ABSTRACT

The notion of masculinity has always occupied a central position in relation to power. What becomes of a masculine self when it awakes from a patriarchal slumber? Moving beyond a simple psychopathological account of a troubled male psyche, American Psycho (2000, dir. M. Harron) projects a far more intricate scenario of a radical decentering. Focusing not on what the film represents but what it creates, the chapter explores the role of the phantasm of violence in overcoming the violence of patriarchy. Accounting for the process of simulacral transformation of the masculine self, I will consider the aesthetic implications of this decentering in terms of becoming-imperceptible.