyeurism, sound leading to climax, dark lighting, and close up shots. In Psycho one of the main characters Marion Crane an ordinary realtor's office secretary is thrusts into a situation where she is on the run from the law as well as her won guilt from stealing 40,000 thousand dollars. The fact that she works a nine to five just like every other American of the time creates common ground. When she was eventually murdered in a motel, it made the viewer feel as if it can happen to anyone who stays at a motel. In Rear Window the main character L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies was a photographer, a job which seems pretty ordinary but when he his bed ridden due to a broken leg he is thrust into an extraordinary situation where he is watching a murder investigation...
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...Psychoanalytic Theory And Reading Of Cultural Products Film Studies Essay ukessays.com /essays/film-studies/psychoanalytic-theory-and-reading-of-cultural-products-filmstudies-essay.php The main concept of this essay is to point out how psychoanalytic theory could be used as a method of understanding and analyzing cultural products. The most valid approach for this is to observe how the cinema integrates psychoanalytical theories into specific film concepts. For this reason a Hitchcock film is used as an example, for it a common fact that there are many Freudian aspects in his movies. Specifically, Psycho is regarded by many film theorists and historians as the first “psychoanalytic thriller” (Kaganski as cited in Boulton, 2010). As implied by the title of the film, it is a movie whose plot is based on the Freudian Oedipus complex theory. First of all, it is noteworthy how the cinema developed a strong connection to psychoanalytic theories over the years. What is also interesting is the way in which a movie could be interpreted as a desire or a dreaming process. Moreover, in the second part of the essay, the correlation which Psycho has with psychoanalytical procedure is explored, in an effort to discover its kind and if it is actually the first psychoanalytic movie. Following a short presentation of the main plot, it is necessary to examine the nature of the Oedipus complex and how it is applied to the movie. Despite the fact that it remains the central psychoanalytic idea in...
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...prizes awarded for the best essays and such awards could help to support your University Application as evidence of outstanding academic work and independent effort. How long and of what nature should my essay be? Your essay should be between 2,000 and 2,500 words (excluding notes and bibliography) and represent original and independent work. There may be a case for writing a slightly shorter essay if one of your universities requires a shorter sample essay. Supplying an accurate word count is in any case crucial. Your essay should aim to be quite a focused piece and be a work of analysis and interpretation rather than just description. You may need to seek advice on the planning, structuring and the title of your essay. Some modifications may be necessary for scientific submissions. Where will inspiration for my essay come from? Your essay may, or may not be, a further development of normal subject work (e.g. Physics Research and Analysis, English Phillimore, History Gibbon Prize etc); it may be on subjects which have no existing prizes; it may be on a subject which is not on the curriculum (e.g. Anthropology) or which is cross-curricular (e.g. English and History of Art); or it may have emerged from Cultural perspectives lessons, the Cultural Perspectives timed essay which you take at the end of this term, be inspired by Critical Thinking work or be a ‘further developed’ praebendum essay. You should state in a covering note how and why the essay came about. Of course,...
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...Still in the Gilded Age There are many things in life that appear attractive on the outside, but turn out to be quite the opposite on the inside. The forgotten fruit that was left to rot on the kitchen counter, the empty promises of a government body, the two-faced colleague at work… there are many of examples of beauty being only skin deep. Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” explores this theme of the gilded side of humanity. Roethke opens “My Papa’s Waltz” through the eyes of a small boy, lending an initial tone of naivety and innocence. This mood is reinforced through his use of rhyme scheme, which adds to the childish effect. However, this feeling is quickly subverted, as a more sinister interpretation can be seen midway through the poem. The boy describes, “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle;/At every step you missed/My right ear scraped a buckle.” (9-13), leading the reader to question what the actual meaning behind this “waltz” is. The minor mentioning of the unhappy mother, as well as the phrase, “But I hung on like death:” (3) is suddenly relevant; it suggests that the father may be an abusive alcoholic, deviating from the prior assumption that he was simply a happy drunk spending time with his son. This shift in reader interpretation can also be attributed to Roethke’s unique word choice. Take for example the word “waltz,” which is used exclusively in the beginning and ending stanzas...
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...Annotated Bibliography Aguirre, Manuel. “Life, Crown, and Queen: Gertrude and the Theme of Sovereignty.” Oxford UP 47.186 (1996): 163-74. JSTOR. Web. 2 December 2013. This article interpreted the metaphors in Hamlet. The main focus was on the Cup of Sovereignty, which is the metaphor for the cup King Claudius drinks from during the marriage proposal. Even though I read information from this source I am not going to use this because it does not relate to my thesis. However, it does explain the significance of the cup referencing to corruption and the poisons that ruined many lives. This article helped me understand the symbolism of deception in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Barron’s. Hamlet. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 2002. Print This book contains the Shakespeare’s play Hamlet and a modern interpretation of the script. This source was used to read the play and fully understand exactly what action was taking place. I am not using this book to quote any material because it is a form of cliff notes; however it was helpful in interpreting scenes and breaking down Elizabethan sentences. Boyd, Brian. “Literature and Evolution: A Bio-Cultural Approach.” The Johns Hopkins UP 29.1 (2005): 1- 23. JSTOR. Web. 4 December 2013. This article is about the “sophisticated concealment and deception” Shakespeare incorporated in Hamlet (Boyd 16). I am using this source because it relates to my thesis. It explains how Shakespeare uses deception to exaggerate life-and-death issues...
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