The titular ‘American psycho’ in this case is Patrick Bateman, one of the most heinous literary antagonists of the last century. The 2000 film was hugely successful TWITTER/THERAKEMAGAZINE Can psychopaths walk among us, amassing wealth while topping the food chain of capitalism? However, it must be determined if Ellis’ fictional stockbroker can be a reflection of the setting of real brokerage in Lower Manhattan’s trading systems. It seems fitting that Wall Street has its roots in profiteering from dehumanisation, as this image conveniently continues until it reaches its height in Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, where violence and degradation becomes synonymous with the success of the stockbroker.
At this time, the active trade occurring on Wall Street was that of the American slave trade, which provided the city with tax and assisted in growing the financial district into a coherent marketplace. Initially consisting of twenty four of New York’s finest brokers, it was the first instance of an organised group controlling the input and output of stocks and trade. The Buttonwood Agreement of 1792 placed the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, acting as the home of domestic trade for the city’s current markets. “Can psychopaths walk among us, amassing wealth while topping the food chain of capitalism?” However, as popular culture began to use Wall Street as a backdrop for social commentary, figures like Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street) and John Self (Money: A Suicide Note) exemplified the hedonistic lifestyle of the glamorous financial district. The social stigmatisation of stockbrokers is timeless, and occurs from Wall Street’s very beginnings in the late eighteenth century as an exclusionary collection open only to the professional, male financier inhabiting Manhattan’s Southside. New York’s Wall Street is undoubtedly the epicentre of the financial world, bringing with it the figureheads of immoral, money-hungry narcissism: stockbrokers.