Homeless paying a savage price for our poverty
Attacks on the weak reveal a society plagued by fear and ruthlessly hiding its failures.
It is not a book that you want to be reminded of, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Nor does the movie adaptation, starring Christian Bale as the yuppie psychopath Patrick Bateman, make for enjoyable repeat viewing.
One disturbing scene resonated particularly strongly. Bateman is walking New York's back streets, dressed in a designer suit and silk-lined coat. The shoes: "patent leather slip-ons by Baker-Benjes". He comes across a homeless man, and stops to talk to him - to interrogate him.
"If you're so hungry, why don't you get a job?" Bateman asks, with icy interest. "Do you think it's fair to take money from people who do have jobs? Who do work?"
Things go on in this way for a while, the "bum" desperately holding out for a few greenbacks.
Eventually, a frustrated Bateman steps back, rage building, and says, "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't have anything in common with you." He pulls out a knife and plunges it into the homeless man.
This is distressing fiction - and it's little wonder many people found the novel sickening and offensive.
· No Wonder [ via Brilliant ABC Tales]
· God works in mysterious ways: via Web [ courtesy of SMH]
Art for the indifferent