• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.117-126
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• 2006

A movie's fashion style delivers the overall atmosphere of the scene including the characters's class, personality, spiritual world and inner thinking and even their conflicts in the story. The movie 'American Psycho' directed by Mary Harron and based on from Bret Easton Ellis's original novel ridicules the American yuppie culture of the 1980's through the behavior of the hero Patrick Bateman. The life style of the yuppie sees itself as the high-class embodiment of a particular culture, but the various subcultures such as Glam and Punk show that it is merely a two-faced culture suffering from hypocrisy and mammonism. An analysis of the costumes found in the movie indicated an exhibition of the 1980's Haute Couture fashion, which was mainly occupied by the mainstream social class and of the social phenomenon of post-modernism. The anti-fashion presented in the movie as the resistance culture formed by the subculture was in extreme contrast with the expression of self-actualization.

• Psychoanalysis
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.63-71
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• 2018

One of the most striking features of modern society in the 21st century, is increased levels of aggression. Aggression refers to aggressive or hostile behavior, and is manifested in suicide or an attack against others. Aggression in modern society is more accidental, reckless, and aimless than before. As more patients visit hospitals due to the serious problem of aggression control, we need to address the nature of this growing aggression. The authors analyzed sources and the nature of aggression, based on the movie 'American Psycho.' The main character of the movie, Patrick, is similar to many people today, with traits such as egotistical thinking, lack of empathy, demand for attention and admiration, and exploited and superficial relationships. Patrick's aggression is in reaction to narcissistic injury. Through this, one can think of pathological narcissism, behind growing aggression in modern society. There are a number of social and environmental factors, attributable to increasing narcissism in modern society. Among them, change in parenting practices, and parent-child relationships, is likely to have affected increase in narcissism in terms of personality development. In conclusion, when treating patients exhibiting aggression in psychotherapy, it is critical to fully consider the possibility of pathological narcissism and its use in analysis.