Reply #176: thanks.

[idgiehkt]

"Sure, he was making a 'point' about Bateman's view of the world, through long paragraphs of loving description of business cards and neckties, contrasted with perfunctory descriptions of women, but it was such an obvious device that it quickly became boring."

I guess I would want to know why, otherwise what is the point. It's not really fascinating, you are right about it being boring. You can't just show the props on video without explaining the reason behind it and expect anyone to have any insight. I don't know if this kind of thing was obvious during the Reagan era (it was kind of a theme in "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair but on a lot wider scale) or if Ellis made a link that wasn't clear at the time, I really cannot remember. At this point of course it just seems unnecessary to even have to make a statement about the dementia of these types, let alone make a whole movie about it. What would be really, really interesting, in my opinion, is for sexworkers to really have a legitimate voice in culture so that we could really learn more about these demented fuckers. My favorite poet, Chrystos, is a former prostitute and she's written quite a bit about her experience. One of my favorite lines is from a poem called "Economics 101" where she says what should happen is we should "jail all the pimps, and jail all the johns, which would wreck business, and I don't mean just ours". She makes a pretty strong connection between the consumption of sex for hire and the business world. Ellis kind of lets Bateman stand alone but in truth one rogue male business man in the world isnt' why everything is so fucked up.

anyway, it's true the film could have been alot better. I'll probably never read the book, just because it would probably affect me alot more (the violence) that way, and because Ellis is not the best writer...he just has the guts to say things alot of writers don't.