“Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here”: The Critique of Consumer Society in American Psycho and Fight Club

This article explores the politics of two films, namely American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000) and Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999), both of which portray a privileged, white collar protagonist suffering from a personality disorder that leads him to commit violent acts. Set in the late 20th century America characterized by rampant consumerism, stark materialism and fierce competition, both films suggest that it is the debilitating impact of the commodifed, commodity-driven consumer society that leads the protagonists to resort to violence as a way of transcending their depthless, shallow, one-dimensional existence. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that both American Psycho and Fight Club present a critique of American society through the portrayal of protagonists whose pathologically violent behaviour stems from the dehumanizing effects of consumer culture on the individual psyche.