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American Psycho: Is It Deep or Dumb? – Wisecrack Edition - YouTube

Channel: Wisecrack

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this video is brought to you by the

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check out their channel by hitting the

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link in the description what's up

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wisecrack Helen here to talk about Huey

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Lewis's number one fan you like Huey

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Lewis on the news I think that's all

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he's really known for American Psycho

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has always been a lightning rod for

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controversy the book by Bret Easton

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Ellis was infamously scrapped by its

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initial publisher amidst uproar over its

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depictions of violence so it's not

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surprising that the film version

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released nine years after the book's

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publication has become similarly

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controversial now this video will be

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focused on the more controversial

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aspects of the film not the book sure

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some of these points made of tail with

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Ellis's novel but for the purposes here

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in everything we state just applies to

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the movie most of the controversy

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surrounding American Psycho stems from

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how people perceive it is the film a

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critique on the consumerism and

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superficiality of 80s yuppie culture or

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does the film's exes actually glorify

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this lifestyle and what to make of the

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film's violence particularly towards

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women some proclaim American Psycho of

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feminist masterpiece while others have

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labeled it misogynistic so which is it

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further what exactly are we supposed to

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make of Patrick Bateman antihero villain

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or none of the above let's find out in

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this wisecrack edition on American

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Psycho deeper dump and of course

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spoilers ahead alright guys first a

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quick recap American Psycho is set in

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1988 the heyday of the rich yuppie Wall

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Streeter Patrick Bateman fits this

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stereotype to a tee he's a handsome

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wealthy businessman way more obsessed

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with dining at the trendiest restaurants

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than in well actually working Batemans

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life is all artifice on the surface he

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has a beautiful fiance and a close-knit

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group of friends but take a little

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deeper and you see he actually hates

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them all not only that but as a side

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hustle

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Patrick murders homeless men and

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prostitutes Patrick's world begins to

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crumble soon after he brutally murders a

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business rival Paul Allen and a

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detective begins to look at him as a

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suspect the line between reality and

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fantasy blurs as Patrick descends into

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madness and goes on a gory killing spree

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however despite murdering dozens of

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people nobody seems to care in fact

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there are seemingly no bodies and when

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Patrick does confess to Paul Allen's

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murder he's told Paul's still alive I

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had dinner with Paul Helen twice in

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London just ten days ago so what gives

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did Patrick actually kill anybody was it

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all in his head

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or does it even matter American Psycho

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satirizes the shallow consumer lifestyle

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of the 1980s the film revels in excess

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from the extravagant dinners and grilled

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free-range rabbit with french fries to

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bateman's over indulgent morning routine

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I believe in taking care of myself in a

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balanced diet in a rigorous exercise

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routine in the morning if my face is a

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little puffy I'll put on an ice pack

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while doing my stomach crunches

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Patrick's obsessed with his status among

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the wealthy Wall Streeters whether it be

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his ability to procure a reservation at

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Dorsia

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the hippest restaurant of the moment yes

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I know it's a little late but is it

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possible to reserve a table for two at

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8:00 or 8:30 perhaps or his grooming

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it's no coincidence that Bateman

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repeatedly references the Trump name

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Ivana Trump in the 80s Trump was

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synonymous with excess he was the

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ultimate yuppie a billionaire Wall

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Street business tycoon with a bombshell

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wife and $10,000 suit just to give him

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Trump himself when asked for a 1987

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Newsweek article whether he was the

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ultimate yuppie Trump responded rather

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succinctly yeah maybe or take this

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description of his 1985 apartment in

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Architectural Digest every surface of

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the home shimmers like liquid gold

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covered with fabric painted in 24 karat

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gold in the goldleaf ceilings and in the

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crystal chandeliers and candlesticks

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throughout the dining room shimmers with

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Tiffany's glassware resting on a

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mahogany table embellished with strips

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of gold leaf the dining chairs are from

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donia furniture and the alexander

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lieberman composition is titled gate 26

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similarly Patrick Bateman is focused on

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the minutia that defines his elite

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status

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is bedsheets out of the question I can

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only get these at his skincare routine I

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use a deep Pore Cleanser lotion in the

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shower I use a water activated gel

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cleanser and on the face an exfoliating

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gel scrub and his business cards mostly

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his business cards let's take a quick

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moment to give props to Christian Bale's

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performance

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this really is an acting showcase for

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the ages bill takes absurdity and turns

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it into high drama just look at how I

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reacts to something as trivial as a

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business cards font somehow making

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Helvetica feel like the end of the world

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I can't believe that Bryce prefers van

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Patten's card to mine

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bale nails the satirical toned the film

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at once showcasing how nonsensical this

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minutia is yet also making it sadly

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believable that this could be so

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important to a status conscious yuppie

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everything in Patrick Bateman's life is

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commodified and rated uses tokens of his

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perceived superiority to others

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American Psycho uses material objects to

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comment on the superficiality of its

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characters everyone in the film is vapid

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and self-absorbed

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way more concerned with how they look

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and how others perceive them then in the

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actual conflicts happening in their

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periphery the film is punctuated with

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dinner conversations about the state of

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the world well what about the massacres

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in Sri Lanka honey when price mentions

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the genocide in Sri Lanka bateman 1ups

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him stating the real issue they should

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all be worried about is oh we hafta

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end apartheid for one and slow down the

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nuclear arms race stop terrorism and

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world hunger we have to provide food and

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shelter for the homeless an opposed

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racial discrimination and promotes civil

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rights while also promoting equal rights

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for women we have to encourage a return

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to traditional moral values most

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importantly we have to promote general

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social concern but Patrick is only

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interested in using these real-world

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problems as a form of one-upsmanship to

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prove he's better than price when

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actually confronted by a homeless person

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Bateman doesn't provide him with food or

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shelter or money he just brutally stabs

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him later when price asks Patrick what

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he thinks about the iran-contra scandal

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babe mere reveals his true feelings

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about these worldly conflicts whatever

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patrick is often mistaken for other

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people Paul mistakes Patrick for another

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business associate great fan Marcus and

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later Patrick's lawyer thinks he's

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someone named Davis by the way Davis

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House India this highlights the artifice

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of Patrick and his friends lifestyle in

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a society preoccupied with acquiring

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goods at all cost

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nobody cares much about any of the other

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people around them everybody's the same

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and completely interchangeable all that

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really matters is the suits and jewels

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they wear the yachts they party on and

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the restaurants they dine in an American

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Psycho class is a competition a sport

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reflective of Thorne steam Veblen's

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theories on what he calls the leisure

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class particularly conspicuous

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consumption / Veblen conspicuous

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consumption is the consumption of goods

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as an evidence of pecuniary strength it

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is a means of repute ability to the

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gentleman of leisure basically to prove

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you're better than everybody else you

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have to show it be it a larger house

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fancier clothes or shinier bling

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similarly Patrick Bateman always defines

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himself in relation to others he hates

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Paul Helen because he can get into

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fancier restaurants and his business

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card is nicer on the other hand

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Patrick thinks he's better than his

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doppelganger Marcus because he has a

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slightly better haircut

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Patrick's intent on proving his

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superiority lecturing lower-class

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prostitutes on the meaning behind

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Genesis and Whitney Houston Surat

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been a big Genesis fan ever since the

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release of their 1980 album the fact

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that he takes such pride in trivial

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knowledge is in itself the point

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Bateman flaunts his wealth and knowledge

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to prove that he's better than others

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according to Babylon much of this is

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inherited from our more primitive past

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the lower status people did all the

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productive work well the higher status

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people were test with the honorable

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duties of hunting and killing far less

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productive behaviors been saying farming

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as if a nod to Veblen nathan uses his

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prestige to be both incredibly

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unproductive but also take up the hobby

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of murder the film goes on to suggest

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that beneath Patrick's need for fancy

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suits in a better apartment lies a

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literal bloodlust consumer capitalism as

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an actual bloodsport Batemans murderous

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inclinations are presented as the truth

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lurking beneath the facade of his

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superficial lifestyle at the start of

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the film patrick comments that there is

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nothing to him he's just a shell of a

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person there is an idea of a Patrick

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Bateman some kind of abstraction but

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there is no real me only an entity

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something illusory and though I can hide

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my cold gaze and you can shake my hand

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and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe

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you can even sense our lifestyles are

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probably comparable I simply am not yet

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by the end after Patrick has succumbed

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to murdering people giving in to his

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baser desires he becomes whole no I mean

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I'm in touch with humanity by

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acknowledging his need for money only

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hides his baser desire to kill Patrick

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is self actualized I'll be it as a

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serial killer ostensibly

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American Psycho signifies that the true

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nature of the consumer capitalist is

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well a cold-blooded serial killer

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so what seemed that this is obviously a

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deep film but despite being a savage

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critique on consumerism people still

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can't help themselves there's something

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undeniably seductive about Patrick

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Bateman the Patrick Bateman lifestyle is

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pervasive in our culture mr. Porter a

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clothing store put out a whole line

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based on dressing just like Patrick

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Bateman there are articles on how to

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replicate Patrick Bateman's grooming

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style looking back at the restaurants he

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dined at and where he would dine today

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there's even a video that gives you a 3d

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tour of Batemans apartment so why are

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people so infatuated with Patrick

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Bateman despite the fact that he's a

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deranged murderer well parody seems to

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have a tendency to offer competing

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interpretations of the thing 'it

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parodies it both legitimizes and

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subverts its subject and American Psycho

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for all its subversive merits does revel

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in excess I mean Patrick is handsome

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good with the ladies has a beautiful

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apartment a well-paying job who wouldn't

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want that lifestyle

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Plus American Psycho often plays

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Patrick's more monstrous acts as comedic

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or just cuts away from them entirely

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when Patrick kills Paul Allen it's

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played his comedy score too Huey Lewis

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in the news and when Patrick murders

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Christine we only see the net result a

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chainsaw has pierced her body but we

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don't see the moment of impact the film

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may bascomb Batemans excessive lifestyle

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but never his murderous inclinations

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allowing the audience to identify more

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with the glitz and glamour and letting

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him off the hook for his more gruesome

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misdeeds

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so by indulging in Batemans lifestyle at

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the expense of his violence his American

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Psycho undermining its own satirical

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depth furthermore many accused the

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violence in American Psycho as being

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explicitly targeted towards women and

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the lower-class glorifying their

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grotesque deaths

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nobody even really cares about all the

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women Patrick killed it's only Paul

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Allen that detective Kimball is

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concerned about but is this the point

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the film is actually trying to make in a

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2015 interview with dayz screenwriters

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one of your jurors said I very much

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think American Psycho is a feminist film

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it's a satire about how men compete with

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each other and how in this hyper-real

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universe we created women are even less

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important than your tan or your suit or

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where you summer and to me even though

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the women are all sort of tragic

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it's about how men perceive and treat

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them director mary harron reiterates

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this point stating American Psycho is a

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great parody of masculinity

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it's a send-up it was accused of being

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sexist but to me it was always an attack

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and satire of sexism and of male ego to

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this point the film showcases the

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cavalier attitudes many men have for

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women there are no girls with good

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personalities patric lords over women's

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bodies as if he owns them at the

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workplace Patrick tells his assistant

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what to wear and then in bed he pays

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women to do was he instructs Patrick

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feels that he can do as he pleases with

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a woman's body including killing

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mutilating and even eating them what's

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more he thinks he can get away with it

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and the cold cynical truth American

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Psycho presents is that Patrick's right

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he can and does get away with it so yes

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American Psycho satirizes male ego and

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consumer society which would make it

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inherently deep get the net result of

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the film's impact seems to be upholding

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the surface value lifestyle but it reels

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against making it perhaps not domed but

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a failure nonetheless Patrick Bateman

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despite his monstrous acts is still

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lotted as an anti-establishment antihero

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but in a metatextual turn this may

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actually be what the film is about

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Patrick Bateman constantly tells other

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people he's a murderer to which either

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they miss hear him I mean to

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murders and executions mostly do you

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like it depends why most guys I know who

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work in mergers and acquisitions really

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don't well just dismiss the confession

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as a joke

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you get my message Jesus yes that was

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hilarious

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just as Patrick Bateman confesses his

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crimes and everyone thinks he's joking

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or just misinterprets him

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American Psycho the film has been either

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misinterpreted as misogynistic and

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pro-consumer or has been treated as a

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joke and a parody yet the issues

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American Psycho rails against a status

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obsessed society sexism and wealth

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inequality still remained just as

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relevant today as they were in the 90s

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and early 2000s it's just as Patrick

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Bateman says at the end of the film this

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confession has meant nothing

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likewise American Psycho cynically and

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truthfully ridicules a society run amok

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but knows deep down that this confession

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too will mean nothing so we're gonna

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give the film as deep even though it too

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probably doesn't matter thanks to all

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our patrons don't forget to hit that

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subscribe button and before you go I

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want to give a shout out to the

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Rijksmuseum similar to wisecrack Reich's

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to Biff the rice museums YouTube channel

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explores pop culture and media their

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series is this art discusses what counts

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as art from Tarantino films and CGI

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sequences to memes in the Kardashians

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they have films that look at everything

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going on in our society today through an

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artistic and analytical lens their

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