Did Patrick batemen (American phyco) create the modern finance bro daily routine
I’ve been thinking that the modern finance bro is basically Patrick Bateman minus the murdering.
Not necessarily in a bad way either, because I’m definitely guilty of half of it.
There’s this weird obsession now with having everything dialled in. Gym before work, protein-heavy diet, supplements lined up on the kitchen counter, sleep tracked religiously, nice suits, nice watch, good restaurants, skincare routine that would have been considered suspiciously advanced for a man 15 years ago.
Somewhere along the way, being good at your job in finance stopped being enough. Now you also need visible abs, perfect bloodwork, a tailored wardrobe and a resting heart rate of 48.
And I completely get the appeal. There’s something satisfying about trying to optimise every part of your life. Career, fitness, food, clothes, sleep. It all becomes one big performance review.
Which is why watching American Psycho now is quite funny.
Patrick Bateman was supposed to be an absurd exaggeration of the image-obsessed Wall Street guy.
Instead, 25 years later, half of us watched it and thought:
“Okay, obviously the murdering is a problem… but what moisturiser was he using?”