Research Paul Allen Death Scene

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This scene in the film American Psycho is probably the best at portraying every facet of the character Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale). There are two main sides to his character - the socially acceptable, conforming side, and the psychopathic murdering side.

His conformity is shown throughout in the way he interacts with the character of Paul Allen, and the way he acts around him. For one, the dialogue between the two is overly cheery, and made intentionally to keep Paul Allen distracted whilst allowing his character to prepare for the murder. He even smoothly intertwines his dialogue with his true intentions, at the point where he turns on the music - to Paul, he's just showing his favourite song by Huey Lewis and the News, but really he's turning the volume up so that no one can hear the sounds he makes whilst killing him.

Even the song touches on the way he conforms with society, described in-depth by Patrick himself:

"A lot of people don't listen to the lyrics, but they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of friends, but it's also a personal statement about the band itself."

And the lyrics at this point and after the murder also link in to it:

"Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair,
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care,
Because I can tell what's going on,
It's hip to be square"


"I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV,
I'm working out most everyday and watching what I eat,
They tell me that it's good for me, but I don't even care,
I know that it's crazy,
I know that it's nowhere,
But there is no denying that,
It's hip to be square"

His psychopathic side is clearly shown in the rest of the scene, during the preparation of the murder - and the seamless transition from happy and calm to the angry, over-the-top side with the words "Hey Paul!" - and during it, which he can clearly be seen to be expressing all of his pent up anger towards him (he repeatedly hits the corpse with the axe, whilst shouting:

"Try getting a reservation at Dorzia now you fucking stupid bastard!"

Overall, I think this scene will be extremely inspirational when it comes to deciding what to do for our two minute sequence, both in terms of content and focus to detail.