About

Patrick Bateman Walking or Patrick Bateman Listens to Music refers to a series of edits based on a scene from the 2000 film American Psycho in which main character Patrick Bateman walks into his office in his headphones listening to "Walking on Sunshine." In the edits, various songs are edited in, with Bateman representing the Chad meme archetype.

In February 2021, the meme regained popularity as Patrick Bateman Walking in Video Games, with users editing the walking Bateman into various games.

Origin

On April 14th, 2000, psychological thriller American Psycho premiered in the United States.^[1] In one scene of the film, main protagonist Patrick Bateman is shown walking into his office wearing headphones and listening to "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves (scene shown below).

On November 17th, 2020, X^[17] user @LaidBackTeaTime uploaded a meme based on the video in which the music was replaced with Cagayake! GIRLS, the opening theme of the first season of K-On!, to X (post shown below) and the Facebook group K-ON! ／ けいおん! (post no longer available), where it gained significant traction.

Wow he is literally me… pic.twitter.com/ySVXrJw1E9

— Hime ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ (@LaidBackTeaTime) November 17, 2020

On December 5th, 2020, iFunny^[2] user AlmightySpartan replaced the audio in the clip with "Peroxide" by Ecco2k. The post gained over 1,300 smiles in four days (shown below).

Spread

Starting on December 6th, 2020, multiple iFunny users created similar edits based on the video. For example, on that day iFunny^[3] user mudderbudder posted an LISA – "Crossing Field" version of the meme that received over 270 smiles (shown below, left). On the same day, iFunny^[4][5] users Arminivs and PartytimeChump posted edits that received over 800 and 600 smiles, respectively (shown below, center and right).

Starting on December 6th, 2020, Instagram account repostrandy started reposting memes to the platform. For example, an edit^[6] set to Among Us (Trap Remix) received over 76,500 views and 21,200 likes in three days. A version^[7] set to "I Got Skills" by DJ Suede The Remix God received over 33,000 views and 8,400 likes in two days.

Patrick Bateman Walking in Video Games

On February 7th, 2021, TikTok^[8] user gold.in.the.gutter posted a Chug Jug With You edit of the meme that received over one million views and 201,000 likes in two weeks (shown below). The same idea was used by YouTuber^[16] pipsi a month prior.

In the following days, the meme received viral spread on social media; for example, om February 9th, 2021, content creator IGotSilver^[9] reposted the video on their backup Instagram channel. Also on February 9th, YouTube^[10] and Instagram^[11] user YourBoyBrad remade the meme, gaining over 34,000 views on YouTube and 5,100 views on Instagram.

Starting on February 12th, iGotSilver posted a series of edits in which he edited Bateman into various video games, including Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout: New Vegas and Rocket League (examples shown below). The first video in the series, a Mario Kart Wii edit,^[12][13] received over 62,100 views on Instagram and 30,400 views on Twitter.

Following the viral spread of IGotSilver's edits, the format gained popularity among users on Twitter, Instagram and in VK community MemeBlog.^[14] For example, on February 14th, 2021, content creator @conkface posted^[15] a Half-Life edit that received over 5,900 retweets and 26,500 likes (shown below).

pic.twitter.com/fWthTtB4dK

— conk (@conkface) February 14, 2021

Various Examples

pic.twitter.com/MBOleU0SCW

— FABINO (@KinoFabino) February 16, 2021

Template

Search Interest

External References