TikTokers are ‘trying to be like Christian Bale’ with Sigma face trend
By now, you’ve probably seen — either online or in person — someone do the viral sigma face.
The sigma face is a viral trend that gets its inspiration from 2000 film American Psycho — specifically Christian Bale’s murderous character Patrick Bateman. In their posts, TikTokers imitate a specific facial expression that Bale makes in the film. The hashtag #patrickbateman has even received over 5.5 billion views on TikTok.
When the sigma face took off, it was originally poking fun at men and so-called “sigma culture“ — which leans into a form of masculinity that thrives off the mysterious and silent nature of some men. Sigma males are generally looked at similarly as Alpha males, with both defining their personalities with toxic masculinity tropes of dominance and control. The main difference is that the sigma male purposely chooses to be alone.
The sigma male trend, alongside images of the extremely problematic Patrick Bateman character, paired easily and put men at the forefront of the trend. Yet lately, the trend is leaning heavily towards sigma girls.
Late last year, user @argenby posted a sigma face video in which he made the face to support a man who acted in a sigma fashion — that is, a man who “plays by his own rules.” The entire trend does this ironically, especially with how prevalent sigma culture has become on TikTok.
“[N]ew sigma unlocked,” wrote @zmquto, as this was @argenby’s first sigma face video.
Since then, TikTok has been channeling its inner Patrick Bateman and learning to do the sigma face, as the #sigmaface hashtag has over 132 million views. The #sigmamale hashtag has nearly 4.5 billion views.
Even families have been able to participate in the trend, simply because it’s fun to make the face.
“[B]ro y’all blowing kisses on the camera,” said @user7435133692370.
The hashtag #sigmagirl dwarfs #sigmaface with over 1 billion views.
The leader of the #sigmagirl movement is @greapaxcherri. She has over 8 million followers on TikTok and has made the sigma trend a big part of her content. Her videos now show the sigma personality with the roles reversed, with the woman being the one with a dominant, nonchalant and manipulative personality.
“[N]ever underestimate the sigma girl,” @unearthly_ems writes. The switch in perspective from a regular girl to the mysterious sigma girl is a big reason why Greapa has been able to capitalize on the trend.
Whether TikTok simply likes American Psycho, wants to make fun of sigma culture (or silently join it) or just likes to make funny faces, the sigma face trend doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
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