Patrick Bateman From American Psycho Is Gay

Bret Easton Ellis, I got your tea diva

This was so gay. Please be serious, kandjasjakjan

Yes, the main character from American Psycho is gay, and I have proof. Okay, maybe not proof, but a supported hunch. I read the book in early 2023 and was entertained but annoyed by Patrick as a narrator. Not only is he unreliable, he is insufferable. He spends so much time describing what he is wearing and what everyone around him is wearing in such excruciating detail.

Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of American Psycho to provide you with exact pages and quotes. However, when I finished reading the book, I was shocked to learn that the twist wasn’t that he was gay. The entire time, I was like, this man is gay. To my surprise, there isn’t much fan theory on this, either. Besides a few Reddit threads and this Out Write article from 11 years ago, there isn’t much to support this theory. The thing is, I don’t care. I know I’m right! Patrick is subconsciously angry about the societal pressures for him to be straight and hypermasculine. So, he takes out his anger on the women who are attracted to him. It’s that simple.

What reactivated my theory was the news that they are remaking the movie with director Luca Guadagnino. The same Luca who directed Call Me By Your Name and Queer. A gay man seemingly interested in gay stories. Need more proof? Bret Easton Ellis is also a gay man. The first movie was directed by Mary Harron. The first movie is great, but I do think that the book is better and has more gore.

Besides his killing women in cold blood, there are two chapters to signal to me that he is gay. The first was his chapter dedicated to dissecting the band Genesis’s career up until that point (the mid-80s), and his other chapter dedicated to dissecting Whitney Houston’s career up until that point as well. I don’t need to tell you that writing an entire chapter about how much Patrick loves and respects Whitney Houston is some homosexual behavior. What gets me about these chapters is that they have nothing to do with the plot. He begins each chapter by talking about their first albums and singles. Then, after the chapters are over, he goes on about his life, killing more women.¹

Patrick specifically aims to kill women. He does kill men, too, but the most gruesome and thought-out are women. He has a girlfriend (played by Reece Witherspoon in the movie), and he can’t stand her. Every woman that he interacts with he can’t stand. He has an interesting interaction with a gay man, Luis, in a bathroom. The man hits on him, and Patrick is shaken and frazzled. He notably does not kill this man. I think he is one of those gay men that hate women. He hates them so much that he finds joy in killing them. He does show disgust for gay men, but I think that is internalized homophobia.

He only cares about the opinions of men. He tries to impress them and one-up them so much in the book. He spends his time at lunches with people he envies but also loathes. Who does that remind you of? White gays!

Also, the title American Psycho is another clue. Patrick’s predicament is specifically American. He is in the upper echelon of New York society. He is trying to impress the New York elite. He eats at the famous New York bars and restaurants. Yet, he is suppressing his innermost desires. Yes, it was popular to be gay in the 80s, but also, this was the height of the aids crisis, and so much propaganda was being shown to deter people from being gay and liking gay people. He has severe internalized homophobia and it manifests itself in him by becoming a serial killer.

I hope Luca makes this more obvious in his adaptation. If not, I’m not sure why we needed a remake. The original movie is fine enough. Christian Bale is attractive as hell, who knew? No, I have not seen The Dark Knight trilogy. I am a single woman and think Batman is a hack of a superhero. I’ll get around to it eventually. Until then, I will be sleeping well at night knowing I figured out Bret Easton Ellis’ beloved novel.

1. He also frequently brings up Les Mis (the popular play at the time) and discusses what he liked and didn’t like about it. What do gays like to be snobby about? Musical Theater!