Patrick Bateman Character Backstory
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Student ID: 150227911 Character: Patrick Bateman Character Backstory: Patrick Bateman is the main ‘protagonist’ of ‘American Psycho’. He is a greatly successful but also extremely narcissistic and neurotic 27-year-old executive Wall Street financer. Patrick is a former protégée of Ivy-League schools having studied at both Harvard and the Harvard Business School. As an enjoyer of the upper-class life and its luxurious materialist mediums, Patrick can be often seen wearing Brooks Brothers suits and dining at exclusive and high in demand restaurants such as Pastels, Arcadia but not Dorsia (one of the few restaurants Patrick can’t seem to get a reservation at). While at his workplace Patrick’s narcissism drives him to excel and beat all competition at the simplest most mundane tasks and comparisons such as music taste and business card comparison. In his more private life, Patrick is engaged to Evelyn Richards, both display a loving and truthful romance to friends and family but cheat on each other behind closed doors. Character Personality: Patrick’s personality is best described by Patrick himself in the novel the film was based off “my personality is sketchy and unformed, my heartlessness goes deep and is persistent. My conscience, my pity, my hopes disappeared a long time ago (Ellis, 406). Throughout the film Patrick presents himself as being smooth, calm and collected, his before mentioned narcissism remains invisible as he always surrounded by like-minded peers of the yuppie generation who all talk and behave like him. This leaves his unconscious desires and plans behind an illusion/persona of a wealthy luxurious business man. It’s behind the closed doors of his apartment that we see the psychotic side of Patrick break through. He’s a sadist, a killer and holds no remorse to his victims. One side of Patrick consumes brands, expensive food and materialist goods to feed him, the other consumes the corpses of competing executives, random prostitute or homeless people off the street. Plot Points: Student ID: 150227911 The scene is split into being at two different locations; one-The Texarkana Restaurant and the other being Patrick’s luxurious apartment. There are many different beats that occur during the sequence. The first beat of the scene occurs on Patrick’s arrival to the Texarkana. Patrick is late and the other key character of the scene Paul Allen (Patrick’s so-called friend but also a main competitor in the business card debate) is already seated and can be seen arguing with the waiter. As soon as Patrick sits down he also begins to argue with the presumably working-class waiter. It’s deeply rooted in the Yuppie culture of the 1980s to belittle people of lower classes and the two spend no time wasting the opportunity. The second beat occurs when the two character’s narcissism and sense of competition kick in. Paul Allen belittles both the waiter and the restaurant itself to Bateman’s disapproval as he is the one who chose the restaurant. Allen argues that he could have got the two seats at the Dorsia (the one restaurant that Patrick could not obtain seats at). This is pushing Bateman’s hidden psychopathic buttons. Some time passes and Allen becomes visibly drunk. There is a major change of power within the scene at this point as Patrick becomes the man in charge. He lets his inner demons roam freely as he knows there will be no consequences due to Allen’s drunken state. He describes his unconscious pleasures and his psychotic state: “I like to dissect girls, did you know I am utterly insane!?” The key beats occur at Patrick’s apartment. He invites Paul Allen over. While making small talk about Huey Lewis and The News. Patrick talks to an almost unconsciously drunk Allen about their albums and how they have progressed over their years with their new album ‘Fore’ and especially the song ‘Hip To Be Square’ (a song that immensely connects with Bateman’s non-conformity in terms of his psychotic persona). Throughout this conversation, Patrick slowly and carefully prepares to kill Allen. He kills him to the song and shouts at his corpse “Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now, you fucking stupid bastard!” Super Objective: Student ID: 150227911 Patrick’s super objective throughout the film and the whole scene is to gain dominance and excellence over everyone at no matter what the cost, even if it’s murder. Due to Allen’s constant competition with Patrick over trivial matters such as restaurants and business cards, it is Patrick’s super objective to murder him. Murder also fills Patrick’s inner fantasies and fetishes and satisfy Patrick’s unconscious. Major relationships, loyalties, and conflicts for the character: Every character that Patrick encounters within the film is oblivious to the fact that Patrick has a personal conflict with them. Even those closest to him such as his friends and fiancé. Paul Allen is no different. Patrick has seen Allen as being a conflict to his dominance ever since his promotion and especially the business card incident. Scene Objectives for the character in the scene to be filmed: Patrick’s main objective throughout the scene is to subdue Allen to his apartment and kill Allen while maintaining the mask of a calm and collected person to eradicate any suspicion. He does with the aid of alcohol and dinner with Allen to give him the illusion of a friendship between the two. Voice: the character and their use of voice specific to the scene. Patrick’s voice goes through various levels throughout the scene. In the beginning, he is calm and collected but becomes enraged with the waiter. He then comes back to his usual formal and mature way of speech but as Paul Allen becomes more and more intoxicated, Patrick’s voice becomes more enthusiastic and joyful as he proclaims how much he loves to dissect women. Within the apartment Patrick keeps his enthusiastic manner as he one discusses music with Paul Allen and ultimately murders him. Physicality: the character’s physicality and their physicality to the specific. Patrick is a luxurious metrosexual male. He frequently works out and takes care of his skin and therefore has to be of an athletic build with good looking facial features. His body language shows confidence which must show in all of his movements. Student ID: 150227911 Character beats within the scene: First character beat occurs when our protagonist enters the restaurant and finds that his future victim is already seated there, leaving little room for Patrick to prepare his persona. He then has to go from being the calm and collective individual he is to berate the waiter along with his peer allowing the conversation of the two to be on the same level. However then the conversation takes a different turn when Allen insults Patrick’s choice of restaurant. It is then where Patrick has to retort with something that will bring the conversation back to being an equal power level. As Allen becomes drunk it is Patrick that takes control of the conversation and the scene. He is finally allowed to let his wild sadistic and psychopathic unconscious roam free. He is free to take Allen back to his apartment for the murder without suspicion. Change of beats/turning point set out in specific detail. The key turning point is Paul Allen’s intoxication, it allows Patrick Bateman to come into full control of the conversation and ultimately Allen himself. It also allows him to fulfill his ultimate goal: murdering his competition. Clothing: costume for the scene and props: Patrick’s clothing must represent the common trends found within 80s Yuppie culture with expensive watches and business suits such as those designed by the Brooks Brothers. To avoid getting any of Paul Allen’s blood on his suit, Patrick would also need to wear a raincoat. Props to be included within the scene are: various pill boxes including one stand out to hold Patrick’s Valium, an axe, a Huey Lewis and The News FORE CD, a CD-Player, newspaper and food and drink to be served during the restaurant scene. Appearance: Hair, make-up and another aspect of appearance for the scene. Student ID: 150227911 Patrick’s appearance should reflect his calm and common manner with perfect skin and haircut. His haircut has to represent that of what was the trend on Wall Street during the 1980s and has to show no faults (until Patrick murders Allen). Production Design, Cinematography, Sound and Music: Use of mise-en-scene to establish and define character and to support the scene: The scene takes place in two different environments. It opens in a restaurant which is unpopulated to the disgust of both characters. However for them to be present there the restaurant has to be somewhat trendy and expensive which it’s décor and the food served has to reflect. Therefore the food there has to be served in small proportion with a focus on presentation. Dim lighting is present all around and the tables are all clean and ready to be seated within seconds. Waiters within the restaurant would have to wear a uniform that both matches the restaurant's décor and theme in some way while also giving it exclusivity. The scene then moves into Patrick’s apartment which is decorated with minimal but luxurious items appropriate to the 1980s. The key element of the apartment’s décor would be the purposely placed newspapers surrounding a chair to keep Allen's murder as clean as it can be. The apartment is an extension of the persona that Patrick Bateman puts on.