Fight Club (1999) (Spoiler Warning)

Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club and it's film adaptation from David Fincher shows us the horrors of masculinity and how it can lead to violent activities. We, as a society, have been raised in a stereotypical masculine culture, the reflection of which can be seen in action movie stars, athletes, or superheros. But the characters Fight Club takes masculinity to the extreme with their foul language, their massive and brutal battles with each other, and their war against a capitalistic American society.

Common masculine stereotypes can be attributed to a short temper, the use of violence to solve disputes, fights in public places such as bars, and rough language. But Fight Club doesn't glorify and romanticize masculinity.

The Narrator (Edward Norton) expresses complete cowardice earlier in the story. He works at a boring job, which often affects his insomnia very badly, and he doesn't stand up to his boss (Zach Grenier). He doesn't really become a stereotype of masculinity until Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) enters his life and they decide to run a business in which oppressed men learn how to be a man by fighting each other. David Fincher shoots the fight sequences in dark areas with bright yellow lights to give the audience the feeling that the characters are like savages from hell, so while the movie does embrace violence, it does show the negativity that can come from it.

Fight Club also focuses heavily on the idea of extremism. Nietzsche once stated that the more civilized our society becomes, the weaker each individual becomes in terms of their willingness to endure physical consequences. The formation of the Fight Club was originally cathartic, intended to open the participants to a truer connection to reality. This opening, however, allowed for the extreme ideals of its creator to easily be adopted by those following him. Just as in a terrorist organization, where extreme rhetoric is used to conform the followers, Tyler Durden uses the rhetoric of Fight Club to align his followers with his end goal.

In the context of the story, terrorism is being used against our capitalist society. As the Fight Club progresses, Tyler Durden begins to form a group called Project Mayhem, which declares war on capitalism. They overfeed doves so they can defecate on brand new cars, they cause property damage such as wrecking cars, and blowing up electronic stores, and they beat up complete strangers while they are at work. But the terrorism isn't glamorized. Fincher still uses unsavory color palettes for sequences of Project Mayhem at work.

The true conclusion of both the book and film should be clear. Our Narrator eventually realizes that he himself is Tyler Durden. The parts of him that had felt quelled by the advancement of civilization in the worst possible ways. These manifestations led him down a dark path believing that your ability to damage and destroy defined your true effect on the world. This parallels with our contemporary traits of masculinity, that our ability to effect charge and have a true position is proportionate to our strength. It also parallels with groups in the real world who, when feeling oppressed, resort to violence (or terrorism) to achieve their goals. There's something intrinsically ironic, however, that in Fincher's film the majority of people in Project Mayhem are white American males, a group who in no way experiences actual oppression. It's as if it was purposely to show purposelessness of their actions.

Once our Narrator realizes the consequences of the actions in the book and film, he sets out to stop them. We, as an audience, are supposed to take the position of the Narrator. We are shown the lure of violence, of resorting to our basest instinct when we begin to feel lost in the world. But we are brought to the conclusion that these actions are not the best course to take, they merely result in more pain and destruction. Fight Club holds a mirror up to our faces and asks if what we actually like to see.

RATING: 4/4