American Psycho
Patrick Bateman looks like a man, but he is not. “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman,” he says. “Some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory.” Bateman has the facade of a perfect life, but it’s entirely hollow, with all his material possessions and narcissistic affectations acting as props in the theatre of his existence. Oh, and he kills a lot of people.
The Shawkshank Redemption
Hopefully you’ve already seen The Shawshank Redemption, because how could you not have seen The Shawshank Redemption? Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and has to learn how to survive inside Shawshank prison. The film is based on hope, a hope built on the friendship between Andy and Red (Morgan Freeman). In a lesser film their relationship would be called a bromance, but this is something more.
The Social Network
Facebook, according to The Social Network, was born out of pettiness. It wasn’t a lightning strike of genius, it was a contemptuous little boy trying to get even with the opposite sex.
It’s ironic that the biggest social tool since the printing press was created by someone who didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘social’. How much of The Social Network is truth or exaggeration is up for debate, but the film is a slick and witty story of a bitter young man becoming the world’s youngest billionaire.
Frozen
Yes, a Disney kids’ film is essential viewing for every man. Frozen, apart from being a great story with the most annoyingly catchy song of recent times, is a definitive statement: men don’t have to be the heroes. Hilariously, Fox News took this as an attack on masculinity, claiming that Frozen is “empowering girls but turning our men into fools and villains”. Any sensible man can see what Frozen actually is: a long-needed redressing of the balance.
