Patrick Bateman is a fictional character who has had an outsized influence on American culture beyond the limits of Ellis's 1991 novel. An emblem of corporate greed and moral vacuousness, Patrick personifies the worst, most destructive aspects of late-1980s "yuppie" culture. Patrick is the brother of Sean Bateman, one of the protagonists of Ellis's 1987 novel The Rules of Attraction, which follows a group of undergraduates at the fictional Camden College, based on Bennington College, where Ellis attended. The Bateman family is so wealthy that neither son needs to work in order to live, although Patrick chooses to do so because, as he tells Evelyn, he wants to "fit in."
Christian Bale was cast as Patrick Bateman in Mary Harron's 2000 Hollywood adaptation of the novel—a coveted role that also drew the attention of other high-profile actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Keanu Reeves. The film brought renewed attention to the cult and persona of Patrick Bateman, who hides his monstrous, bloodthirsty interior with a dazzling, handsome, affluent exterior. In the Showtime series Dexter, which follows the travails of a serial killer who kills other serial killers, Dexter uses Patrick Bateman as an alias.
Patrick also appears briefly in Ellis's 2005 novel Lunar Park, rumored to be responsible for local murders in a fictional suburb named Midland. The name Patrick Bateman is now synonymous with a recognizable type of hyper-manicured male urban professional who harbors neurotic, sociopathic tendencies. In 2013, singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik wrote the lyrics and music for a musical version of American Psycho that premiered on the London stage, with British actor Matt Smith playing the lead role.
