Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Rules of Attraction vs. American Psycho

Brittani Crawford

October 11th, 2009

Hon. Eng. 313

Response Paper


Throughout the novel The Rules of Attraction and the film “American Psycho”, both by Bret Easton Ellis, ideas of objectification, obsession and lack of identity are ever present. Though the writing style is similar in both works, Ellis takes these concepts and throws them down two very different plotlines: the main character of “American Psycho”, Patrick Bateman, must put on a mask of having some semblance of self identity and sanity to please society, while in The Rules of Attraction every character is raw and unadulterated in their lack of ethics and self responsibility.


Every character throughout The Rules of Attraction has a deep obsession, as does Patrick Bateman in “American Psycho”. These characters view others as commodities rather than people, which makes it easier to objectify, obsess over, or move on from them as soon as they lose interest. This behavior brings to mind the film “10” by Blake Edwards. The main character of the film, George Webber, goes through a midlife crisis and eventually focuses his life on Jenny Hanley, a newlywed, and apparently morally depraved young woman. Webber obsesses intensely over Jenny, only to end up realizing that she is not at all what he truly wants in a woman. As in the film “10”, Ellis’ characters slowly come to realize, to their own chagrin, that the objects of their obsession are not at all what they had imagined them to be. This objectification and deep obsession with each other causes pain for all involved, and leads to naught but emptiness.


In the essay “The Second Sex”, by Simone de Beauvoire, the author poses the question “[w]hy is it that women do not dispute male sovereignty?...women are not a minority.” She goes on to say that women allow themselves to be objectified and subjugated because “the women’s effort has never been anything more than a symbolic agitation. They have gained only what men have been willing to grant; they have taken nothing, they have only received.” Through the entirety of both of Ellis’ works, women are objectified, and consumed, as commodities. They seem to be viewed as nothing more than objects of entertainment rather than people, but they allow themselves to be conquered throughout the novel. They do nothing to gain respect or equality, but instead contribute to their own state of inequality by offering themselves so willingly to the males of the stories. Though some female characters in The Rules of Attraction view the males in much the same way—as sexual objects—they still contribute to the lacking equality between the sexes, due to their inability to behave sensibly.


The characters of The Rules of Attraction, as well as Patrick Bateman, build their lives and relationships on nothing but lies, or mendacity. As stated by the character ‘Big Daddy’ in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, “Think of all the lies I got to put up with!—Pretenses! Ain’t that mendacity? Having to pretend stuff you don’t think or feel or have any idea of?…I’ve lived with mendacity!—Why can’t you live with it? Hell, you got to live with it, there’s nothing else to live with except mendacity, is there?” (pages 110-111) Ellis portrays this constant deception through his writing style by showing how differently each character views the other characters—and how much differently they believe they are viewed by one another. These perceptions make up their realities, and they thrive on the constant deceit, the permanent emotional walls built up around them that never let anyone in, so that no one can ever really know anyone else. They thrive through mendacity because they never have to get too close to another person, which allows them to use and abuse one another for selfish pleasure.


A prominent theme in both “American Psycho” and The Rules of Attraction is a lack of self identity. Patrick Bateman seems to be capable of no more emotion than rage and envy, and is only able to emulate the values and traits of those around him. He lives his life according to yuppie 80’s society, and is incapable of defining himself as a person. Likewise, characters in “The Rules of Attraction” live their lives day to day, but not one has any true individual thoughts, values, or goals. They live the same lives as those around them, and seem to have no ambition other than to have sex and be constantly inebriated. Ellis’ writing style is meant to reflect the varying subjectivity of each character: each of them experiences themselves in a manner that does not coincide with how others experience them. As in Cultural Studies Theory & Practice, by Chris Barker, the characters of both of these works conform to their social identity, ‘the expectations and opinions that others have’ of them. Furthermore, their lack of ‘taste, beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles’ leads the reader to conclude that these characters are devoid of any true identity.


To conclude, Ellis’ works reflect one society whose animalistic instincts are constantly met, who expect instant gratification on a daily basis, and a society where diplomacy seems to reign, but perverse instincts are secretly indulged behind the closed doors of each member of this quasi-perfect society. Both works emphasize the importance of having an individual identity by emphasizing the flaws of characters that lack even a basic knowledge of self. Ellis’ work is a critique of human nature that should help us all to see that we are, sadly but inevitably, flawed.






Works Cited:

10. Dir. Blake Edwards. Prod. Tony Adams. Perf. Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews and Bo Derek. Warner Bros. Entertainment, 1979. DVD.


American Psycho. Dir. Mary Harron. By Bret Easton Ellis. Perf. Christian Bale. Columbia TriStar Egmont Film Distributors, 2000. DVD.


Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies Theory and Practice. Minneapolis: Sage Publications Ltd, 2008. Print.


Beauvoir, Simone De. "The Second Sex." The Second Sex. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.


Ellis, Bret Easton. The rules of attraction. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1998. Print.


Tennessee, Williams. Cat on a hot tin roof. New York: New Directions, 2004. Print.

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