Psychological concepts are present in our everyday lives and are especially seen through different forms of media because these concepts are fascinating and many want to learn more about them. The 2000 film American Psycho starring Christian Bale is a perfect example of how the media incorporates psychological disorders. The protagonist Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, is a rich New York investment banking executive by day and serial killer psychopath by night. This film explores many psychological disorders, however I will be focusing on the following: Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder.
Firstly, Antisocial Personality Disorder is defined by the textbook …show more content…
First of all, he brutally murders several people, which shows how violent and how much of a criminal he is. He lies throughout to movie more specifically about the stains on the sheets early on in the movie as an attempt to lie to another character (Lewis) about his identity. When he breaks up with his fiancée, he shows remorselessness, a symptom not mentioned in the textbook, given that he tells her to stop crying in the restaurant. He is shown to be impulsive when he does not call his favourite restaurant Dorsia in advance to make a reservation. He is also shown to be impulsive when he picks up prostitutes off of the street corner several times throughout the movie. Patric Bateman comes across as a charming, attractive, wealthy Wall Street banker as seen when he picks up many women on several occasions from bars, restaurants, street corners, the office, etc. However, the audience sees him as irresponsible given that all the times Patrick is in his office he is seen listening to music or making plans for after work, he is rarely seen actually working. We also see him as having a sense of superiority which is another symptom of this disorder. At the bank, his attitude of his colleagues not being worthy of his time demonstrate this sense. He manipulates others as well. While talking to …show more content…
Frequent mood changes and anger, unpredictable impulses. Self-mutilation or suicidal threats or gestures to get attention or manipulate others. Self-image fluctuation and a tendency to see others as “all good” or “all bad”. (p. 428). Patrick Bateman suffers from these symptoms as well. First, he has a pattern of unstable, intense relationships, for example, with his fiancée and how he hates her and how he is sleeping with other mistresses. He has an unstable sense of identity as well. This symptom is not described in the textbook but it is shown in the film at the very beginning as he is getting ready he says “There is an idea of Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me.” which shows how he is not aware of who he really is. He is shown as impulsive when he is having sexual relations with prostitutes and not calling to make dinner reservations on numerous occasions. Even though he is not seen as suicidal, he has wild mood swings. Patrick is seen throughout the film as becoming annoyed over the smallest things followed by him losing all self-control and in some cases, like the homeless man and dog, he becomes very violent. Another example is when he threatens the waiter at Dorsia with “Not if you want to keep your spleen” when asked if he wanted to see the specials of the
Firstly, Antisocial Personality Disorder is defined by the textbook …show more content…
First of all, he brutally murders several people, which shows how violent and how much of a criminal he is. He lies throughout to movie more specifically about the stains on the sheets early on in the movie as an attempt to lie to another character (Lewis) about his identity. When he breaks up with his fiancée, he shows remorselessness, a symptom not mentioned in the textbook, given that he tells her to stop crying in the restaurant. He is shown to be impulsive when he does not call his favourite restaurant Dorsia in advance to make a reservation. He is also shown to be impulsive when he picks up prostitutes off of the street corner several times throughout the movie. Patric Bateman comes across as a charming, attractive, wealthy Wall Street banker as seen when he picks up many women on several occasions from bars, restaurants, street corners, the office, etc. However, the audience sees him as irresponsible given that all the times Patrick is in his office he is seen listening to music or making plans for after work, he is rarely seen actually working. We also see him as having a sense of superiority which is another symptom of this disorder. At the bank, his attitude of his colleagues not being worthy of his time demonstrate this sense. He manipulates others as well. While talking to …show more content…
Frequent mood changes and anger, unpredictable impulses. Self-mutilation or suicidal threats or gestures to get attention or manipulate others. Self-image fluctuation and a tendency to see others as “all good” or “all bad”. (p. 428). Patrick Bateman suffers from these symptoms as well. First, he has a pattern of unstable, intense relationships, for example, with his fiancée and how he hates her and how he is sleeping with other mistresses. He has an unstable sense of identity as well. This symptom is not described in the textbook but it is shown in the film at the very beginning as he is getting ready he says “There is an idea of Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me.” which shows how he is not aware of who he really is. He is shown as impulsive when he is having sexual relations with prostitutes and not calling to make dinner reservations on numerous occasions. Even though he is not seen as suicidal, he has wild mood swings. Patrick is seen throughout the film as becoming annoyed over the smallest things followed by him losing all self-control and in some cases, like the homeless man and dog, he becomes very violent. Another example is when he threatens the waiter at Dorsia with “Not if you want to keep your spleen” when asked if he wanted to see the specials of the