Idea #83 - Patrick Bateman is Literally Me

The idea of being a man is destabilising, slowly but steadily, in modern society. We see it all the time in movies like American Psycho, Taxi Driver, Nightcrawler, Fight Club, and the like - when young men relate so deeply with these characters that are now, for the very same reason, referred to as “literally me” characters.

Today we watched Why Men Love “Literally Me” Characters and dived a little deeper into the psyche of these characters in an attempt to understand this crisis of masculinity.

These characters, like a lot of men, live in a society that has predetermined standards of masculinity, anything below which is often mocked or looked down upon. This stigma inculcates deep rooted insecurities in men, which in the case of these movies, results in complete mental breakdown into insanity.

While it is true that these “literally me” characters are not downright villainised, providing some solace to younger men struggling with their own idea of masculinity and emasculation, it also raises a very important question - do these movies simply cater to the audience for the sake of entertainment or do they also play a role in moulding the more vulnerable portion of the audience into a more cynical way of thinking?

Written by: Arya Kastwar

Curated by: Shweta Singh