Gene Siskel Film Center Chicago, IL
Coltan Scrivner
Researcher, Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago
American Psycho— Morbid, macabre and monstrous: Why we're drawn to the darkness
Program Description
True crime podcasts, binge-worthy Netflix series about serial killers, clicking on that link that says "see the gruesome photos!".We're all still picking up the rock to see the creepy-crawlies underneath, and now morbid curiosity is mainstream—but why? Join Coltan Scrivner, researcher at The University of Chicago in the Department of Comparative Human Development, and a Fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology, as he sheds light on why we are drawn to the darkness, how our interest is heightened by the horrifying, and why "morbid" doesn't have to be a dirty word.
Presented At
Gene Siskel Film Center Chicago, IL
Film Synopsis
A wealthy New York City investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
In Mary Harron's cult classic adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' divisive and shocking novel, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a young professional in New York City in the late eighties who has it all: looks, money, influence… and an appetite for bloodshed. By day, Bateman works out, makes reservations at the city's hottest spots, and considers his position in the professional pecking order. By night, he is a gruesome serial killer, setting his murderous sights on colleagues, call girls and strangers he passes on the street. Harron's uncompromising and biting dark comedy explores what makes a man a monster.
Photo credit: Lions Gate Films
About the Speaker
Coltan Scrivner is a researcher at The University of Chicago in the Department of Comparative Human Development, and a Fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology. He writes the "Morbid Minds" column for Psychology Today and his book on morbid curiosity will be published by Penguin Random House in the Fall of 2023.