The generic American psycho

Eldridge, David

Abstract

Following Elizabeth Young's 1991 analysis of the controversy surrounding the publication of Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, this article discusses the efforts of the makers of the 2000 film adaptation to "rehabilitate" the novel. It explores the recognition of Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner that Patrick Bateman was constructed from the literary debris of a variety of "debased" genres, how they responded by constructing a specifically cinematic Bateman and how, in doing so, they renegotiated the "pigeonholes" of genre fiction originally used in hostile reviews to dismiss Ellis's authorial intent. © 2008 Cambridge University Press.

Citation

Eldridge, D. (2008). The generic American psycho. Journal of American Studies, 42(1), (19-33). doi:10.1017/S0021875807004355. ISSN 0021-8758

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2008
• Publication Date: 2008-04
• Journal: JOURNAL OF AMERICAN STUDIES
• Print ISSN: 0021-8758
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-5154
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 19-33
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875807004355
• Keywords: General Arts and Humanities; General Social Sciences
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/395965
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/generic-american-psycho/CE5CE08CFBF531E06A51DEF2B81C03C4