In many cases, there will be many bad influences that horrible, bloody and violent R-rated films spread to the public. But there are often a series of deeper meanings contained in some films that are worthy of our thinking. At certain times, what we often get on the front of a thing is not necessarily the core theme of the thing itself. After a movie is broadcast, he does not belong to the director, on the contrary, it is a film of thought in the hearts of everyone in the public. This is why some movies nowadays lead the public to imagine themselves with an open ending.
"Amerian psycho" directed by Canadian director Mary Harlan tells the story of the crazy murder of Bateman, a proud Wall Street man with dual personality in the United States in the late 1980s. At the beginning of the film, it is actually not difficult to see that Bateman is an elite in the upper class, mixed in high-end restaurants, luxurious Valentino suits, and highly valued appearance. But what made this elite become the "mental illness" described in the film?
Director Mary Harlan said in an interview: There are often some interpretations of this film, which will be mistaken for all the protagonist's imagination. But I haven't actually designed it this way. What I want is an ambiguous effect. At the beginning of the film, we will see the house Bateman introduced first, and then introduce himself. Then we can see these upper-class people negotiating in noble restaurants; everywhere in the film, we can see these wealthy and elegant people in the upper-class society, and they will always reserve seats and increase the number of seats in high-end restaurants. The thickness of the business card and the way of making the effect show that you are the best person. And the thing that appeared most frequently and finally made Bateman release his second personality is the business card. It is a good way to express Bateman's inner shock and jealousy with close-up shots when he sees his business card. Therefore, the business card can be used as the fuse to truly change the characters, and it is also a demonstration of the materialistic and vanity comparison in the 1980s. And for this display, it is also a pungent irony of the film to society.
When Bateman kills Paul Allen because of his business card; when Bateman finds a prostitute to kill; when he kills a tramp in the dark; when he finds "throwing a kitten" in the bank deposit machine; when he kills everyone with a gun His own people, kill every policeman who chased him; when the last secretary found out his schedule book, it actually hinted that Bateman had a second personality, and this second personality did more than just stay In writing, it is the biggest impetus for him to be impudent at night.
So the question is, why a good person will eventually become a mentally ill maniac, immersed in his own world. With a double-faced personality, he is a handsome, charming, humorous gentleman in the daytime, but a bloodthirsty killer who kills crazily at night? The biggest reason is the influence of Yuppies' social consumerism in the 1980s. This popular behavior in Yuppies society at that time was the pursuit of decent consumption, the desire for unrestrained material enjoyment and recreation, and the concept of taking these as the purpose of life and the value of life was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The prevalence of this consumerism has caused everyone to wear a "civilized gentleman and noble" mask on their faces. They don’t care about this person’s mood changes today, what he did last night, or what he ate for breakfast; instead, they care about whether he has such a great right to book a seat in a five-star hotel in Dorsia. They care about him today. Which high-level custom made your hair, perfume, facial care, clothing and apparel? It's not difficult to understand that when Bateman wanted to kill that woman, he would be so angry when he was kicked and kicked in the face by a woman. Does he care about kicking himself? No, what he cares about is whether he can appear in front of the public in a good image tomorrow, showing his nobleness and gentleman. And we can find that in the film, the executives of the same company, all of them look almost the same, their behaviors and expressions are very consistent, and the identities of each person are ambiguous. Therefore, there will be many times the effect of being mistaken for others, especially at the end of the film, colleagues recognize Bateman as someone else, and even abuse Bateman.
And why in the end Bateman became a mental illness in his population and not others? It is precisely because these people have lost their personal identities due to the integration of their identities. These people have done a good job of material level, and have been sinking into a world of high vanity and exaggeration, unable to see the real and chaotic society. But Bateman escaped. It’s not that he sees it clearly, but it’s because he thinks that Allen’s business card has a certain amount of pressure on his identity, so his vanity, which leads to an urgent need to stand out in the superficial and highly homogenized upper class. The psychology of being recognized appeared. Coupled with one's own narcissistic personality, too much attention to self and exaggerated sense of self-worth, the masked life of Yuppies society makes it impossible to generate empathy. The exchange of personality between day and night leads to identity disorder, and produces a significant continuous and unstable self-image or self-feeling. The long-term tension in Yuppies society and the comparison of vanity between people cause him to fall into a chronic sense of emptiness. So he has borderline personality disorder. Then in the repeated comparisons and ridicules, he gradually fell into madness and toward existential despair. Here, I want to talk about one aspect that I have seen. It’s not mentioned in many video websites. It may be my over-interpretation: a lot of lighting in the film is placed on Bateman’s side, which means that his face is presented to the public as a yin and yang face. One side is invisible darkness, and the other side is a normal face that can be seen. This also shows that the director has implied from an early age that he does indeed have a dual personality.
A very strange scene, as shown in the film on the back door of Bateman: THIS IS NO EXIT (there is no exit here), which just shows that there is no way out. Society is blocked, and no one can leave. When the refrigerator full of corpses in Paul Allen's house was opened one morning and found that there were only tools. When the secretary looked through the schedule book, the ending was actually clear. Bateman had fallen into a state of being unable to distinguish between reality and a dream, and he couldn't distinguish himself. When will personality change. But the only thing that stays the same is that he can still sit in the middle of the upper class crowd without changing his face on time when he experiences breakdown, pain, sadness and hysteria, discussing which hotel seat should be booked; he can still watch it in a gentle and elegant manner. TV channels. Later, when Bateman asked him about his lawyer, the lawyer mistakenly identified him as someone else and denied that Bateman killed Paul Allen, explaining that he had dinner with him in London the other day. Here we can think that Bateman may really be fantasizing that he didn't kill Allen. But on the other hand, it is possible that in order to protect their social status, lawyers are unwilling to step in and lose their own interests and choose to put on a mask in order to protect their social status. It's all multifaceted.
So let's turn back again, why is the name of the film called American Psychiatric, not a double-sided killer? It just so happens that during the movie time, in the 1980s, the capitalism's frantic money worship, extravagance, and materialistic conditions were truly reproduced. Everyone lives in a kind of feasting and feasting, and no one will do it for themselves. Ideals contradict this society. As a result, in order to gain a higher level of cognition and status, everyone has to hide their true face and hide the truest side behind the mask in front of them. Although this situation seems to be far away from us in the 1980s, we are still in a highly homogenized life form in modern society, unable to publicly promote ourselves, unable to express ourselves well, and become numb and dull. Cold-faced people.
So over time, this kind of nowhere to vent desire and desire to understand and be loved has become what the heart desires most. So if you can quickly adapt and reach the level of being deceived, it is usually called the so-called "objective rational reason" because it occupies the values of most people in modern society and stands at a relatively high level of class. , Everyone is convinced, because he has the right and is an irrefutable party. And those who are truly rational among those who are "objectively rational" will be regarded as crazy, perverted, and mentally ill. Because in the eyes of most people who are blinded, the true "objective rational reason" has been grasped by others, and it is consistent with their own ideas. So when those few people came out to speak out about these "real reason", they would naturally not be recognized, but would be rejected by a vote or sentenced to death.
So who is mentally ill in the end, and who is a normal person? There is no definite explanation. American psychologist Rogers’ self-theory is that the human self is established in constant interaction with the world, and the self established by each person is different. In other words, everyone's world of meaning is established through his own "understanding" of the world. Simply put, it means that people are self-centered. And the important power of society is given to the highest person. As a self, I think your point of view is correct, then I support your point of view, because I can also get my benefits, not to mention the other party is still more powerful Characters. Therefore, the problem itself is unsolvable.
In fact, it is a good measure in itself to convey all kinds of satires to the society in the form of thrillers and horror films. It is not because of the knowledge points of the long story, the boring film bluntly shows you how the society is. For example, the "Chain Saw Fright" series directed by the famous horror director Wen Ziren is not only a visual impact, but also a discussion of human nature. "Doctor Edward", directed by famous horror master Hitchcock in the film and television industry, with the theme of psychoanalysis, won the 18th Oscar for Best Drama Film and Original Music Award. There are many critiques of human nature and society similar to this kind of horror themes. When watching a movie, you should not only look at the appearance of the film, but also pay attention to the inside of the director to reveal to the public.
At the end of the article, "American Mental Patient" is not so much an R-rated horror movie, but rather a mirror that exposes social contradictions and causes of disease.
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