More than just a business card: The hidden madness behind Patrick Bateman’s iconic scene in American Psycho

Even in a film that exudes violence and arrogance, it is a seemingly ordinary and unassuming piece of card that shows the deepest layer of Patrick Bateman’s mental confusion.

American Psycho, surely a dark and disturbing movie, has a couple of pretty scary moments — like an axe murder and a chainsaw chase — yet none of these are as unforgettable as the iconic business card batter. It is the crisp silence, cleanness, and uncanniness of it all that makes one shudder anew.

The scene is in the high-tech boardroom, consisting of the high-tech guys seemingly of the same character, making the whole setting even and orderly. Thus, the emergence of the moment is an argument— something almost insignificant, like business cards.

A well-to-do New York-based investment banker, Patrick Bateman, is at the table in Pierce & Pierce together with his colleagues. Each one presents his card in a manner as though he has just won an Olympic medal.

Every bit of detail — the typeface, the color, the texture — is verbalized in great detail. Bateman, as always, quite the status braggart he is, smiles broadly as he shows everyone his new card. But his joy is short-lived as Paul Allen’s card overshadows his.

The real problem starts unfolding at this point.

The devil is in the details: a business card full of clues

While his business card does look perfect in the beginning, you will notice and realize, the card, along with Bateman’s character, has issues when taken at a closer look.

The card has several unnoticed design issues: the font is slightly off-center, the margins are not evenly arranged, one can see that there is no space around the ampersand in the "Pierce & Pierce," and the word "Acquisitions" is incorrectly spelled. Even the use of capital letters in his name is wrong.

Such things may look like small defects to an average person, but to someone like Patrick Bateman, who demands perfection and order, these errors reflect the issues of his psyche, which one might miss in a single glance.

The most devilish detail? His card has been printed on paper of the color "bone". If we remember that the film is about a man who is obsessed with murder, this decision feels far from being the consequence of mere chance.

What the scene really says about Bateman

The business card scene isn't solely an exhibition of materialism; it reveals Bateman's idiosyncratic unraveling. Here is a man who seemingly has everything: riches, a powerful career, an extravagant apartment, and a body that turns heads. But it never seems to be sufficient. For instance, when someone else, such as Paul Allen, attempts to usurp his feeble superiority, Bateman loses control.

His fury is disproportionately overwhelming for something so trivial as a better business card, but in truth, he focuses on American Psycho’s larger issues of identity, envy, obsession, and the infatuation with appearances over reality.

Bateman’s life epitomizes everything destructive and superficial: a glossy magazine cover that is void of real substance.

Did any of it even happen?

Before the shocking ending, audiences are left pondering whether or not Bateman’s crimes were even real. His lawyer insists he had lunch with Paul Allen, the very person Bateman thought he had assassinated. And upon returning to Allen’s apartment, Bateman discovers the supposed crime scene devoid of any remnants to place his disputed deeds.

Gleefully stroking distracting horns, this may well be a form of foreshadowing for the business card scene. Either the flaws on Bateman’s card existed in his head, or the card showcased the unnerving parts of his reality. Out of so many things in a convoluted tale where reality and imagination intermingle, this card, though singular, is bound to be the most truthful hint to his identity.

The power of a perfectly flawed detail

American Psycho has so much blood and violence, it is fascinating that audiences recall the calm and chilling boardroom meeting instead. It reminds me of the classic line: "Sometimes it’s the whispers that haunt you the most". In this case, Patrick Bateman’s business card scene served as that whisper.

The scene itself encapsulates the narrative - we quickly understand the person who has a facade is eroding within. And with every glimpse we take at that mask—or card— it becomes clearer and clearer that it was never fully in place to begin with.