Mary Harron loses the day

Rating: Null/10 (7 June 2000)

The Age of Sex Crime is still with us thanks to the work of the British tabloid press in blowing out of proportion the pathetic antics of the so-called Jack the Ripper. Every so often a film comes along which is only a vehicle for the murder and dismemberment of women. American Psycho is such a showcase for 80-style yuppie gore. In Stockholm Sweden, this film was reviewed without any details about the murders of women right and left--in fact, only the yuppie lifestyle was reported. Its not hard to imagine that this young crowd even emulated the film, as does the movie site, where you can design your own business card. Why is it fashionable to rape, murder and dismember women in films--because its important to remember that women can never be in charge. Why were not the psycho's yuppie girlfriends harmed: they were in his class. Why did Jack the Ripper murder prostitutes: he could distance himself from them, as if they were animals. Over a hundred years later, Mary Harron elevates Bret Easton Ellis' twisted empty novel to full screen. Its important to point out a woman did this--as women typically do the hatchet work for men, such as holding down young girls and mutilating their genitalia. This is what Harron symbolically has done for Bret Easton Ellis. Its hard to elevate films which are rascist today--we've evolved that far--but even Spike Lee has a terrible view of women, as does Quentin Tarantino, and Mary Harron. When we start separating the violence to women in films from the so-called features of a movie--or rather when we realize that in mutilating women, the film has no real basis any longer and is just a perpetuation of women hatred, we will start seeing some really good work. Harron has a quick ride to fame on this one, and therefore negates all previous work where her achievements were outstanding.