Patrick Bateman is a fictional character created by novelist Bret Easton Ellis. He is the villain protagonist and unreliable narrator of Ellis's novel American Psycho and is played by Christian Bale in the film adaptation of the same name. Bateman is a wealthy and materialistic yuppie and Wall Street investment banker who, supposedly, leads a secret life as a serial killer.
He has also briefly appeared in other Ellis novels and their film and theatrical adaptations. While initially gaining attention upon the novel's release, Bateman's influence expanded among Gen Z. The film's cult following among young viewers propelled Bateman into the realm of a cultural icon. Memes featuring Bateman's iconic quotes, facial expressions, and memorable scenes have proliferated across various online communities, further cementing his status as a cultural touchstone.
In his secret life, Bateman is, or hallucinates to be, a serial killer, murdering a variety of people, including colleagues, the homeless, and prostitutes. His crimes, including rape , torture , necrophilia , and cannibalism , are graphically described in the novel. Bateman was born on 23 October and comes from a wealthy family. His parents divorced sometime earlier, while his mother became sick and now resides at a sanatorium.
His father, who first appeared in Ellis's preceding novel The Rules of Attraction , grew up on an estate in Connecticut , and now owns an apartment in the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan.
He is assumed to be dead as he is mentioned only in the past tense during the novel. In Mary Harron's adaptation , however, it is mentioned that Bateman's father "practically owns" the company that Bateman works at, implying that Bateman's father is still alive. Bateman attended prominent Phillips Exeter Academy for prep school. By the end of the novel, he believes he is about to be arrested for murdering a colleague named Paul Allen Paul Owen in the novel and leaves a message on his lawyer's answering machine confessing to his supposed crimes.
