The withdrawn and mysterious Dr. Jekyll spends his time in his lab conducting experiments or hiding. when he isn't conducting experiments Jekyll converses with his friends who are quite respectable gentlemen. Little does everyone know that he harbors a "dark side." This "dark side" of Jekyll's goes by the name of mr. Hyde. Hyde is everything that's deemed unacceptable in society. Created out of a failed experiment, Jekyll transforms into a deformed monster who derives pleasure from attacking and murdering others through the use of a drug. The drug is the experiment that Jekyll worked on. As long as no one knows that Jekyll is Hyde, he is safe. The problems come when Hyde begins gaining more and more control over Jekyll's body. Eventually the truth comes out and Jekyll is exposed as Hyde. He is then forced to choose between his own identity and that of Hyde. His final decision ends up being neither identity and instead opts to destroy himself. Jekyll cannot seem to live just as Jekyll or just as Hyde. the only option left is none. The dual personalities and experiment gone awry leads to Jekyll's downfall and ultimately his death.

Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) works on Wall Street as the vice president of a firm called Pierce and Pierce. On the outside, Bateman is handsome, a sharp dresser, and quite the intellectual. Underneath the mask however, he hides his serial killer identity who has no real trace of normal human emotions. Every day to keep up his image Bateman goes through an intense morning routine involving a number of specialized creams, lotions, and hair products. In addition to his strange and somewhat obsessive routine, Bateman listens to an odd mixture of music. Whenever he plans to kill, he selects a particular group or artist and explains why and what he likes about the music before committing the murder. Each of the murders are violent and graphic in nature. For instance, Bateman murders one of his colleagues, Paul Allen, by taking an axe to his face. Bateman simply kills Paul because Paul seems to be better and more well-liked. As he states in the movie, "I am simply not there."

When Bateman isn't brutally murdering people, he dines at fancy restaraunts and goes to night clubs. Bateman has a fiance named Evelyn, but she basically serves as his perfect social match. Thus he gives others the impression that he is indeed perfect. Evelyn is exactly like all of Bateman's co-workers because she is so shallow.

The film American Psycho is a remediation of the novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde because the main characters both come to their own destruction due to the creation of dual natures. These dual natures are the result f a longing to fufill desires considered inappropriate by society while continuing to hold on to their position and reputation in society. The film is also a remediation of the novel because both criticize the hypocritical qualities and material obsessions of society.

, , ,