The Character comparison of the Anti-Heros in the films kumbalangi Nights(2019) and American Psycho (2000)

BY

MUHAMMAD SWALIH V A

CCARAEGR34

Introduction

Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on sociologicalissues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and powerrelations in general.

It often refers to a mode of criticism that locates the reasons for such conditions in asociety considered to be in a flawed social structure. It may also refer to people adhering to a

social critic's aims at practical solutions by way of specific measures either for consensual reformor powerful revolution. The topic discussed in this project comes basically under social criticismand social psychology.

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, andbehaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. In this definition,scientific refers to the empirical investigation using the scientific method. The terms thoughts,feelings, and behaviors refer to psychological variables that can be measured in humans. Thestatement that others' presence may be imagined or implied suggests that humans are malleableto social influences even when alone, such as when watching videos, sitting on the toilet, orquietly appreciating art. In such situations, people can be influenced to follow internalizedcultural norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of theinteraction of mental states and social situations.

Social psychologists examine factors that cause behaviors to unfold in a given way in thepresence of others. They study conditions under which certain behavior, actions, and feelingsoccur. Social psychology is concerned with the way these feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions,and. goals are cognitively constructed and how these mental representations, in turn, influenceour interactions with others.

Social psychology traditionally bridged the gap between psychology and sociology.During the years immediately following World War II there was frequent collaboration betweenpsychologists and sociologists. The two disciplines, however, have become increasinglyspecialized and isolated from each other in recent years, with sociologists focusing on "macrovariables" (e.g., social structure) to a much greater extent than psychologists. Nevertheless,sociological approaches to psychology remain an important counterpart to psychologicalresearch in this area.

In addition to the split between psychology and sociology, there has been a somewhatless pronounced difference in emphasis between American social psychologists and Europeansocial psychologists. As a generalization, American researchers traditionally have focused moreon the individual, whereas Europeans have paid more attention to group level phenomena (seegroup dynamics).

In the films, Kumbalangi Nights and American Psycho the social criticism is very muchevident. The films criticize their respective societies which are Kerala in Kumbalangi Nights andurban America in American Psycho.

Both films highlight the Anti-heros as their main characters. The characters Shammyfrom Kumbalangi Nights who is the antagonist and Patrick Bateman from American Psycho whois the protagonist shows similar signs of psychological disorders. They seem to bepsychologically disturbed personalities. The film makers made them both unlikeable characters.They are shown as cruel and anti-social. But deep down, they are reflections of their respectivesocieties. The film makers use these characters to criticise the society. The films explore topicslike gender equality, poverty, materialism, patriarchy and feminism.

Kumbalangi Nights is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed byMadhu C. Narayanan (in his directorial debut) and written by Syam Pushkaran.Bobby (ShaneNigam), Shaji (Soubin Shahir) and their half-brothers lead a simple life in a small, old house inKumbalangi. While working for a fishing firm, Bobby falls in love with tourist guide Baby Mol(Anna Ben). Baby Mol’s family runs a homestay and her elder sister (Grace Antony) recently gotmarried to Shammy (Fahadh Faasil). Bobby’s brothers take the marriage proposal to Baby Mol’sfamily only to get rejected by Shammy, who points out that the brothers are ill-reputed andBobby is unemployed. Then one day Bobby finds out something terrible might have happenedand he along with his brothers went to Shammy’s home to find out that the sisters and the motherwere tied up by Shammy and he was all out mental. The four brothers finally pin Shammy downafter a lot of life and death hurdles.

That was the plot of the movie Kumbalangi Nights. This project focuses on theAntagonist of the film Shammy. Shammy's character has a lot of dimensions. He is not theaverage villain in a typical Indian cinema. His character is mentally disordered and yet he seemslike a normal Indian man who upholds the morality of our society. We can see how cleverly thefilmmakers have brutally criticised the whole society with one character formation. We could seethe brilliant use of social psychology. The psychopathic character Shammy has every element ofa normal psychopath who yearns to be an excellent personality in the society. He wants to be awell-respected member of the society so looks to the society to find the traits of an excellentpersonality and becomes the "Complete Man". In social psychology, every action of a person hasinfluence from the society. This is completely true in the case of Shammy.

American Psycho is a 2000 satirical psychological horror film co-written and directed byMary Harron, based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel of the same name. [5] It stars ChristianBale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour,Justin Theroux, Guinevere Turner and Reese Witherspoon.

The movie is set in 1987, following a wealthy man named Patrick Bateman, who isengaged to a woman named Evelyn. He enjoys flaunting his wealth similarly to hiscoworkers-through his credit card. One fateful night, as he sees his associate named Allen

showing off his business card, he is filled with jealousy. He is so jealous, in fact, that he kills aman and his dog. He also kills Allen, staging it to look like he ran from the country the momenthe gets the chance to.

Bateman is interviewed by an officer about Allen’s disappearance. He then invites twoprostitutes to his house, and they are later seen leaving his house covered in blood. His jealousyis refueled when he goes back to work and sees the business card of another of his associates,Luis. He tries killing him, but his advances are looked upon as sexual lust by Jean, and Batemanflees. He kills a model instead in his rage and invites his secretary planning to kill her as well.However, their evening is disturbed by a message from his fiancé Evelyn. The officer he spokewith earlier tells him that he is no longer a suspect for Allen’s disappearance. Using Allen’shouse, Bateman invites two of his female acquaintances to his house, killing them both, rightbefore he tells Evelyn that he wishes to stop their engagement. After he kills yet another woman,the police are after Bateman, though he manages to lose them by destroying their gas tanks.

Fleeing, Bateman enters an office that is later revealed to not be his, where he killsseveral people before leaving a confession for his lawyer. The next day, he expects Allen’sapartment to be the scene of a crime, yet instead it is cleaned and on sale. The realtor says it isn’tAllen’s apartment, and when Bateman goes to lunch with his coworkers, Jeans finds details ofthe murders in Batemans journal. Meeting his lawyer, Bateman confesses everything again, yetthe lawyer laughs it off as a joke, saying that he met Allen a few days ago. He understands thathe will never be punished for his crimes and says that his confessions haven’t meant anything.

The film symbolizes society, and ultimately the vanity and self-centeredness of everyoneliving on their own personal clouds. Everyone is always making irrelevant comments duringconversations as though they're not really listening but speaking to themself. Pat Bateman admitshe’s a psychopathic killer multiple times but either people don't listen to him, mishear him, orassume he's joking, because to admit that someone of his class could be capable of something sodespicable when they of their upper-class are so superior would be shattering to their self-image.

Everyone is absorbed in themself and that's why every time he meets someone he doesn'tdescribe the person but the clothing they're wearing and the name brand it's from. Because that'sall he sees in a person, those material things are the only things he notices, and he wonders whyhe's empty on the inside so seeks to fill his void with anger, grief, perversions, rape, violence anda disregard to society since although he's so well looked upon he’s been disregarded all this time.

Nobody pays attention to anybody, that's why they all keep on mistaking people for otherpeople and accidentally calling each other the wrong names! Pat Bateman feels all this insidehim and let's it go on those who become vulnerable in his presence, maybe just because he can. I

think secretly he wants to be caught, because he wants somebody to really look at him for once,but even when he got into a shootout outside he still wasn't caught. He never will be. Notbecause he's particularly sneakier, but because his money seems to cloud people's vision andthoughts. They're all functional drug addicts and spend money endlessly and easily but ironicallythe only thing they care about is money and the materials they buy with it. They care more aboutbeing able to buy all these things than the things they really buy. They find more joy in theirability to flaunt their freedom than they do in having freedom. To them it's all about power andthe freedom to literally do anything they want whenever they want.

A no-restraint life chained down by the overwhelming power of no responsibility and ultimatevanity is what this book portrays. It's a caricature of an elitist society. It's a well written criticismon American upper-class, who no matter how much they have will always feel empty on theinside because they only do everything for themself and might feel gratification from that but nosatisfaction. They therefore have no peace in their hearts. They all lack basic human necessitiesthat get taken for granted so much they're now nothing but clichés that everyone thinks theyprobably have but no one has. Nobody has love or passion, nobody has pure empathy orgenerosity, and nobody has kindness or loyalty. This is a world without those things, andeveryone is asking themself; “but what am I missing?” So they fill their void with alcohol, drugs,exercise, vanity, spending money when they don't need to, sex, and in Bateman’s case onviolence crazy disrespect to basic humanity.

1980's in America was a particular period, that people were so engrossed in theirmaterialistic desires that they were not bothered enough about the identity of the person sittingbeside them or the people they have been chatting for hours "yuppie culture'' as it was called. Allthe businessmen pretended to be social , but were never really "mentally social" , they botheredabout wearing the best suits , getting the best haircut ,booking the best restaurant for dinner ,orwhatever but far remote from love for fellow human beings.

From both these films we could find that the collective unconscious plays a role. TheCollective Unconsciousness is the basic inherited psychological foundations common to allhuman beings, in particular what tends to guide our social interactions and structures. TheCollective Unconscious is made up of archetypes which themselves are the basic structures ofhuman social organization and understanding. It is why we find some ideas and concepts - forexample, “Father” and “Mother” - inherently emotionally important over others. Without this wehumans wouldn’t have a basic, built-in social structure that in turn has been fundamentallyimportant in our evolution and survival as a species.

For example, after we are born and start having experiences because the “Mother”archetype is active within us we are tuned in to anything - people, ideas, events, etc. - that

activates that archetype in an emotional fashion, that makes us go “that’s my mother” (eitherliterally in a biological sense or figuratively in terms of social leadership). Because we have thatemotional reaction - that is, automatically equate emotional value to a person who seems toembody “mother” to us - we shape our behavior to match, most obviously by feeling aconnection and sense of loyalty to our personal mother figure. Such emotions/reactions/ideas andso forth we experience as activating the Mother archetype (or any archetype) therefore come tobe associated with it sort of like asteroids and planets falling into the orbit of a large, heavygravity star/object. And, when we have later, similar experiences the Mother archetype is onceagain activated, therefore growing and developing its relationship to us.

Chapter 1Kumbalangi Nights

In the movie Kumbalangi Nights, they show us Kerala’s Suburban middle class andworking class. Life for the middle class in Kerala, is improving day-by-day when compared to

the rest of the country. As the foreign money keeps flowing into Kerala from the large pool ofmigrant workers in Gulf countries, Kerala society has turned into consumerist State with a bit ofliberalism, communist influence and strict following of Moral values which is modeled on theBritish Society, which is surprising for a state which was under severe poverty, casteism,religious superstitions and gender inequality.

The plot of the movies is as follows. Saji Napoleon, Bonny, Bobby, and Franky are fourbrothers living in a small, cramped house in a wasteland area of Kumbalangi. Saji has angerissues, and often gets into fights with Bobby. Franky is ashamed of Saji and Bobby but he getsalong well with Bonny, who is mute.

Bobby is a lazy wastrel who spends his days with his friend Prasanth. Prasanth introduceshim to his girlfriend Sumisha through whom Bobby meets Baby. Baby upon seeing Bobbyconfesses to Sumisha she had a crush on Bobby while they were in school. And at the end of theday Baby becomes Bobby's girlfriend. They go to catch a movie and have a fight through themiddle of it. The next day they make up and Bobby proposes to Baby who asks him to talk to herfamily.

Bobby asks Saji to accompany him to talk to Baby's family about their marriage. Theymeet Shammi (Baby's brother-in-law) who denies the proposal stating the bad reputation ofBobby's family. Saji tries to console Bobby and asks him to get a job. A fight ensues betweenSaji and Franky. Bonny who is protective of Franky hits Saji and Saji leaves the house to drinkwith his Tamilian friend Vijay. Saji says that his brother taunts him by saying he mooches off ofVijay. Vijay says he is right and that he cannot lend him money anymore. Saji being drunk triesto commit suicide and is saved by Vijay. Unfortunately, Vijay loses his life in the process.

Meanwhile, Bonny meets an American tourist Nylah, and the two of them end upspending a night together in the homestay owned by Baby's family. Shammi, discovers them andan argument ensues between them and then he kicks them out. Bonny invites Nylah to his house.Saji is stricken with remorse with the death of his dear friend Vijay. He goes to Vijay's house toapologize to his wife and finds her in pain due to pregnancy; he takes her to the hospital. Sathigives birth to a baby girl; Saji is then forced to take Sathi and her daughter to his house by boat.Franky is very happy to have women in the house, as it gives them some semblance of being aregular family.

It is revealed that Saji's father married Bonny's mother, who then gave birth to Bobby andFrankie. Their father died, and the mother left her children to join a religious mission, leavingSaji to be their father figure.

During the marriage of Prasanth and Sumisha, Saji meets Shammi and again talks aboutthe marriage between Bobby and Baby but Shammi denies the marriage again. Baby makes upher mind to elope with Bobby. When her sister Simmy confides in her husband Shammi, he turnsabusive and violent. It becomes clear from his behaviour that he suffers from some mental illnessand behavioural issues, which make him manipulative and controlling. Shammi assaults Baby,Simmy and their mother, ultimately keeping them captive in their own home.

Bobby tries to call Baby and upon receiving no answer decides to check up on her. Bobbyand his brothers arrive on the scene and a fight ensues between them and Shammi. The brothersafter a lot of struggle finally trap Shammi with a net and set the women free. In the end Bobbyand Baby are finally reunited and get married. The antagonist in kumbalangi nights,” Shammi” isa hardworking man who is recently married to a family consisting of two orphan sisters and awidow. He comes in as the head of the family and lives with them in their house. They own ahome stay for tourists and the younger sister works as a tourist guide. Their life seems to befinancially well and takes themselves as a respectable family upholding moral values that areprominent in society. Shammi is now the patriarchal head of the family and takes control of thehousehold and even the homestay operated by his wife and his sister in-law, but they never hadany problem with it.

This is because the dominance of patriarchy prevalent in Kerala. So far we have seenpatriarchy normalized, glorified and validated on the screen in Malayalam movies as well asother movie industries in India. In a land past where little cats are left amazing the town goes totake a poo, in a land which is encompassed by smooth green yet just has thorny prickly plantdeveloping in its yard, lives Saji, Bonny, Bobby and Frankie

The grungy house, in the wonderful community of Kumbalangi, has an image of MotherMary looking down at newborn child Jesus, yet the lady they call mother has left them. Frankie,the most youthful, who woefully misses her, means into her perspective. He makes fish curry forhis siblings, does the clothing, attempts to keep house, even as his more established siblingssquabble and beat each other up.

At the outset of the film, Frankie's companions inquire as to whether they can visit hishome. In any case, he reveals to them that everybody there has chickenpox. It's an innocentembellishment; however it likewise uncovers his emotions about his home, a spot he thinksabout reviled.

Kumbalangi Nights, coordinated by Madhu C Narayanan and composed by SyamPushkaran, is about the capricious men we see around every one of us the time, who suffocatetheir existential anxiety in liquor - in light of the fact that they can, and no one will ask them anyinquiries. The ladies get after them, walking on steadfastly in light of the fact that they need to.

There are mouths to be nourished, school expenses to be paid, and rooftops to be fixed. Also, onthe off chance that they don't do it, they will be considered dependable. They play out theoccupations of supplier and nurturer; however it kills them gradually consistently.

Along these lines, you have Bobby who is eager for cash, however will do it in the eventthat you ask him for some help. Saji, mooches off Murugan's pressing business, simply becausehe once helped him, Bonny spends time with music and move gathering and avoids his familyand Frankie is resolved to try sincerely and make a big deal about his life, winning a grant whichwill keep him in school. In any case, regardless of the opportunity that their manliness givesthem, they're not able discover joy or go anyplace near it. They can possibly impart in thorns andbreak into viciousness when they're overpowered. As such, they don't have a clue how to managetheir manliness.

In any case, Shammy, does In his early on scene, he's remaining before a mirror in hisrestroom and respecting his appearance. He runs a hair salon alongside his sibling, Shyju, and isnarcissistic about his mustache, contacting it and molding it a few times each day. At the pointwhen he sees a Bindi on the mirror, he evacuates it, and says to himself, "Raymond, the completeman".

The surprising line, conveyed by the antagonist who persuades you regarding thecharacter's self-esteem, is funny. In any case, Shammy is certainly not an entertaining man byany means. Each time he shows up on screen, you feel frigid pinpricks run down your spine. Infact Shammy doesn't do whatever men in Malayalam film haven't done previously - he yells atthe young men who play football outside his home; he gets a kick out of the chance to put downmen who cook, calling attention to that such undertakings are intended for ladies; he investsheavily in being at the leader of the table, expecting the job of gatekeeper and guardian angel ofthe home. He's the main man in a family with three ladies - two sisters and their bereft mother.As Simi's spouse, he accepts he's liable for their respect. Men like these have showed up onscreen various occasions and we've scarcely considered their characterisation since it'sstandardized on screen. The camera centers on Shammy's chilly eyes which negate his wide grin,and we feel fear crawling into our souls.

In particular, we're additionally demonstrated how the ladies around Shammy react tohim. Where prior movies have demonstrated ladies characters to be thankful, glad, and in anyevent, communicating more fondness towards a man for "minding" about them in such a way, theladies throughout Shammy's life react with unease and insubordination. Simi's dread issubstantial; however Shammy barely raises his voice or hits her, "enna mwoley?" he askslovingly, each time he crosses a line. Their mom, as well, fears this weird man who blows hot

and cold. In any case, Baby, Simi's sister, is awkward with the degree to which he meddles,however she isn't to be cowed somewhere near him.

Up until now, we have seen male controlled society standardized, approved, andcelebrated on screen. In a couple of uncommon cases, it has been addressed, some of the timeseparated. In any case, in Kumbalangi Nights, man centric society is recognized as an infection,an ailment that crushes and should be abridged. The Complete Man, who is spurned by theladylike, and who harbors a profound feeling of sexism, needs assistance. All through the film,the ladies make their quality felt. Be it Sumisha who discovers her improbable beau hot, or Babywho seeks after her smash Bobby, or the African American lady who kisses Bonny right on thelips to demonstrate a point to Shammy.

The film additionally doesn't endeavor to make ladies the same as the men to outline acontention about balance. Also, more critically, it doesn't make all ladies the equivalenteither.The prime highlight of the film is the character Shammy.

Shammy's character is at best, a somewhat angry, patriarchal figure and at worst a personwho gravely assaults the women in his family and a non-family member, is abusive to varyingdegrees and has some serious rage issues. In a scene towards the latter half of the film, hismother-in-law says, “Please call the police, Shammy is mad”.

A very popular and constantly debunked narrative on social media since 2016 has beenthat Donald Trump has serious mental health issues. People who live with mental illnessconstantly clap back to say, NO, to be a person drunk on power, to be misogynistic, to be abusiveis a function of toxic masculinity; do not conflate this with mental illness.In case of incidents of shoot-outs by the ‘lone wolf’ Caucasian cis man, often, news reportsfollow of the person having a mental illness. In response to this, people who live with mentalillness talk about how they have managed to exist so far without feeling the need to shootanybody. No mental illness can be the ascribed reason behind this hateful crime.

Nowadays we see far right extremists in Kerala creating communal conflicts and whenthey get caught they all seem to have mental issues. There are lots of problems in our societywhich are hate, communal hatred, patriarchy, misogynist values and materialism which areactually bad but we consider them bad when the limits set by our unconscious exceeds. We knowthere is something wrong about Shammi, when he is first introduced. While in the bathroomshaping his “masculine” moustache, he notices a bindi stuck on the mirror and scrapes it off,washing it away in the sink. He then proceeds to look at himself in the mirror and repeat adialogue from an advertisement in a deep, “manly”, voice. His character reeks of toxicmasculinity from the first frame, as he is unable to bear even a small blemish of femininity on his

idea of the perfect man. He has this need to control everything around him. Despite living as a“ghar jamai”, in his wife’s home, since he is the only man in the household, consisting of hiswife, his mother-in-law, and his sister-in-law, he sees himself as the patriarch of the family. Thisis apparent in the scene where he sits down to have dinner with the whole family. He and hismother-in-law sit beside each other at the table, but before he begins eating, he makes an excusethat there isn’t enough light where he is sitting. He then goes on to slyly move his chair to thehead of the table, establishing himself as the head of the family.

In the shocking climax, we finally see this toxic masculinity and need for control extendbeyond just simple actions and turn into fully psychotic behavior. He is vehemently against hissister-in-law, Baby’s, relationship with Bobby makes it clear to her that they do not have a futuretogether. However, when she refuses to break the relationship, he becomes rude and controllingwith her, leading to his wife, Simi, standing up for her sister. At this point, Shammi realizes thathe has lost control over his wife and that puts him over the edge making him violent. As he isfighting with Bonny and Saji, after imprisoning his wife and her family, he constantly yellsphrases like “I am the man” and makes it clear to the two brothers that they are fighting what heconsiders as a real man. Finally, when he is captured, it marks the downfall of “toxicmasculinity.”

Chapter 2American Psycho

American Psycho is a satirical psychological horror film directed by Mary Harron, basedon Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel of the same name. The story is set in late 1980s Manhattan, themoney capital of the world and it is about the life of a young materialistic investment bankernamed Patrick Bateman who works in Wall Street.

In 1987, wealthy New York investment banker Patrick Bateman’s lifestyle revolvesaround having food at glamorous restaurants while keeping up his appearances for his fiancéeEvelyn and his circle of wealthy and shallow friends, many of whom he dislikes. Batemandescribes the fabric accoutrements of his way of life, together with his morning exercise,

beautification routine, dressmaker cloth cabinet and high-priced furniture. He additionallydiscusses his music collection in scholarly detail.

Bateman and his pals flaunt their enterprise cards in a show of conceitedness. Enraged bymeans of the superiority of his co-worker Paul Allen's card, Bateman murders a homeless manand his canine. At a Christmas birthday party, Bateman makes plans to have dinner with Allen,who mistakes Bateman for some other co-worker. Bateman gets Allen drunk and lures him backto his condo. While playing "Hip to Be Square '' a song by Hewy Luis, Bateman delivers amonologue to Allen explaining the creative merits of the track, then murders Allen with achrome axe. He dumps the body, then stages. Allen's missing so that others believe that Allen hasgone to London. Bateman is later interviewed about Allen's man missing case by privatedetective Donald Kimball.

Bateman takes prostitutes, who he names Christie and Sabrina, to his rental and expoundson his opinions of the band Genesis. After they engage in sexual intercourse, Bateman brings outdevices to physically attack the prostitutes for pleasure and after that, they later go away from hisapartment certainly bloodied and mistreated.

In a meeting Bateman's colleague Luis Carruthers reveals a new business card. Out ofBateman attempts to kill Luis within the restroom of an high-priced restaurant , however Luiserrors the attempt for a sexual move and proclaims his love for Bateman, who flees in disgustafter washing his hands as it is now dirtied by a Homosexual. After murdering a fashion model,Bateman invites his secretary Jean to dinner, whom he secretly adores, suggesting she meet himat his condo for a drink. Jean, who has a liking for the young banker boss, happily accepts thedate with him. When Gene arrives, Bateman holds a nail gun against her head from behindwithout her knowledge whilst they chat. When he gets a message from Evelyn on his answeringmachine, he asks Jean to leave. He couldn't murder her.

The private Detective Kimball meets Bateman for lunch and tells him he is not in the listof suspects in Allen's disappearance. Later Bateman invites prostitute Christie and hisacquaintance Elizabeth to Allen's apartment for sex, and kills Elizabeth during the act. Christieruns, discovering multiple female corpses as she searches for exit. A naked Bateman chases herand drops a chainsaw on her as she flees down a staircase, killing her.

Bateman breaks off his engagement with Evelyn. That night, as he makes use of an ATM,he sees a cat, and the ATM displays the text "feed me a stray cat". When he prepares to shoot thecat, a lady confronts him, so he shoots her. A police chase ensues but Bateman kills all 4 cops.Fleeing to his workplace, Bateman enters the incorrect building, in which he murders a securityguard and a janitor. In a workplace he believes is his, Bateman calls his legal professional Harold

Carnes and frantically leaves a confession regarding the numerous murders on Carnes' answeringmachine.

Bateman then meets again with Detective Kimball, who remains suspicious of him butcan’t show that Allen was murdered, as Allen became spotted in London after the allegedhomicide occurred, however the witness became uncertain at the start. Kimball tells Batemanthat Allen in truth simply went on excursion without informing anyone leaving Bateman visiblydisturbed.

The following morning, Bateman visits Allen's apartment, waiting to smooth up Allen’sstays, but its miles vacant and for sale. He pretends to be a potential consumer but the realtorhints Bateman into revealing that he isn’t there to shop for the condo. She then tells him that itisn't Paul Allen's rental, then ordering him to leave. While Bateman goes to meet along with hiscolleagues for lunch, a horrified Jean unearths designated drawings of murder and mutilation inBateman's workplace journal.

Bateman sees Carnes at the restaurant and mentions the phone message he left the earliernight. Carnes mistakes Bateman for another colleague and laughs off the telephone which is aconfession as a comic story. Bateman desperately explains who he's and once more confesses themurders; however Carnes says this is not possible, as he lately had dinner with Allen in London.A burdened and exhausted Bateman returns to his pals, wherein they briefly muse on whetherRonald Reagan, former President of America is a harmless man or a hidden psychopath, and thendiscussing their dinner reservations later that day. Left with the opportunity that nobody is awareof he’s an assassin, or that he hallucinated the diverse killings, Bateman's voiceover narrationreveals his consciousness that he's going to break out the punishment he deserves, and that therewas no catharsis: "This confession has meant nothing." The film ends here leaving the audiencein confusion.

Bateman is a youthful, athletic, attractive, fruitful, and cliché 1980s elitist, who you canfind in magazines, televisions, publicizing for Calvin Klein or Hugo Boss, and on Wall Street.Then again, he kills, assaults, torments, damages, and tears up his unfortunate victims , yet hisbrutal demonstrations stay undetected. From the start, Patrick's conduct appears to be extremelyaggravating on the grounds that he neither gives the viewer any explanations behind hishomicides, nor with any mental understanding into his character to legitimize his activities.Investigating, his conduct and brutality are a declaration of the materialistic, shallow nature ofthe American culture to which Bateman has a place.

Although a great deal of Bateman's fierce activities are shown, toward the finish of themotion picture the viewer comes to address if every one of these homicides truly happened in

light of the fact that a few irregularities in his story becomes obvious for example, Batemanoutlines the homicide of a man, who now was not even around. Hence, the inquiry is raisedregarding whether the homicides are genuine or only a result of Bateman's imagination , and inthe event that they are genuine, is the general public so ridiculous that not by any means thewrongdoing matters and he can escape unpunished?

To comprehend what American Psycho is about, it is critical to quickly think about thesocial conditions during the 1980s in America, which are unmistakably reflected all through theentire motion picture. In this decade, American culture changed widely contrasted with the1960s. The 1960s were long stretches of dissent and change; youthful Americans protestedagainst the Vietnam War, African Americans stood for social equality, and feminists forequivalent treatment. The vigorous youth took full control of American society. Before the finishof the 1970s, the US finished its military contribution in Vietnam and the social equalitydevelopment just as the ladies' development arrived at a large number of their objectives. Be thatas it may, then again, the US endured a monetary downturn; loan fees and swelling high.Americans became burnt out on social battle and losing cash, rather, they needed to supportthemselves and invest more energy in their very own advantages.

Consequently, during the 1980s, the American culture focused on its own recreationexercises and its very own satisfaction once more there was such technological advancement anda prosperous economy that re-established the hopes of Americans to live better unburdened lives.Many individuals felt there were no restrictions on life they could lead. Numerous Americansduring the 1980s were worried about cash; they needed an easy life that they accepted cash couldpurchase. This age was portrayed as "the 'me' age" (Kleinfeldt and Freeman). A few gatheringsof individuals were named "yuppies", which meant "youthful, urban professionals", theiraspirations were just to profit. Cash words, for example, yuppie, upscale, privatization, andtakeover turned into the key language in this decade. One could say that procuring cash becamethe focal point for individuals' entire live goal.

On the political level, the accompanying occurred simultaneously: Ronald Reaganbecame President of the United States in 1981 and stayed President for a long time. In thismanner, these years are additionally called the Reagan years. He diminished duty rates so as toreestablish confidence in both the market and business enterprise, and "another period ofdevelopment” ought to have followed. Numerous Americans believed in him, since he appearedto reestablish the potential outcomes of the American Dream. Yet, truth be told, the AmericanDream just worked out for individuals who were well off at that point. As it turned out, Reagan'sgovernmental issues expanded the hole between social classes and thus, American culturebecame drastically partitioned between the well off and poor people.

Precisely this sort of society is envisioned in American Psycho. Patrick Bateman and hisassociates are the materialistic elitists, whose solitary concerns are status and cash.Simultaneously, they talk in disgust about poor people; homeless people, whores, and workers,and accordingly picture the poor side of America's capitalism during the 1980s.

From the outset of American Psycho the amoral materialism and superficiality of theAmerican consumer culture stands out. In this society, it isn't about who you’re; it's about whoyou seem to be. For this purpose, Patrick Bateman states in the start of the film: “There is an ideaof a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, somethingillusory” (American Psycho) His real personality does not matter in these circumstances;everything is about one’s appearance, not approximately one one’s inner values. An associate ofBateman confirms this view by saying: “If [women] have a good personality and are not goodlooking, then who fucking cares?” (American Psycho ). We can consequently see that anexcellent man or woman is worth nothing if he or she is not good looking.

As an effect of this, everything in Bateman’s external look embodies this impersonal,superficial, frozen, materialistic society. Thus, Patrick is enthusiastic about his perfect skin andhis dozens of skin-care merchandise. Every morning he invests quite a little time in training hisbody and caring for his smooth skin. One should say that he prepares himself to be consumed inthis consumer society. Additionally, his talks are ruled through logo names, brands, and differentsignifiers of popularity. Bateman defines himself through his consumption-materials and statussymbols and feels attacked in his self-confidence if someone else for instance has a morefashionable Business card. He cannot stand the feeling that a person else is higher than him, hewants to be the best. Feelings, words or good conduct does not count, the yuppie lives in acongealed society, wherein money, reputation, and image matters.

Bateman is the representation of American materialistic, narcissistic, and moralistic upperclass society, who is also a patriarchal symbol. He finds pleasure in torturing women sexuallyand physically, and most of his victims are women. The novel from which the film was adaptedwas heavily criticized by feminists for brutal showcasing of attack against women. From this, wecould say that Bateman is the American Psych which is extremely materialistic and patriarch.When someone asks Bateman what he does for a living, he says "murders and executions' 'instead of "mergers and acquisitions'' which shows us how Bateman likes to trick and manipulatepeople.

Chapter 3Comparison of the Characters: Shammy and Patrick Bateman

The films Kumbalangi nights and American Psycho talk about societies in which thestories are set in. Both films could be under social criticism. Films with social criticism makeseveryone overthink once more of our idea of what is right and what is wrong, what is "normal"and what is discrimination, privilege, and constructed binaries and prejudices.

Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on sociologicalissues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and powerrelations in general.

It often refers to a mode of criticism that locates the reasons for such conditions in asociety considered to be in a flawed social structure. It may also refer to people adhering to asocial critic's aims at practical solutions by way of specific measures either for consensual reformor powerful revolution. In both films, film makers criticize the societies they represent. InKumbalangi Nights it is the Kerala society and in American Psycho it's the urban Americansociety. They bring up issues like Materialism, Patriarchy, Gender Inequality, Feminism, andmany others that reside in both societies.

In Kumbalangi nights, the antagonist Shammy is a character which is the embodiment ofmany evil that is prevalent in Kerala society. Shammy is a character that is extremely patriarchal,misogynistic and moralistic. Shammy wants control of the household and he wants to controleveryone under him. He believes that is right and he believes that he is a complete man.Throughout history, patriarchal norms had their place in every society. Kerala had a matrilinealpassage of properties but still the sons and nephews of the heir woman managed the resourcesand properties, thus men were always above women. This system is what we still follow even ifwe have laws and rights for equality.

The film maker criticizes the patriarchal system of our society's social and familystructure. He makes a mockery of the fleet of Kerala men who are mostly emotional controlfreaks. And he shows us that even men who don't enforce this dominance seem to respect thosewho follow them as though they are superior. Throughout the film, the audience could know thatsomething is off with Shammy's character but the other characters don't seem to notice it exceptthe children who are neighbors with Shammy's family.

They talk about Shammy within their circles as though he is some kind of evil thing andthey seem to fear him. Other adult characters don't notice much about his mental disorder. This iswhere the relevance of the Theory of Collective Unconscious comes to our minds.

Collective unconscious (German: Kollektives Unbewusstes) refers to structures of theunconscious mind which are shared among beings of the same species. It is a term coined byCarl Jung. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts, aswell as by archetypes: universal symbols such as The Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, theShadow, the Tower, Water, and the Tree of Life. Jung considered the collective unconscious tounderpin and surround the unconscious mind, distinguishing it from the personal unconscious of

Freudian psychoanalysis. He argued that the collective unconscious had profound influence onthe lives of individuals, who lived out its symbols and clothed them in meaning through theirexperiences. The psychotherapeutic practice of analytical psychology revolves around examiningthe patient's relationship to the collective unconscious.

Psychiatrist and Jungian analyst Lionel Corbett argues that the contemporary terms"autonomous psyche" or "objective psyche" are more commonly used today in the practice ofdepth psychology rather than the traditional term of the "collective unconscious". Critics of thecollective unconscious concept have called it unscientific and fatalistic, or otherwise verydifficult to test scientifically (due to the mystical aspect of the collectiveunconscious).Proponents suggest that it is borne out by findings of psychology, neuroscience,and anthropology.

The collective unconscious of people in Kerala society reflects Shammy's character.Freud (and Erikson) Jung regarded the psyche as made up of a number of separate but interactingsystems. The three main ones were the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collectiveunconscious. According to Jung, the ego represents the conscious mind as it comprises thethoughts, memories, and emotions a person is aware of. The ego is largely responsible forfeelings of identity and continuity.

Shammy wants to be a responsible and respectable man who is idolized by society. Andwe see that was going well for him. He was married into a good family and people treat himrespectable. In a scene in the movie, we see Saji admiringly saying to him "saar oru manyanaanu oru anthasund " which literally means "you are a gentleman and you have dignity " eventhough he just insulted Saji and reminded him and his younger brother about how bad theirfamily background is still Saji seems to speak highly of Shammy, Maybe Saji might not haveliked him but the society had taught him that these people are acceptable and respected. Thesociety where Shammy lives is patriarchal and misogynistic thus as a Psychopath he needs toembrace the best of a society. So we could come to the conclusion that the character Shammy isactually Kerala society.

Patrick Bateman is the main character of the Film "American Psycho'' and serves as thenarrator for the most part as well. Bateman represents the typical image of a high societyAmerican, a greedy, selfish and vicious person that will exploit people when given the chance.Throughout the novel, Bateman examines every person he meets, but not through conversationor time spent with the person, rather through the clothing the person is wearing. This egocentricbehavior greatly exemplifies his lack of relationships with others. Instead of understandingpeople, he focuses on consumerism to figure out the kind of person they are. He even has troubleremembering his friends’ names and their faces.

American psycho also shows us the characterisation of society's collective unconsciousjust like Shammy in the film Kumbalangi Nights.

In the film, there are several scenes where Bateman admits that all his friends look aliketo him and that he constantly mixes them up. This type of behaviour displays Bateman'sloneliness and isolation from others. Bateman also exhibits insanity or in particularschizophrenia. As the novel reaches the end, it is revealed that Bateman may have made up thesituations of murdering all those people.

When talking to his lawyer about killing several police officers, Paul Owen and manymore, his lawyer tells him that it is a hilarious joke. Bateman keeps pressuring him and tellinghim that he actually did it, but his lawyer tells him that it's impossible due to the fact that he haddinner with Paul Owen a couple of days ago. When Bateman hears this he joins his friends andbegins to laugh. This particular scene in the novel can greatly explain why Bateman hasn't beencaught for all the crimes he committed and that he is just insane to the point that he is imaginingthe killings of his coworkers, homeless people, animals and others. This also reveals thatBateman is actually a really unreliable narrator.

Obliviousness is a recurring theme throughout the story of American Psycho as manycharacters completely ignore the fact that Bateman tells them that he is a serial killer. Batemanconstantly confesses that he kills people and that he would even kill them if they pushed him tohis breaking point, but due to Bateman's whole persona of being a wealthy and high statusinvestment banker they just pass over the idea that he is a psychopath.

At the beginning of the novel, Bateman takes his bed sheets to the dry cleaners and tellsthem to clean them. The dry cleaner lady refuses to clean the bed sheets due to the blood on thesheets. This infuriates Bateman and he goes as far as to telling her that he will kill her if shedoesn't clean the sheets, the lady is in shock for a couple of seconds but then goes on like hedidn't even threaten her. This ignorance displayed by these characters allow Bateman'spsychopathic behaviour to grow due to the fact that a person as rich as him wouldn't commitheinous crimes as murdering people. This theme is stressed over and over again and even withBateman admitting to massacring many people no one believes him. This is due to the fact thathe's too much of a "whimp" or "weakling" to commit such a crime. This oblivious behavioureven contributes to Bateman's insanity as he wants people to know of his fragile state, but theykeep ignoring it, causing Bateman's urge to kill to continue.

Appearance versus Reality is probably the most evident theme in the Film as it revolvesaround the whole character of Patrick Bateman. The theme of appearance vs. reality focuses onwhat things are appearing to be compared to the actual reality of things.

In the case of American Psycho the appearance of Patrick Bateman is that of anintelligent, handsome, strong and wealthy man. He also appears to be perfectly sane and alwaysenjoying his nights out by spending time with friends, but in actuality Patrick Bateman is aninsane psychopathic killer that cannot control his urge to murder someone. This theme is shownin several parts of the novel, such as the scene with the hooker "Christie". To Christie he appearsto be a wealthy man looking for someone to pleasure his needs and she even tells him that she'snot supposed to go to people's houses. But due to the fact that Bateman pulls up to pick Christiein a limo and is wearing expensive clothing, she accepts Bateman's offer.

Though in reality, he is just a misogynistic man that has no respect for women and enjoysabusing them. He treats the women with utter most respect but when he has these sexualeruptions he changes to a whole different person. Breaking the nose of prostitutes, scratching andchoking them, Bateman was not the man they thought he was.

Greed is another evident theme in the novel American Psycho, in which all the charactersin the story demonstrate it at one point. Patrick Bateman's constant desires for money and powerare shown through his power dominance of women during sexual intercourse. Although he paidthe women for an intercourse he forces the women to the point that it is abuse. This greed isespecially shown in these scenes of the book as he is trying to obtain power through his rape ofwomen. This greed also continues on through his intense desire to murder people. Once Batemanfeels an urge to spill blood he cannot stop himself until he does so. This theme of greed alsoreflects high society, as society labelled high society as greedy human beings. These charactersin this novel all represent wealthy people and they all display constant greed.

American Psycho also remains, to my mind, the single most damning critique of thecultural consequences of contemporary capitalism. By drawing a parallel between the ritualisticdisplays of domination on Wall Street and the signs of an actual psychopath, the film not onlyshows how soft sadism shades into truly violent behavior, and suggests that the peculiar customsof the commercial elite can blind us to the difference. The American society is known for beingaggressive. It is a society where schools have police departments within to maintain discipline.And where ‘guns and violence’ is part of normalcy, so is this ‘aggressive mentality’ along withmaterialism and self-centrism.

Conclusion

The films Kumbalangi Nights and American Psycho show us the characters of Shammyand Patrick Bateman both mentally disabled or psychopaths. The characters are not typicalAntagonists we usually see on the big screen. Their mental disorders are the disorders of theirrespective societies. The materialism, yuppie culture, self-centrism and misogynist morale arethe traits of Patrick Bateman's character. The film was satire intended to highlight the relentlessgreed and narcissism of 80’s excess that at times bordered on psychopathic. People like PatrickBateman existed (minus the murderous appetites). They still do. Ultimately though, allBateman’s material wealth and indulgences, though enjoyable at the time, do not fill the darkhole inside of him. He always needs more.

First and foremost the movie is based on a novel which is about the insanity ofconsumerism and appearances within the upper-class society of New York City in the 1980’s.The novel, as well as the movie, is a dark comedy. It’s intended to be funny and absurd in howoutrageous it all is. Easton Ellis has confirmed in interviews that he’s done about the book. It’snot meant to be taken literally, but rather an allegory in that appearances can be deceiving andthis applies to all social classes.

With that in mind the character of Patrick Bateman is one who has become so lost in themoral vacancy and vapidity of consumer culture that he has suffered a psychotic break withreality in which he is aware of the culture in which he lives and hates it as much as he cannotstop being a part from it.

I would argue that there is a deep aspect of the film that is a very critical take on thehyper-consumerism that dominated American culture in the 1980’s. Easton Ellis’s upper-classNew York society is so consumed with itself and outward appearances that an individual (PatrickBateman) could commit murder and not be noticed because of the amount of visual and sensualdistractions that would keep people focused on fashion, television and popular culture rather thanthe subtle cues and clues that would out a person as having committed vicious crimes against hisfellow human beings.

One of the more shocking episodes in the film is Bateman’s assault on a homeless man.Bateman gives the homeless man money while berating him for being homeless and then blindsthe man with a knife. I say this is shocking because the homeless man (identified as “Al”) hasbeen reduced to nothing more than an object that Bateman proceeds to maim. For what reason?In the context of the film the most discernible reason is that Bateman gains satisfaction fromdoing this. This can then be applied to the culture-at-large: those in power will not/would notthink twice about objectifying those below them. The homeless man is just one example.Bateman also mutilates and murders prostitutes, murders Paul Allen (debatable) and in a trulybizarre moment murders a child at the zoo for no discernible reason other than he can only gainsatisfaction from doing these things as all forms of pleasure have been exhausted.

With that being said the film can be considered deep because it is using the element ofpleasure seeking and entertainment to assault the reader’s sensibilities. Getting through the filmwithout frustration is a difficult task as Easton Ellis shows us that which we often seek to deny:we’re all one step away from barbarism and tribulation. The true nature of all human beings canonly be hidden so well. It’s always there, right underneath the surface.

Easton Ellis gives us access to the mind of someone who is, perhaps, at the breakingpoint of restraining their desire for barbarism and destruction. Patrick Bateman is a person whohas consumed fashion, culture and society to the point that it no longer offers anything ofsustenance. This is a character that is literally starving to death for meaningful, primal experienceand finds relief, of sorts, in killing others.

What is American Psycho? This is a film that shows the decadence of the 1980’s as wellas the depravity hiding behind it. The deep aspect of the film is found in the horrific idea thatappearances are so powerful and so captivating that no one in the film noticed that Bateman wasa brutal killer. It’s not that they can’t see it, it’s that they choose not to look for it and thereforedon’t see it and if it’s out of sight and out of mind then it doesn’t really matter does it?

Kumbalangi Nights on the other hand in a similar way uses social criticism and socialpsychology to point out the evils of patriarchal social system relevant in Kerala society.The story depicts the life of four brothers, or rather a band of misfits, who live as outcasts in themost dilapidated and avoided part of the town Kumbalangi. All these four men are victims ofinner trauma, with their father dead and mother abandoning them to their cursed fate. The fourbrothers attempt to escape their psychological distress through various means. The youngestbrother travels far away from home for his studies, another brother one smokes weed, anotherrelies on alcohol and one on music. They all stay away from the mess that their family and lifewas.

The only attribute they cherish is their masculinity, with which they are burdened andcaught unawares. Thus they are frowned upon by the villagers and have a bad reputation acrossthe place. Shammy is a stereotypical alpha male, the kind of character who is usually glorifiedand exonerated in mainstream films. Shammy is introduced to the audience as a character who isin deep love with his moustache and his masculinity. Moreover, he regards himself as thecomplete man. The film deviates from the traditional trend of glorifying manhood. Instead, thefilm shows the shortcomings of toxic masculinity in contemporary society.

Perhaps, Shammy’s fatal flaw is the fact that he is in a make-believe universe where hebelieves the actions he does in the name of protecting his wife and his in laws are justifiable. Hishamartia is his inability to accept his faults. The four brothers in their tumultuous journeyeventually reconcile and come together. There is a more humane depiction of the four brothers.They are neither white nor black; instead, they occupy the grey area just like any other humanbeing.

Shammy’s insistence on playing life by his rules, his tendency to intrude into others’private space, his need to constantly remind others of his superiority, and his tendency to dampen

female rights are all issues that need to be addressed. These issues are also reflective of theconservative Kerala society. Shammy’s thought process never really changes in the movie as heexclaims that he is the hero in the story, not the villain. Thus the movie depicts the psyche of aman entrenched in toxic masculinity. Shammy, although an exaggerated cinematic character,remains as the poster boy of all things erroneous in the patriarchal social system.

The concept of gender equality, despite having a long precedence across the world, hasonly recently made a breakthrough in India, especially in the state of Kerala. Kerala, despitehaving high social progress indices, has a patriarchal social system. Patriarchal construct andmale chauvinism have been glorified in many films and other media. Thus, over time, overt-patriarchy has become deeply ingrained in Kerala. Even in the liberal quarters of the state,patriarchy has been just toned down, not completely eradicated. Therefore, patriarchy promotesthe alpha male to assert his dominance over social institutions like families, societies, caste,religion etc.

Recently, there has been a change in temperament in the state of Kerala. With the adventof the “#me too campaign”, people have started to call out against male dominance andchauvinism in the state. In fact, even the Sabarimala issue, up to an extent, was a protest againstthe oppressive hands of patriarchy. Despite the rampant upsurge of female power, the prejudicedsociety is yet to accept the changing gender dynamics. Scores of female activists, intellectualsand women with opinions are brutally trolled in the social media sites and are called feminichi,an insult referring to women with feminist ideologies.

Both films are great examples form social criticism, social psychology and collectiveunconscious. Also both films discusses the social inequalities like gender discrimination andinequality of economic classes also other problems in the society like materialism andself-centrism. Both characters are Antagonists while being the main characters in their respectivefilms. Both characters could be called Psychopaths as they show the symptoms. Theirpsychological disorders are directed at their respective societies.

Works Cited

Doyle, D. John; What does it mean to be Human? : Life, Death, Personhood and the

Transhumanist Movement; Springer USA, 2018

Jeffrey, Robbin; Politics, Women and Well-Being:How Kerala Became 'a Model'

; Macmillan, 1992

Patriarchy; www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy accessed 13 Dec 2019

Social Criticism ; www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_criticism accessed 14 Dec 2019

Social Psychology ; www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychology accessed 15 Dec 2019