when the audience doesn't get the joke

Fun Fact #2: American Psycho was shot by Andrzej Sekula, the same guy who did Pulp Fiction (and Reservoir Dogs). Which is why both movies have the same golden paint-y glow to them, if you look at them side by side.

You would THINK that the business card scene, if ANYTHING, would give away the satire. It turns basically the most meaningless aspect of a businessman into a life or death stress trigger.

Fun Fact: in preparation for the role, Christian Bale read the script and memorized his lines.

In the context of the early 80's "I have to return some video tapes" was actually a subtle flex. At the time VCR's and Betamaxes were still fairly expensive so just dropping the hint you had one meant you were with it and hip. The line is PERFECT for the character.

My favorite thing about this movie is literally everyone in the P&P office mistakes everyone for someone else because they're all too full of themselves to get to know anyone they work with, and everyone who is mistaken for someone else just rolls with it until the end, even Patrick's lawyer doesn't even know who he is. Maybe Patrick killed someone he THOUGHT was Paul Allen. Maybe he killed Paul and the lawyer had dinner with someone he thought was Paul Allen. Maybe none of it happened. There's so many ways to watch this movie.

This movie is hilarious. "Patrick is that you?" "No louis, its not me, youre mistaken."

So rare to see a book author that happy with the film version of his book.

“Although I have a slightly better haircut” Everything about that line is pure chefs kiss

It's really funny how people like to say Patrick Bateman is a "sigma male" while the purpose of his character is to make fun of that stuff

For years I tried to use the 'I need to return some videos' line as often as I could. Now that video shops don't really exist anymore, I think its even more important to work that line into every day situations.

Ive never seen the movie, but i find it absolutely hilarious that they ALL misspell "Acquisitions" on their business cards

I remember watching this, as a teen, not realizing it was a comedy until the scene with the chainsaw, where I said, "This is stupid. Someone would hear that. How does no one care?" And that was immediately followed by "Oh my God, this entire movie is satire." Blew my mind as I watched him make that freaked-out phone call.

I saw this during its initial theatrical release. Maybe it’s Australian audiences (we have a dark sense of humour) but the cinema I was in laughed out loud every time Bateman started an album review, so I think in Melbourne in the late 90s we all got the joke. Easton Ellis’s “Informers” is a far darker book, in my opinion, although the copy of Psycho I bought (the same you show during this video essay) had to be wrapped with an R rating on it in bookshops.

I never noticed they all misspelled Acquisitions on their business cards.

It is ironic how the perfect satire of alpha male culture became a symbol of it for so many people. Edit: Look at the replies at your own risk. You have been warned.

My wife and I watched this in the theater when it came out. I remember laughing at the absurdity and sarcasm but I also remember the audience being so silent so our laughing really stood out. I guess the sarcasm wasn't very obvious. Still this movie has been one of my favorites all these years.

i remember when I first saw it, my friend showed it to me and was really anticipating my reaction. I was in stitches, and he was so confused as to why. he did not think the movie was funny. he thought patrick bateman was super charismatic. This movie has become one of my red flag tools (among other movies)

I remember reading the book, finding it horrifying, and then like a week after finishing it, going, “Ohhhh, it’s a satire!” I was young.

I love the artistic romance between the author and the director. Ellis even going so far as to say Harron's work clarifies aspects of the book. The card scene is probably my favorite.

I still say, "I have to return some video tapes." Whenever I exit conversations with several strangers at parties. It's a hilarious way to exit because there'll almost always be one person who immediately remembers the line & starts laughing, by the time they've awkwardly explained it to the rest a couple more people might remember and laugh too, everyone else is just baffled, and you've made a fairly memorable exit. They say first impressions are most important but that exit has made impressions that lasted literally years.