American Psycho Metaphor

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2014)

Dan Gilroy's version of American Psycho has Jake Gyllenhaal moving from fringe social outcast to a powerbroker gaining a foothold in TV broadcasting.
It is quite clear that his character, Lou Bloom, fits all the parameters of being a true psychopath: highly intelligent, analytic, narcissistic, completely lacking both empathy and conscience ---yet by dint of these very "talents" he is able to ascend on the social ladder.
This movie succeeded for me because it made me so, so nervous....so anxious...even when almost nothing was happening on the screen action----it was Gyllenhaal's character that triggered this reaction in me.
From the first time we see his smile (eerily reminiscent of the smile of Malcolm McDowell's "Alex" in "A Clockwork Orange"---containing superficially an innocence but masking the murderous snarl beneath) when he is approached by a security guard, smiles at the guard, sees the guard's fancy wristwatch.....and in the next moment suddenly attacks that guard and we see Bloom then wearing that watch, now "his"--- there is menace written all over Bloom. At any given instant in this film there is that conveyed risk that the heartless animal caged within Bloom will emerge. . .yet all there is to this is innuendo. Threat. The possibility looming at all times.
I believe this is where the movie derives its power. All is based on suggestion...as I watched the movie my discomfort increased. I didn't know where it was going, or how it was going to get there----it didn't matter: just the fact that this character was among us was enough to keep me on edge.
As monsters go, this Lou Bloom one is very understated. Where Easton's character in "American Psycho" committed the most horrifying travesties against his fellow humans (whether in deed or thought---and the most of which were omitted from the movie version of AmerPyscho because it would have been far too graphic for normal sensitivity) this Bloom psycho has more to do with the transmission of his social deviancy to society ...of finding ways to convey that sense of mayhem and gore that ignites his inner flame. He is both voyeur, and salesman of the dark side of humanity macabre, and delights in successfully spreading this gospel to the masses.
And of course it is tied to profits. To say that his character is the corporate personification of the network news, and to corporate personhood in general---in which all that is human is subverted to business profit---- is to state the obvious. Dan Gilroy's gift here is to reveal through his character of Lou Bloom how he perceives the insanity of the broadcast sensationalism TV news that has replaced the checkout line shock-selling tabloids that mainstreamed pulp fiction to the more innocent consuming masses.
That society is being changed, being rendered less shocked and more enured to the savagery isn't openly stated, but undercurrent as we gather that ratings have increased to the display of gore.
Only in the screaming female detective do we see a realistic reaction to what this character represents and is doing....to others he is perfectly acceptable, a charming success.
Bloom's character has no feelings toward anyone, even though he looks as though he is earnest and serious--- which we hear in one small speech he gives menacingly to Nina (Rene Russo, Gilroy's real life wife) who has thoroughly whored herself against her better judgement to Bloom ----when he tells Nina angrily he expects her to do whatever he wants unquestioningly ("...not like last time in the bedroom") as his power and persuasion grow beyond all reason.
Great acting by Gyllenhaal....I hope he wins awards for it.
A masterful production. A metaphor most powerfully captured. My hat's off to Gilroy and company for this wonderful----if difficult to watch----homage to corporate psychopathy.