People out here pretending people take them seriously so they have a strawman to shoot at.

Thanks for a great conversation starter. I'm going to answer by category! About association: Linking together Trump and the themes of the video is a risk. As Trump is such a large character of modern society, he symbolizes and influences people on a multitude of different areas. Trump can be understood through many individually fitting lenses, which is one the reasons why his populism is so appealing. Finding an “objective Trump” is impossible, especially because he’s in politics - all politicians act somewhat incoherently, that’s in the nature of modern democracy. Associating some of the values of the “sigma culture” with Trump is meant to only show a particular overlapping. This overlapping does not mean that all Trump voters are within that area, but only shows that some are. Basically, this could’ve gone either way! I’m sure some of the people in the sigma movement are politically inclined to the left. Why focus on the right-wing then? Because of potent thematic similarity. The association begins from Ellis’ pen. It’s carried onto modernity not with a coherent community, but through a similar reactivity. Modern society poses a lot of threats, which are countered and dealt with multiple ways. One way to react to a modern threat is through Trump; another way is the “sigma male movement”. And let’s be clear, one way to react is also through conservatism, which is not what Trump fundamentally is - it’s something that Trump also only overlaps with. Nonetheless, the way some of Trump supporters and some of the sigma male movement react to modern threats is very similar, especially through it’s anti-establishment ideals. Shining light on this similarity is risky, since opinions and ideals from the entire subject areas are included, not only from the overlapping area. So, in a way, you are very right: highlighting the association can and will be seen as politically charged, not due to the content itself, but because of the millions of opinions involved. This does not mean that one should refrain from highlighting the thematic similarities. About the rise of the right wing: You’re right, right-wing politics have been around for a long time, that’s not what I mean. I’ll elaborate: in a global political spectrum, there has been a very measurable rise in far-right-wing politics. Trumpism is generally seen as the American political variant of far-right politics. But like I said, Trump’s populism overlaps in a multitude of areas. He can be seen as conservative, protective, progressive, nationalistic, anti-constitutional - basically as many ways as there are interpreters. Through this, one can create an argument that Trump’s values, or right-wing values have always been around. But one election can be very much indicative of a rise. Group this election with a measurable rise in right-wing media, grassroot movements such as the Tea Party, social media grouping and influence, voting patterns, global diplomacy and liaison - the question on whether right-wing politics became more popular in the mid 2010’s is a no brainer to empirical analysis. The current president being a “liberal” can be grouped into other phenomena, such as societal polarization, which was increased by the previous election. About bias: The most interesting one! Grouping and associating politicians with anything can and will be seen as disingenuous, politically charged and biased. This is, like I said, risky, but also done with intention. The intention of pointing out the themes in this video aims to widen the discourse surrounding Trump by critiquing his influence. This is not meant to downplay conservatism, nationalism or other overlapping ideologies. It is merely a showcase of extremely ironic similarities, which aim the viewer to think about what Trump is about in entirety, not only in slices. Like it or not, what is said in the video is fundamentally true: Trump and Bateman share a lot of similar values. It’s a state of cognitive dissonance to believe that Bateman’s values are dangerous, but Trump’s couldn’t be. That doesn’t mean that Trump can’t be seen as something else, on the contrary, it’s his populistic aim to be understood from as many different outlooks as possible. It’s only to say that that’s one part of Trump, and voting for him means implicitly voting for the other part as well. Also, I find the link between movies and politics incredibly interesting, and when I see something fitting, I enjoy talking about it. You’ll be sure to see some videos on this channel discussing harmful leftist ideologies as well. I’m mostly paraphrasing peer-reviewed sources in the channel, and by any means I do not aim to show only one-sided debates. It seems that this video can be seen like that, thanks for pointing that out. Anycase, thanks for your comment once again! It got me thinking and I wanted to answer thoroughly!

I want to point out that Trump has been conservative since 2016 election cycle. Before that, he supported the Democratic party. So he is a postmodern conservative , not a real one, with real conservative values. The man paid off a prostitute to keep quiet about his affair with her and went to Epstein island.

he's in the title.

@@plasticweapon I mean his connection between Bateman and Trump is ridiculous.

Blame the author then, since Trump is in the original book American Psycho and Patrick idolizes him.

@@marokanetc well it indeed says about author more than about Trump. And fair enough, he was a communist.

@@marokanetcYes trump is in the book but not in the movie.

Close enough 😅 next time I'll nail it!

That's true! The irony!

It's very hard to make any type of media that has an actual message and be subtle about it, because in a society that fosters unstable thinking your message will always be subverted by people that just didn't get it. Achie Bunker, for example was never meant to be a role model, and yet a huge demographic identified with him.

​@@NelsonStJamesFALLING DOWN. Every brain dead Gen Xer I know says "I GET Defense now that I'm older" and... Jesus it just went all over your head, didn't it? Ditto NETWORK. "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" isn't supposed to be a rallying cry, it's the expression of a man having a psychotic break, which then gets commodified by corporate American media.

Thanks a billion!!

So in the end ,him killing women is toxic masculinity. Because he has repressed his true emotions for too long, he has to lash out .

That's a very interesting analysis, and one I've never heard put forth before. I'd really like someone to do a video essay from that angle, but I don't think we'll ever see it as that's not a take that fits the narrative this film has been given.

Feminity and masculinity are interwoven, just like emotions and logic. So what you wrote doesn't exclude the fact that Bateman is in fact a toxic masculine character, even if he expresses toxic feminine traits.

@@HobanProduction how is flaunting his wealth toxic masculinity?

​@marokanetc No one hates women more than other women so no its still feminine

I've read about it before! Especially when reading about representations of gods and such. Haven't thought about it in regards to film though! Good point.

Thanks so much!

Thanks! Tell your friends haha, let's keep growing a community!

Haha for now I'm happy that I can create that reaction in at least one person!