This film has so much meme mythos surrounding it that it couldn't live up to the hype, but it is still an absolute classic.
It'd been so long since my first viewing that I'd forgotten how dated it was. Not only does it take place in the 80's but the production still had some 90's era giveaways lingering throughout. Anyways, within minutes you'll understand why every scene is so iconic. The juxtaposition of silly pop songs in the background with overly expressive (Jim Carrey-esque) small-talk yuppie caricatures in the foreground, contrasted against obscene gore & abhorrent monologues produces some very kino content.
But dig a little deeper and it parallels the cult classic reception of "They Live (1988)." They're both pretty simplistic analogies about the evils of muh capitalism. And a few seconds on Wikipedia will confirm this.
However, it was refreshing to see one of Christian Bale's sidechicks being doped up on pills and having unfulfilling promiscuous sex hopping between fancy clubs & restaurants. All the while mumbling about how she would be truly happy if she just had 2 kids. This gave the Capitalist critique some nice Paleo-Con finesse. Likewise, the running gag of how all these WallStreet types just pretend to be busy and don't actually produce anything was a unique jab you rarely see. Normally it's the evil CEO who destroys the planet to overly produce something or to sell something that should be free.
Listen to Luke Smith's breakdown of this in the background if you have some time:
The Economy Is Fake, the Jobs Are Fake, the Money Is Fake - Luke Smith
Okay, so other than the whacky aesthetics and expressive facial features, what makes this film so meme-able? Imho, the same thing that makes "They Live (1988)" resonate with us so much. To our weird subculture, "They Live" represents being redpilled and feeling gaslit and isolated in a society gone mad. "American Psycho" represents "hiding your power level" in that same society and feeling yourself begin to break and lose your humanity in the process. One is about fighting the system while the other is about working within it.
Anyone who doesn't just drop out of society to live innawoods will find themselves gradually lying more and more. Originally through omission to avoid some petty argument at work about gun rights or feminism. But over time into small white lies, and eventually into legit split personality– all so that you can keep the materialistic crap and status around you. Which, is exactly what the author stated inspired the book, (minus the redpilled part of course):
Also, the cult following is likely because you rarely see the White Male portrayed as a feared badass. So when Hollywood greenlights us as the Chad, even if he's a villain, we take what we can get. And naturally, the psycho school shooter "crazy White boi" (Joker) archetype is more relatable than some Arnold Schwarzenneger Conan the Barbarian type, even if we'd rather be the latter.
Definitely worth watching and will hit closer to home than you'd like to admit.