I think the filmmakers specifically avoided the darkness of the novel because it would have sunk the film's marketability.ben wrote:I wasn't able to find it on TV But from the trailer, I agree; it seems kind of light-hearted, to be honest. I know the novel's a satire but it's also incredibly dark, and I think it's pretty difficult for filmmakers to get a dark tone, especially when it's a novel adaptation.badcarburetor wrote:I have a long obsession with Bret Easton Ellis.
The film is very different from the book. The film has a kind of ironic layer around it that protects the viewer from the harsh "realities" of the book, if that makes any sense. Basically, it's a "fun" movie. I like it and watch it every few years. I hated it when I saw it in the theater because I felt that it was almost a parody, but I've grown comfortable with that over the years. It's on cable/satellite all the time. American Psycho 2 was on NF last I knew, but that's a whole 'nother story right there...
Here's an article I read a month or so back. It's about whether or not the violence in American Psycho benefits the book and that it's possible to read the book and entirely skip the violent chapters without missing any plot. It's also interesting that BEE didn't write any of the violent chapters until he had completed the rest of the novel.
http://www.believermag.com/issues/20130 ... view_ellis
You might enjoy this, Patrick Bateman's New York: http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=4259
That article was cool, thanks! I'd have to re-read the book without those chapters to see for myself how different it is that way, but my gut tells me that, as horrifying as those violent chapters were, the novel just wouldn't be the same; Bateman wouldn't be the same. It is interesting that Ellis wrote those chapters after he wrote the novel, so an argument could be made that the chapters aren't necessary because they weren't even in the original manuscript, but if Ellis found it so important to add those chapters, knowing how much controversy they'd stir, how many readers they'd cause to vomit (me included, almost), then I'd argue they were necessary.
I agree, without the gore, the book is a different story. And actually, maybe, a more depressing one.
You know that Patrick shows up in some other BEE works? Read through PB's wiki if you want more.
Oh, and basically unrelated, but here's a really fucked up story on BEE's next film. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/magaz ... wanted=all