I Don't Think I Can Control Myself

About

I Don't Think I Can Control Myself is a quote spoken by Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) in the 2000 film American Psycho. An audio clip of Bateman saying the line became the subject of lip dubs on TikTok in the first quarter of 2022 where TikTokers make jokes about their uncontrollable urges, often violent or sexual, using the catchphrase.

Origin

On April 14th, 2000, the film adaptation of American Psycho was released in theaters. In one scene, Patrick Bateman says, "I don't think I can control myself" in reference to his murderous urges. The scene was converted into a GIF numerous times throughout the 2010s, including a post to catchquotes^[1] on November 27th, 2014 (shown below).

Spread

TikTok

On February 9th, 2022, TikToker^[2] @sigmaposts posted a video using the scene, captioned, "when I'm in class and overhear people talk about a topic I'm a obsessed about and they keep getting the facts wrong," joking that they need to go correct them, gaining over 1.3 million views in a month (shown below).

The original sound inspired over 17,000 videos by March 31st, 2022. The majority of the videos are lip dubs and skits making jokes about the TikToker's uncontrollable urges, often violent or sexual in nature. For example, on March 24th, TikToker^[3] @linuxluvr posted a video joking about violent urges when her significant other solves a puzzle she's been working on, gaining over 1.2 million views in a week (shown below, left). On March 29th, TikToker^[4] @macinicole_ posted a video with a long-form caption about being agitated at their significant other, gaining over 1.7 million views in two days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References