The American Dream, as it has traditionally been known, is the idea that America is a country in which the possibility of economic and social advancement is achievable for all. It has often been sold in the form of a conventional 'rags to riches' tale, in which one is able to defy the odds and acquire wealth despite humble beginnings. However, as defined by Author James Truslow Adams, the American Dream “is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. This dream also represents that people, no matter who he or she is, can become successful in life by his or her own work. The desire to strive for what one wants can be accomplished if they work hard enough. The dream is represented by the ideas of a self-sufficient man or woman, who works hard to achieve a goal to become successful. However, this definition shifted throughout the development of American history. In the 20th century, the American Dream morphed into a darker, materialistic notion, which was depicted by the films The Great Gatsby and American Psycho. Ultimately they both show materialism as something to be abhorred, that it is entrapping and that it is a corruption of the American dream.
The 20th century shift from creating a better life to a materialistic life was described in by Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a novel-turned-movie that shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, a time period when the traditional American dream became corrupted and caused the destruction of many. It emphasized the negative effects of a consumerist society, which drives people to commit acts that are against their personal morals due the belief that their self-worth is solely based on their wealth. That wealth and material possessions are directly proportionate to happiness forces people to adapt to a life that has detrimental effects on not only the individual themselves, but society as a whole. In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s American Dream is to acquire Daisy’s love, despite the method to get her. It highlighted the expectation that people should sacrifice their vocational desires to fulfill those that society deems necessary, such as having a well-paid job, a wife and children. Gatsby, the man who most obviously seems like he is living the “perfect” American dream, achieved it through criminal means and by deceiving others and himself. James Gatsby, born James Gatz, came from a poor farmer’s family in North Dakota. His shame and misery drove him to change his persona and hence the polite, wealthy, well-dressed Gatsby was born. When Gatsby was in the army, he met Daisy, his “dream girl” which represented everything he wanted: young, beautiful, and wealthy. They fell in love but when he left to serve in the war and make money, she married Tom Buchanan. Gatsby’s grief of losing the love of his life drives him to create an illusion of extreme wealth to win her back. Gatsby is very passionate with his dreams, and will do anything to reach them. All his ideals and blinded dreams represent the American Dream, and how it was corrupted by the materialist post-war world. Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy have all been corrupted and destroyed by the dream.
American Psycho is another novel-turned-movie which represents the satirical, distorted, dark, surface superficiality of the American Dream. Patrick Bateman represents the ultimate stereotype of rich Manhattan Wall Street investment banker. He is a specialist in the mergers and acquisitions department, otherwise known as “murders and executions”, at Pierce & Pierce and lives on the Upper West Side. He has all the stuff that the average American wants; he wears designer suits, lives in a massive penthouse adorned with expensive art, has an equally wealthy and beautiful fiancé, and only dines at the finest restaurants and hotels. He meticulously outlines his daily routine, elaborates on his material possessions, his highly specified skincare routine, designer clothes, and expensive penthouse suite furniture. He is so wound up in that lifestyle yet unfortunately, he still not is satisfied since his friends have the same, if not nicer, stuff than him. His insecurity and self-hate leads him into a cycle of comparison and dissatisfaction that represents the less glamorous aspects of the rich New York life. To compensate for his displeasure in all his possesions, he resorts to leading a double life as a serial killer. In his secret life, he is an indiscriminant killer, who ranges from killing collegues like Paul Allen, homeless people, prostitutes and animals. He kills women mostly based on sadistic sexual pleasure, which differs for his reasoning of men victims. Usually the men victims are due to anger, annoyance, and inferiority complex. This leads to a chain of events which leads to Bateman’s confession of his crimes to his lawyer. However, his confession is taken as a joke as Allen was seen just a few days prior by lawyer. This leads to Bateman questioning himself and his sanity, wondering if his murders were actually commited or were they vivid hallucinations? He ends by realizing there is no way out of his pointless comparative existance. Everyone he associates with is essetntially the same, as they all basically act, talk, and live the same lives. He no longer has his identity or individuality.
A key difference between the two movies is that while in the Great Gatsby, his materialism is used to impress Daisy and is used as props of attraction, Bateman’s materialism encapsulates his being. His stuff is solely for himself, and while it is used to impress others, such as the business card scene, he distinguishes others by their stuff too. One of his coworkers shows off his fancy new business cards to everybody in the room. Bateman notices that his peers are all impressed by this business card, so he pulls out his own slightly nicer business card. All his peers are impressed by his card. Bateman is satisfied, because he is now the “best” in the room. Soon after, one of his peers then upstages him by showing off their slightly better card. Bateman begins to have a breakdown when his card is no longer the best in the room. For Bateman, the fact that his card isn’t the absolute best is absolutely devastating to him. Bateman’s only care in life is that his image is the very best. Throughout the movie, as people are introduced, they are described by their designer clothing, not by their physical characteristics or relation. The other characters are also just as trapped into materialism as Bateman is. is fiancé, Evelyn, is only with him for his prestige and wealth, despite cheating on him with a friend. She only wants to spend time with him when hes around his other prestigious friends and takes her to famed restaurnts, such as Dorsia. In American Psycho, the other characters are just as trapped as Patrick is in the Materialistic world as he is.
American Pscyho and The Great Gatsby relate to the American Dream by questioning the validity and importance that materialism had on the American public. As most aspired to be the “richest of the rich”, was it really worth your mental sanity and loss of all simple pleasures? These movies critize the importance that we hold for wealth, not of the wealthy. Both of these movies showcase the negative consequences to being super rich and brandishes the idea that wealth equals success. Success does not necessarily equate wealth when it comes at the cost of one’s mental sanity. The lavish yet hollow lifestyle of Gatsby and Bateman depict the that reflects the American Dream of equal opportunity and glorification of ones self through their own hard work. Both critique the focus on materialistic posessions over basic human morals and values. While American Psycho takes this notion to the extreme, it adequately represents the void that one has when surrounded by materials that have no intrinsic value. These two movies represent how individuals base their economic and social identity based on wealth, extravagance, and class. It also depicts the harsh effects that living in artifice can affect one’s reality. The loss of identity and de-individualization in the consumer-dominated world is one of the major themes in both.