![]() It’s easy to miss the joke (accidentally or otherwise) and see Bloom as a man who will do whatever it takes to succeed, and who comes out with lines that you can post on your motivational Instagram. When you ignore that Bateman and Bloom are damaged and damaging men, they are, in many ways, admirable. It is the tactical removal of context that seems key to the allure of these characters. However, given Bloom’s previous actions, the line gains a chilling resonance as we realise that his cycle of violence will continue. This is usually no more than a piece of jargon overused by employers to make it seem as though their company is one big happy family. Courtesy of IMDBįor instance, the film ends with Bloom reassuring his interns by saying: "I will never ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself". Undermining the sigma males’ admiration, in deliberately comic moments, he delivers lines that sound as though they’ve been plucked from self-help books to try to justify his horrific behaviour, they’re definitely not pieces of genuine advice. Yet, as with American Psycho, it can’t be said that Nightcrawler necessarily wants us to side with Bloom he may ‘succeed’ but he’s cruel and unhinged. Indeed, he does somewhat ‘succeed’ by the end of the film, leading to some viewers admiring his questionable but dedicated work ethic. Nightcrawler plays with similar tensions, with Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) being so obsessed with success that he willingly engages in crime and remorselessly manipulates everyone (even the dead) to get ahead. Stamping the sigma male label on Bateman is almost cruel even outside of the film, he is trapped in his all-consuming lifestyle. The standards that accompany his lifestyle are just as psychopathic as he is. Rather than being an emblematic sigma male, Bateman is a satirical depiction of what happens when men try to be one. This pressure forces him to restrain parts of himself until, eventually, they cannot help but violently explode. He lives behind a mask of expensive beauty products, glamorous women, and cold charisma, terrified of losing the status he has achieved through conformity. Bateman is a victim of the consumerist and corporate culture these pages often promote, with his goal being ‘to fit in’ with the very people he despises. ![]() Patrick Bateman does outwardly fit into this mould, but it is the tension between the external and internal that is, in fact, the driving force of the film. ![]() Often associated with the misogynistic online community ‘MGTOW’ (Men Going Their Own Way), the sigma male is muscular, wealthy, disciplined, and individualistic. In line with the idea of ‘alpha males’, the sigma male is the next step up on the ladder, being the supposed pinnacle of success. The term was first coined by a far-right activist in 2010 but has only risen to prominence fairly recently. Here, I think it’s important to clarify what a sigma male is. While many of these pages do just offer mostly harmless and cringey self-help advice, it’s still disturbing that a violent psychopath is so prevalent on them. ![]() Despite this, film clips depicting Bateman in a sharp suit abound on sigma male motivation pages. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a sadistic murderer and, despite his bravado, deeply insecure he is hardly an ideal role model. Courtesy of IMDBĪmerican Psycho is perhaps the film most famously associated with the phenomenon, yet it raises some troubling questions. Attracting predominantly male admirers who find them relatable or appealing, their characters have become iconic and, in some cases, even inspirational. As well as all of them attaining both critical and commercial success, they have become some of the poster boys of a recent trend: the ‘literally me’ film.Ĭharacterised by lone male protagonists acts of violence and/or hedonism a theme of dissatisfaction with the world and commentary on materialism and masculinity, ‘literally me’ films have been embraced both by meme makers and genuine adherents of ‘sigma male’ culture. By Claire Meakins, Film & TV Critic and SubeditorĪmerican Psycho (2000), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Nightcrawler (2014), to name just three of many, are films that have re-emerged with full force into the cultural mainstream.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |