Generally, content whether on television or printed in a book has an appropriate warning to viewers or readers. A trigger warning is attached to a piece of content to caution its audience that the particular piece of content may be disturbing or upsetting.
The American Psycho Book is one of the controversial books that contain sensitive and disturbing content, such as gore, mutilation, abuse, torture, graphic violence, strong language, etc. It shows the darkest side of men, which was hidden in facade, money, and good looks.That’s why the book has many trigger warnings. Trigger warnings are listed in this article to be aware of the sensitive topics in the book that you might encounter.
Trigger Warning #1: Homomisia
Homomisia is a severe hatred or revulsion of homosexuals. In the book The American Psycho the main character, Patrick Bateman is extremely homophobic as he constantly criticizes gay people. Specifically, in the book, it was demonstrated in his encounter with his effeminate gay closeted Wall Street colleague, Luis in the restroom. He almost killed Luis by choking him from behind, who then turns to kiss Patrick on the hand and says, “I’ve seen you looking at me.”
On the other hand, Patrick is also said to be gay as he is doing stereotypically effeminate things, such as caring too much about one’s body and appearance, spending too much time on skincare, using expensive beauty products, being mindful about his clothes and fashion, and gossiping.
Trigger Warning #2: Misogyny
Misogyny is extreme hatred toward women that sometimes resulted in violence. There are several scenes in the book where Misogyny has displayed by the main character. Those were so detailed and graphic, including the chainsaw scene, the rat torture, and the torture of Elizabeth and prostitute Christie. The book shows how women are even less important than anything else a man possesses. It shows how men perceive women and treat them. It came to a point where the protagonist cannot identify the difference between having sex with a woman and brutally killing her. It was mentioned in the book how Patrick loves to dissect women and felt no remorse after doing it.
Trigger Warning #3: Obscenity
Several obscene parts of the book are detailed. This reflects how women are objectified by men. The erotic and hardcore scenes are also detailed where Patrick has an intimate and wild scene with a prostitute and his friend from a derby. He forced them to do it and then took turns torturing and killing them.
Trigger Warning #4: Mental Issue
One of the highlights of The America Psycho book is the issue of mental health. The protagonist’s mental state is not stable which is why he commits such horrible crimes. Different opinions appear about the mental state of the protagonist from fans, whether they are mental health experts or not. Some say he is psychotic, has an antisocial personality disorder, and possibly has dissociative identity disorder.
The book details how the protagonist described his mental state. He doesn’t feel any guilt despite the number of people he killed. There was also a time when he started drinking his urine, which no person in the right mind would do.
Trigger Warning #5: Graphic Violence
The book The American Psycho is indeed full of graphic content, including torture and killing. The main protagonist has committed massive killings in just one night for no reason. He killed an old lady, and two cops and killed all witnesses that night. There are many scenes in the book that will really turn your stomach, just like when he killed a woman and grind her to make a burger. There are a lot of tortures detailed in the book before the brutal killing of his victims which you couldn’t imagine a normal person would do.
Trigger Warning #6: Racism
Racism is a very sensitive topic anywhere in the world. It is discrimination against people who are affiliated with a particular race and having prejudice and antagonism directed against that person. In The American Psycho book, Patrick Bateman is a clear racist who kills a homeless man.
Trigger Warning #7: Animal Cruelty
Animal cruelty is one of the hot topics these days. Animal cruelty is any intentional and blatant animal neglect and abuse. In the book The American Psycho, there were several scenarios where the main protagonist shows abuse to animals, such as Patrick Bateman killing a homeless dog. He stabs the man and stomps his dog. There is also a scene where he’s about to feed an ATM with a stray cat. However, he was interrupted by an old lady, whom he killed afterward. There was also an instance where he uses rats to kill his victim. He starved the rats and feed them with human flesh through a Habitrail tube inserted in a woman’s private part.
