This was genius casting: Bale, at least Method-adjacent in his technique, always tries to “become” his character. The inability to physically respond to social cues in a natural way can be a sign of emotional maldevelopment (think of Ted Bundy practicing his smiles in front of his mirror) and although American Psycho may have done more harm than good by presenting psychopathy as inevitably lethal, Bale did understand that Bateman’s loneliness ran bone deep. Like in the meme, his face is slightly at odds with his situation: He seems at pains to match his facial expression with his words. Lucas truly wears the character like a second skin-Bale, on the other hand, already stands out. Josh Lucas plays Craig McDermott as the caricatural personification of bigotry, spewing insults to women, the Jewish faith, and gay people in one breath.

One of the first times Bateman speaks in American Psycho, it is to playfully respond to one of his fellow businessmen’s openly antisemitic remarks. Patrick Bateman’s search for identity is a story that has inched closer and closer to our modern existence, even if in less overtly violent ways. And reality has made it difficult to forget: Our increasingly materialistic lifestyles have made us carry our brands around not simply in the form of a personalized business card or wardrobe, but also in the electronic devices we use, the diets and social media accounts we follow, and the TV shows and blockbusters we publicly praise. Twenty years after its release, Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho remains ingrained in our collective memory for the extremes it explores with a helpful dose of humor (I was never actually going to ax anyone).

The antisocial despair and arrogance that the image communicates were exactly what I needed to semi-ironically signal my teenage angst. He’s about to butcher Paul Allen (Jared Leto) to death.

One of the very first memes I remember using is a still from American Psycho, showing Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) lifting an ax and grimacing with both pity and amusement.

America psycho oops meme