“I'm always shocked when people want to make movies out of my books. […] They have cinematic scenes, they have a lot of dialogue, but often they don't have that narrative momentum a movie needs” (Shulman, par. 12), said Bret Easton Ellis, the author of the novel American Psycho, in an interview about movie adaptations of his books. Ellis wrote a total of seven novels and became one of the most famous authors of postmodern American literature. His third novel American Psycho was published in 1991 and turned into a movie in 2000 by Mary Harron. Yet, the missing narrative momentum Ellis mentioned was not Harron’s only problem while adapting the novel. When American Psycho was published in 1991, it was not well received. Because of its extremely graphic scenes of violence and pornography the novel caused a chorus of outrage among critics. Female activist groups complained that it was “a how-to novel on the torture and dismemberment of women” (McDowell, par. 1). Ellis even received death threats and had to face furious outcries from women...
Ellis was surprised that the novel provoked such reactions because he intended the novel to be a black comedy and a critique of the capitalist society in New York City in the 1980s. His intention was to decry the greed, envy and the urge for conformity present at Wall Street at that time. However, the satiric elements of his novel were almost completely overshadowed by the violent and pornographic passages which led many people to misinterpret the novel’s message. The reactions to Mary Harron’s movie adaptation of American Psycho were much friendlier:
Watching "American Psycho" is like witnessing a bravura sleight-of-hand feat. In adapting Bret Easton Ellis's turgid, gory 1991 novel to the screen, the director Mary Harron has boiled a bloated stew of brand names and butchery into a lean and mean horror comedy classic. (Holden, par. 1)
In view of this change of opinion from the novel to the movie adaptation, it is justified to take a closer look at how Harron adapted Ellis’s novel. In the framework of the seminar "Literature and Media: A Kaleidoscope", this paper analyzes the rehabilitation of the novel focusing on internal changes and the resulting changes in the effect on the audience. Mary Harron rehabilitated American Psycho by turning it into a feminist movie.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. American Psycho: A feminist movie
A) Added/Altered content
1) New scenes
2) Altered scenes
B) Focus on satiric elements
C) Are Bateman’s crimes reality or fantasy?
D) “Distancing effect”
E) The female perspective
III. Conclusion
Objectives & Core Themes
This paper examines how director Mary Harron successfully adapted Bret Easton Ellis's controversial novel American Psycho into a film by recontextualizing the narrative through a feminist lens. The research explores the specific cinematic techniques and structural changes employed to shift the focus from the novel's perceived misogyny toward a broader critique of 1980s capitalist greed.
- The rehabilitation of "bad" or controversial literature through film adaptation.
- The deliberate shift from a first-person subjective perspective to a third-person "distancing" effect.
- The utilization of satiric elements to ridicule rather than glorify the protagonist's actions.
- Internal changes, including altered scenes and the integration of female perspectives, to enhance feminist themes.
- The ambiguity of reality versus fantasy in the depiction of the protagonist's violent crimes.
Excerpt from the book
B) Focus on satiric elements
One can argue that Harron’s focus on satiric elements has two purposes. First, this helps to draw attention to Ellis’s initial intention for the novel to be a black comedy about capitalism, greed and envy rather than a book about misogyny. Second, focusing on satiric elements helps to highlight something that Christian Bale, the actor who plays Patrick Bateman, correctly points out: “You laugh at [Bateman], [...] never with him.” (American Psycho Interview, 6:50) The medium film gives Harron several options to do that. Contrary to the medium book that “has [only] a single material of expression, the written word, [...] the [medium] film has at least five tracks: moving photographic image, phonetic sound, music, noises and written materials.” (Stam, p. 59). Harron combines those tracks outstandingly throughout the entire movie to ridicule the character of Patrick Bateman. As an example I pick the famous business card scene (sequence 12), in which Bateman and his colleagues compare their business cards to find out which is the best looking one. Already in the novel readers identify Bateman’s behavior in this scene as a ridiculous attempt to gain attention and recognition. Harron manages to carry the essence of this scene to extremes with the cinematic devices that are at her disposal. Harron maintains a high degree of fidelity regarding the dialogue texts, but she adds subtle sound elements to the scene which intensify the ridiculousness of the situation. Bateman is frustrated because his colleague, Paul Allen, managed to get reservations for a restaurant called Dorsia—a hard-to-get-in restaurant. When Bateman opens his business card holder it makes a sound that resembles the sound of a switchblade knife when opened or even of a sword when drawn out of its metal scabbard.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: Provides an overview of the reception of the original novel, the challenges of adapting it, and the research objective to analyze the film as a feminist commentary.
II. American Psycho: A feminist movie: Explains how the transition to film, specifically through internal changes, directorial choices, and the use of cinematic techniques, transforms the story into a feminist critique.
A) Added/Altered content: Discusses specific scenes added or modified by Harron to empower female characters and place pressure on the protagonist.
1) New scenes: Details the integration of new sequences that establish female control and strength absent in the original text.
2) Altered scenes: Analyzes how the recurring presence of Detective Kimball increases narrative tension and puts the protagonist in a more vulnerable position.
B) Focus on satiric elements: Examines how cinematic tools are used to ridicule Bateman and highlight the novel's original intent as a satire of capitalism.
C) Are Bateman’s crimes reality or fantasy?: Investigates the film’s choice to depict the protagonist’s violence as largely internal fantasy, reinforcing his status as an isolated psychopath.
D) “Distancing effect”: Discusses the application of a Brechtian "distancing effect" to prevent audience identification with the protagonist and mitigate misogynistic interpretations.
E) The female perspective: Explores how camera work and montage are used to shift empathy toward female victims and expose the mental violence they endure.
III. Conclusion: Summarizes how Mary Harron’s adaptation successfully rehabilitated the narrative by reframing the protagonist's violence through satire, camera perspective, and a clear feminist viewpoint.
Keywords
American Psycho, Mary Harron, Bret Easton Ellis, Film Adaptation, Feminism, Satire, Capitalism, Unreliable Narrator, Distancing Effect, Misogyny, Cinematic Techniques, Patrick Bateman, Literary Analysis, Gender Representation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this academic paper?
The paper focuses on how Mary Harron’s film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho rehabilitates the original, controversial novel by turning it into a feminist-oriented work that emphasizes satire over misogyny.
What are the primary themes explored in this work?
The core themes include the adaptation process from literature to film, the critique of capitalist society in the 1980s, the representation of gender, the function of violence in narrative, and the use of cinematic devices to manage audience reaction.
What is the primary research goal?
The primary goal is to analyze how specific internal changes and directorial choices—such as the "distancing effect"—recontextualize the protagonist's violent acts to distance the audience from him and shift focus toward a broader social critique.
Which scientific method is applied?
The author uses a comparative analysis approach, looking at both the source material (the novel) and the film, while drawing upon theoretical frameworks regarding film adaptation and narrative structures.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body examines added and altered scenes, the use of satiric elements, the question of whether the protagonist's crimes are real or imaginary, the implementation of a "distancing effect," and the addition of female perspectives in specific scenes.
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include American Psycho, film adaptation, feminism, satire, capitalism, distancing effect, and narrative perspective.
How does the director handle the violence depicted in the book?
Harron consciously reduces or omits the most graphic descriptions of violence and frames the protagonist's actions in a way that suggests they may be imaginary, thereby forcing the audience to maintain a critical, detached perspective rather than identifying with the character.
What role does the "distancing effect" play in the film?
It serves as a Brechtian device to prevent the audience from empathizing with Patrick Bateman, ensuring that viewers identify him as an "other" rather than someone with whom they should feel aligned or sympathetic.
Why is the business card scene considered significant in the analysis?
The author argues that this scene exemplifies how cinematic devices—like sound effects and close-ups—are used to highlight the absurdity of the protagonist's competitiveness, effectively ridiculing him and reinforcing the novel's satirical critique of greed.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Tobias Utz (Autor:in), 2013, Mary Harron’s movie adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s "American Psycho". A feminist movie, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/232158
