American Psycho / Patrick Bateman

About

American Psycho is a 2000 thriller film based on a 1991 novel of the same name. The film stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a young investment banker who leaves a second life as a serial killer. The film developed a cult following, with multiple memes based on the film circulating since 2009. In the late 2010s and 2020s, Patrick Bateman achieved online recognition as a based, sigma and Chad character.

History

Book

In 1991, American writer Bret Easton Ellis published^[1] American Psycho, a horror novel following a short period in the life of Patrick Bateman, a 26-year-old Manhattan investment banker living a second life as a serial killer preying on prostitutes, colleagues and, later, random people as his mind state begins to deteriorate.

The book was a subject of several controversies,^[1] partly due to gruesome scenes of violence. The original publisher Simon & Schuster withdrew from the project due to "aesthetic differences," with the novel instead being published by Vintage Books. In Germany, the book was deemed "harmful to minors."

Film

On April 14th, 2000, the thriller film American Psycho based on the novel was released.^[2] The film is co-written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Mary Harron and stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman (fan-made trailer shown below).

In 2002, a direct-to-video stand-alone sequel American Psycho II: All American Girl was released.^[6]

Reception

The film received polarized reviews, with some critics praising the writing and Christian Bale's performance and others criticizing it for its violent nature.^[3]

On Rotten Tomatoes,^[4] the film maintains a 70 percent critic score with 151 aggregated reviews and an 85 percent audience score with over 304,000 user ratings. On IMDb,^[5] the film maintains a 7.6 score with over 488,000 submitted reviews.

Impact

In the late 2000s and 2010s, the film gradually developed a cult following indicative of the number of memes associated with the film and particularly its main character Patrick Bateman.

A 2008 music video for Kanye West's song "Love Lockdown" (shown below, left) and a 2014 music video for Maroon 5's song 'Animals' (shown below, right) were both inspired by the film.^[7][8]

A 2015 album American Beauty/American Psycho by Fall Out Boy takes half of its title from the book and the film.^[9]

Related Memes

American Psycho spawned multiple memes, with the meme popularity of the film starting with the use of a still image of Bateman pointing at his audio system on 4chan as the Dubs Guy.

Based Patrick Bateman / Chad Patrick Bateman

In the late 2010s, Patrick Bateman became generally recognized as a figure within the Chad archetype, with users utilizing images of Bateman to present various opinions they would deem based. This was followed by usage of images of Patrick Bateman in Sigma Male and Sigma Grindset memes.

Dubs Guy / "Check 'Em"

Dubs Guy, or Doubles Guy, refers to an image of the protagonist Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) from the 2000 black comedy film American Psycho, which is used on 4chan in anticipation of submitting a GET post ending in double-digits. The image is often accompanied by the phrase "check em," alerting viewers to examine the post number.

Patrick Bateman With an Axe

Patrick Bateman With an Axe is a popular reaction image. The image also inspired fan art and redraws.

Do You Like Huey Lewis & the News?

Do You Like Huey Lewis & the News? refers to a copypasta in which Patrick Bateman talks about his affinity for the 1980s band Huey Lewis & the News and briefly reviews their 1983 and 1987 albums Sports and Fore!

Patrick Bateman Holding an Album

The still image of Patrick Bateman holding the 1987 album "Fore!" by Huey Lewis and the News saw use as an exploitable, often used in combination with the "Do You Like Huey Lewis & the News?" copypasta.

American Psycho Business Card

American Psycho Business Card refers to a series of parodies and remixes of a memorable scene from the film in which characters compare each others' business cards.

American Psycho Sex Scene / Arm Flex

American Psycho Sex Scene refers to several meme formats based on the sex scene from the film, including a reaction image of the main protagonist Patrick Bateman pointing and winking, and multi-panel exploitable in which Bateman looks at a TV screen and reacts by flexing his bicep.

Patrick Bateman Talking on the Phone

The image of Patrick Bateman holding a phone has seen use as a reaction image, often accompanying various imaginary dialogues.

Patrick Bateman Listens to Music

Patrick Bateman Listens to Music refers to a series of edits based on a scene in which Patrick Bateman walks into his office in his headphones listening to "Walking on Sunshine." In the edits, various songs are edited in, with Bateman representing the Chad meme archetype.

Chadrick Basedman

Chadrick Basedman refers to a version of Patrick Bateman photoshopped to look like Gigachad. The image was posted by an anonymous 4chan user in /tv/^[10] board on October 27th, 2021 (image and post shown below, left and right).

Starting in late October 2021, the image gained significant popularity as a reaction image, particularly on iFunny, Twitter and Facebook (examples shown below).

Patrick Bateman Ooh Face

Patrick Bateman's Ooh Face, also known as Christian Bale's Ooh Face, is a reaction image macro featuring a screenshot from the 2000 satirical horror film American Psycho. Memers use the image in a manner similar to other Ooh Faces, expressing feelings of ecstasy.

Patrick Bateman Nodding

Patrick Bateman Nodding refers to a deleted scene from the 2000 film American Psycho in which protagonist Patrick Bateman (portrayed by Christian Bale) is listening to character Donald Kimball (portrayed by Willem Dafoe) at the bar, nodding as he speaks. In early 2022, a clip of Patrick Bareman nodding in apparent disinterest gained virality as the source material for memes, primarily video captions and GIF captions.

Why Isn't It Possible? Why Not

Why Isn't It Possible? Why Not? is a scene from the 2000 film American Psycho in which the protagonist Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) unsuccessfully attempts to confess his crimes to his lawyer, who refuses to believe him. Starting in November 2021, the image saw use as source material for memes, primarily video captions and edits.

Patrick Bateman and Detective Kimball at Lunch

Patrick Bateman and Detective Kimball at Lunch, also known as Kimball's "Silly Me," is an exploitable meme format used in GIF captions that uses the conversation between Detective Kimball (played by Willem Dafoe) and Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) from the 2000 film American Psycho. It's typically used as a meme where one party has a mistake or misunderstanding that they play off as innocent, which is then believed by Kimball representing another party. Within the context of the movie, the meme is meant for the person making the meme to be purposely doing something wrong, only to be able to talk their way out of it with a flimsy explanation.

Patrick Bateman on a Bike and Two Penguins Humping

Patrick Bateman on a Bike and Two Penguins Humping, also known as Patrick Bateman Bikes to Antarctica, refers to a crudely made 3D animation of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman (actor Christian Bale) riding a bicycle in Antarctica where he sees two penguins humping (specifically the penguins from Madagascar), then looks at a map with Russian text and then continues onward. The animation references a scene from Malcolm in the Middle where Reese Wilkerson is in the desert. The "Antarctica" version was then re-animated by other video creators on TikTok who replaced the setting, humping animals, map, Bateman's outfit and Bateman's vehicle. The videos used an Arabic-sounding version of the song "Perfect Girl" by Mareux. The trend started on TikTok in December 2022.

Search Interest

External References