25 Years On, American Psycho’s Ending Is Still Misunderstood

However, as Bateman wanders the aftermath of his supposed spree, he finds that nothing is quite as it seems. The realtor selling one of his victim’s apartments denies the home was recently the scene of a crime. Bateman’s lawyer not only treats his message like a joke but insists that he recently had dinner with one of Bateman’s high-profile victims. All the while, Bateman continues seeing and hearing increasingly bizarre, seemingly impossible things as those around him insist that he’s too square to have done such horrible things. 

That finale forms the basis of the “it’s all in his head” interpretation of the material. Those around Bateman appear to offer compelling evidence that he could not have done those things, and the nature of Bateman’s final spree is absurd. He blows up cars with a pistol and evades the entire NYPD. In the movie, an ATM tells him to feed it a stray cat. In the book, he watches a Cheerio be interviewed on TV. 

Those who subscribe to that interpretation argue that Bateman is a privileged, pathetic young man whose hollow life has led him to fantasize about acts of violence largely inspired by the shallow media he consumes. It’s a theory that is not only seemingly supported by the text but is that kind of “aha!” revelation that seems so clever that it makes some feel stupid for believing anything else. 

The only problem with that otherwise fascinating theory is that it’s wrong. At the very least, it’s a simplified reading of the events of the story that historically diminishes some of its most important and fascinating themes.

American Psycho’s Overlooked Themes Tell The True Story 

American Psycho’s most consistent theme is “identity.” Specifically, it asks how one can forge and maintain a distinct identity in a capitalist culture where the consumption of the same media, fashion, food, and brands drives people to turn themselves into roughly the same version of the people they believe they should be. 

It’s that theme that helps explain many events that otherwise seem inexplicable. When characters claim to have had lunch with one of Bateman’s victims, they seem to be confused about who they met. In the movie (and especially in the book), people often confuse one person in Bateman’s world for somebody else. Even elements of their lives that are designed to identify them (such as their famous business cards) are hilariously similar to many eyes.