Conventional Thriller Character

Patrick Bateman’s character in ‘American Psycho’ shows a conventional thriller villain. Although he is the main character, he is the main villain in the movie. This is shown through Bateman’s mental instability as he is narrating the film with careless ideas and motives. This is evident through Bateman’s attitude towards women in the film as he describes to friends “what their heads would look like on sticks”. This is a typical convention of thriller villains as mental instability is generally shown to be a fear of many peoples as it is ruthless and dangerous in some cases. Furthermore, the killing of a homeless man in the street with no motive shows Bateman’s lack of planning and carelessness to be caught. This may suggest that killing is merely in his nature and it is his instinct to kill. This shows how dangerous his character is and that he is the villain.

Bateman’s threat to society is also seen through his lack of personal relationships with other characters in the film. This suggests that he is socially incapable, which may be a reason for his insanity. His personal relationships consist of company of prostitutes and his business. The sex involvement with his prostitutes happens in a very unusual manner, which creates a bizarre atmosphere for the audience and makes him seem like a villain. Prostitution is a typically wrong thing to take part in as it is now socially accepted. Therefore, this emphasises his villainous behaviour. In addition, Bateman’s consistent killing of friends makes him untrustworthy to the audience, which makes him a definite villain in the audience’s eyes.

The lighting surrounding Bateman is mainly dim, but non-ambient, lighting. This creates a dark atmosphere around the character, emphasising his villainous behaviour as dark lighting is a fear of many peoples. His costume is also very smart as to gather no suspicion for his hobby. This also connotes power and superiority in his character, which may suggest that he is able and wants to control things – this creates another motive for his killings. This is also shown through his profession as a business man, as that industry is very power driven. Bateman’s cleanliness could suggest obsessive compulsive disorder in his character, which is another mental disability that could affect his motive for killing. The classical music in the scenes creates a calming atmosphere mixed with the brutal image of murder, which creates the impression of insanity due to the massive contrast. The idea of insanity is a huge convention of thriller villains.

The use of close ups to the villains face creates a threat to the audience. This is a typical thriller convention as it creates a sense of ambiguity to the audience about the villain. This lets this audience know that Bateman is the villain in the film, along with the dark, husky dialogue that is voiced over the filming.

By Harriet Bliss