‘American Psycho’ and the Gender Politics of Ax Murder

It’s time we learned that depiction does not equal endorsement

You might remember American Psycho as a fairly controversial movie — but seriously, you have no idea. Prior to being adapted for the screen, the novel inspired a full-scale freakout before it was even published. A four-page excerpt released in advance of the novel’s scheduled 1990 publication caused such a frenzy that Simon & Schuster dropped the title a month before its release, citing “aesthetic differences” — which probably included the novel’s copious mutilations, torture scenes, and endorsements of Phil Collins. (JUST KIDDING. “Easy Lover” is a goddamn masterpiece). The book was quickly picked up by Random House imprint Vintage Books, while author Bret Easton Ellis kept his original $300,000 advance.

Not a bad deal, except for the whole everyone-dogpiling-on-your-book thing. And by everyone, I mean my own people: some very vocal feminists. The way American Psycho’s murderous protagonist, Patrick Bateman, so brutally aimed his psychotic intentions at women prompted denouncements from figures no less prominent than Gloria freaking Steinem. Tammy Bruce, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women, called it “the most misogynistic communication we have ever come across.”