156. American Psycho (with Red Rose Film Club)

We welcome Hal (@shestructured on Letterboxd) and Craig (@gentlemanbaby on Letterboxd) from the Red Rose Film Club podcast to cover American Psycho (2000), the Wall Street horror/comedy starring Christian Bale as Patrick "Jason" Bateman. This movie’s got a lot going on, folks. And we get to it all—we determine who has the best business card, we explain why you wouldn’t want Christian Bale as your co-worker at Whataburger, we try to figure out what’s going on with Justin Theroux’s hair, and we marvel at Patrick Bateman’s chainsaw math. Also, is American Psycho Jared Leto’s villain origin story?

But more than anything, we're trying to identify what exactly Patrick Bateman represents. Is he the embodiment of toxic masculinity? A victim of America’s addiction to competition and consumption above all else? A misunderstood baby boy? An iconic slasher villain? What if our answer was…. Yes?

Next week:  We are the nation’s top fun-havers, so we’re taking the week off for Spring Break. We'll unlock our The Truman Show episode from our Patreon archive, and we’ll be back on April 25, 2025 with a brand-new episode about Sister Act 2 (1993) with our friend Jen Walks N2 Walls.

Subscribe to Red Rose Film Club:

Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/42qrGU6 

Spotify: https://bit.ly/4ieGX0b 

Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! patreon.com/loadbearingbeams  

Time stamps:

00:08:00 — Our personal histories with American Psycho

00:16:30 — History segment:  Bret Easton Ellis and his American Psycho novel; development of the film under director Mary Harron; star Christian Bale

00:41:45 — In-depth movie discussion

02:02:39 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Sources:

“American Psycho: An Oral History, 20 Years After Its Divisive Debut” by Tim Molloy | Movie Maker, 2020 - https://bit.ly/44e4Kd2 

“Blood, Boycott, and Body Bags: An Oral History of ‘American Psycho’” by Tatiana Tenreyro | Vice, 2020 - https://bit.ly/4i61CmW 

“Snuff This Book!  Will Bret Easton Ellis Get Away With Murder?” by Roger Rosenblatt | The New York Times, 1991 - https://nyti.ms/3G0emOE 

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

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