Question about the ending to American Psycho?

[john316]

I have just watched it on Sky Premier and I thought it was pretty good and a little strange also! The ending though had me puzzled:

How did Bateman's lawyer have lunch with Paul Allen when he was dead? And what happened to Paul Allen's apartment with all the dead bodies there?

Any answers please?

[Bapapapa]

It was all a dream, apparently. What a cop out. :/

[john316]

Thats lame!

[arkham]

The ending in the book is ten million billion times better, the film ending is ****!

[Creamstick]

The book ending and film ending are completely on the same note. It's a comedy, for Marigold's sake.

Yes, I like washing up.

[R2-D2]

I blame the drugs. I'm always giving myself up to the police because I think I've committed loads of gruesome murders while listening to bad 80's music

[ProgressiveScan]

Anyone who can hold a conversation about Huey Lewis & the News is TRUELY gone in da heed!

[APPRIA40WR]

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<font size=10><font color="white">Nobody's dead! It was the delusions of a psychotic person -Bale</font>

White looks <u>far</u> better with black! :D

[robbiejm]

Originally posted by john316
Thats lame!

Yep, lame and not true:

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14082&highlight=psycho

From http://www.cinephiles.net/American_...hiles-Gate.html

This is only the last few paragraphs:

Did Patrick Bateman really commit the murders?

"Due to the fact that American Psycho is narrated by Patrick Bateman, the events are narrated through his subjective --and therefore, "doubt-filled"-- point of view. However, the fact that the serial killer doubts his own crimes, and that the way the film is narrated transmits this doubt, does not signify that the crimes did not exist. Simply put, Patrick Bateman --the serial killer-- does not cease to exist simply because the others do not react to his existence nor to his actions. Patrick Bateman did commit the murders.

Patrick Bateman is defined as a serial killer whose psychosis will remain unchanged, untouched and undefined by the society that is deaf, blind and detached enough to perpetuate his lack of identity. Toward the end of American Psycho, Patrick Bateman refers to the others' lack of reaction as he narrates his conclusive realization that "there is no catharsis... no punishment." He continues, "I gain no deeper knowledge of myself." These powerful statements accurately reflect the Sartrean notion that one's perception of one's identity, one's actions, and even one's existence is defined by the Others' perception of oneself. Therefore, the ambiguities of what is real and what is fantasy, which are established by the Others' lack of reaction, do not conclude that Patrick Bateman did not commit the murders; instead, they prove that due to the Others' lack of reaction, Patrick Bateman doubts his own identity, his actions, and even his existence. Thus, Patrick resolves: "I simply am not there."

This carries the Sartrean notion further, in that the lack of the Others' reaction to oneself and one's actions does not render one's self nor one's actions nonexistent. Rather, the Others' definition of oneself influence one's perceptions and one's way of defining oneself. In Patrick Bateman's case, his perception of himself is the direct result of the Others' definition of Patrick Bateman. Yet the Others' offer no definition of Patrick Bateman which would differentiate him from the other cookie-cutter males. (This is either due to the Others' indifference or to their incapacity to distinguish between the cookie-cutter males.) Patrick Bateman has no real perception or definition of himself, and the Others' lack of reaction produce his lack of identity.

Patrick Bateman's lack of identity and his constant drive to capture a definition of himself (a definition which the camera does capture by creating visual portraits of Patrick-Bateman-the-murderer) enables the character to feel compelled to kill and destroy others. Thus, as a serial killer, Patrick Bateman is able to constantly reinforce his own perception of his empty, emotionless self through the repeated anihilation of the Others' --that is, of his victims'-- identities. An American psycho who personifies the notably American phenomenon of serial killing by embodying the undying symptoms of a society that "simply is not there," Patrick Bateman will probably live forever.

American Psycho, a film which boldly and playfully integrates its cinematic elements, constructs a powerful story that speaks of the tragedy of indifference, the comedy of obsession, and the violence that ensues from the loss of human identity."