Fight Club: The Enlightenment of Society's Denial of Reality

Transcription

1 Example 1 Example Project #4 Professor Mark English 1B 5:30 11 December 2017 Fight Club: The Enlightenment of Society's Denial of Reality A movie about people brawling for the sake of identity stability couldn't possibly have any form of important social commentary, right? Think again. A group of men band together, punch and kick themselves into oblivion, stand up, shake hands, and rely on this group to express their manliness and status. Hooligans, businessmen, rejects, entrepreneurs, all come together for one purpose: to beat the living daylights out of each other. Eventually, what all started as a little club in a basement grew to enormous factions and created a national movement of controlled anarchy. As outrageous as this seems, this weirdly brilliant concept struck a chord with society, and while watching this movie we begin to see ourselves and our own world in a retrospective way. Even though our culture seemingly glorifies consumerism, strong identities, and heroic values, David Fincher's Fight Club successfully conveys our cultural contradictions and the disturbing reality of our societal market. Fight Club depicts an everyday man, Jack, (played by Edward Norton) who is a worker for a large corporation. He suffers a great deal from insomnia and that is very apparent as the story progresses. He represents a large sum of everyday workers, the classic consumer of a capitalist system (IMDb). Like many common people, he is extremely bored with his routine, seeks counseling, and tries to simply get back to normal. While at a counseling session, he meets a girl named Marla (Helena Bonham Carter). Her perspective on the world is much different than his as she goes to counseling simply because the horrid lives of others entertain her

2 Example 2 and make her feel better about herself. Her narcissistic view hinders Jack the same way that her ideas always stick in his mind. Later, he meets the most vital character in the story, Tyler Durden (portrayed by Brad Pitt). Eventually these two characters on the opposite ends of personality spectrums become friends. In order to relieve stress from their lives, the two create Fight Club, a secretive club for males only held in the basement of a bar. Even though Fight Club has essentially one rule: Don't talk about Fight Club, other small clubs begin to develop around the country. While these clubs are starting to pop up, Tyler and Marla meet and begin a romantic relationship which makes Jack very jealous. As the club gets more and more popular, Tyler's anarchist thoughts begin to poke through. He begins assigning homework to fellow members that include, pick a fight with some random person. Jack becomes very wary of Tyler's motives. What started as a stress reliever has quickly turned into a violent movement across the nation. Tyler creates Project Mayhem which is a plan to destroy all credit card company records for the purpose of everyone in the country can be erased of their credit history, issuing a clean slate for everyone. After a series of radical and unfortunate events, Jack learns that through his insomnia, he has created an alter ego, a figment of his imagination: Tyler. He and Tyler are one person. He can't sleep so, whenever he thinks he is (or at random parts of a day), Tyler's persona takes over (IMDb). Learning that it was actually himself that committed all of these monstrosities, Jack does everything he can to destroy his alter ego. He confirms his suspicions with Marla and eventually, through violent acts, eliminates Tyler forever. The movie ends with the climactic realization of duel personalities and Project Mayhem still proceeds to take place, destroying the Financial District of the city, and with it, all of the credit card records. Now how does this very intricate plot line mirror our modern day society?

3 Example 3 Looking at the main protagonist, Jack, an observer can get a feel for the contemporary social view of corporate workaholics, a domesticated context of masculinity, and a link to a modern consumer. Throughout the film, Jack is full of anxiety, is a clear struggling insomniac, and is constantly searching for more. What makes him attractive to us is that he seems to be very genuine in his opinions and reactions. He doesn't want to fall into the dark rabbit hole of spontaneous, unwarranted violence. He represents the decently normal person; he struggles in his relationships and is looking for a sense of achievement and worth. He finds a lot of his achievement in Tyler's logic because it is so contrast and different from his own. In the film, every time Tyler makes one step forward into madness, Jack always moves cautiously, trying not to cross the point of no return. This idea of manliness is a very modern perspective. Men aren't always huffing and puffing brutes with small brains and a desire to control the world around them. Jack is the more realistic version of masculinity in the modern era. Henry Giroux, in his article titled, Private Satisfactions and Public Disorders: Fight Club, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Masculine Violence describes this man in three perfect adjectives, Jack exemplifies a form of domesticated masculinity passive, alienated, and without ambition (Giroux 12). There is nothing wrong with these definitions described by Giroux; but Jack was created as this archetype in order to make a point: Society has it's own view for men: strong, aggressive, brash, independent. The movie brings a contradiction to light in the fact that the everyday working man is not what we think; furthermore, it is the villains, such as Tyler Durden, who actually carry these masculine traits. The title character also represents another polarizing topic: consumerism. Jack is the ideal consumer. As an insomniac, he spends many nights looking at Ikea's catalog and making purchases out of pure boredom. A more abstract look at his consumerism is his constant desire

4 Example 4 for more. He is looking for a product to change his life, enter: Tyler Durden. Tyler gives him a fresh breath of a new life. He becomes that product Jack needed and therefore, no matter how horrible the situation becomes, Jack can't turn away from Tyler's insane plans. An addiction has already set in. Even though Tyler has become a consumption, Jack still doesn't find enjoyment out of being the consumer, even in his everyday work life. This is greatly outlined in Omar Lizardo's article, Fight Club, or the Cultural Contradictions of Late Capitalism where he states,...we can begin to see that one of the crucial problematics of Fight Club is precisely the conjunction of, and contradictions brought about by, the clash of the incompatible logics of work and consumption (228). We as human beings are required to work in order to survive. We are taught to consume in order to enjoy. Yet, all of these mandatory efforts put us in a catatonic state of robotic routines and are we really happy? Therein lies one of the greatest contradictions presented in this film. Whereas Jack resembles the everyday man, the antithesis and alter ego to Jack, Tyler Durden, is the anarchist responsible for Project Mayhem. He represents the embodiment of general masculinity and the hollow seductions of consumerism. He holds many characteristics that people could find endearing; he is charismatic, he is a natural leader, dedicated, and original. At a glance, he could be the hero of this story; however, as described by Giroux, As the embodiment of authoritarian masculinity and hyper-individualism, Tyler cannot imagine a politics that connects to democratic movements, and is less a symbol of vision and leadership for the next millennium than a holdover of early twentieth-century fascism (12). His extreme methods overshadow his potential for good. Not only does he contradict the modern man, he represents the power against capitalism. He creates Project Mayhem in the attempt to ruin all consumer reports, to take people back to a blank state. If Jack is symbolic for the addictive

5 Example 5 nature of consuming, Tyler is the protestor in the crowd shouting against large market products. We, as a society, rely on consumption for our economy to work, yet we seem to ignore the pitfalls that come with constant purchasing. Tyler acts as that catalyst to bring to light this national contradiction about our capitalist upbringing. One of the most forgotten connections in the film was the relationship between Jack and Marla. The link between their relationship and the overall view of capitalism is apparent but not often discussed. In the beginning, Marla and Jack meet at the same self-help counseling meeting. Jack only attends meetings so that he can talk to dying people because they are the only people who would listen to him. It makes him feel better. Marla on the other hand, uses these meetings more for entertainment. This bothers Jack immensely because in his narcissistic world, he thinks he should be the only one to take advantage of these groups. He now blames Marla for ruining his one opportunity to feel listened to and understood. Yet he still has a soft spot her her. She could be a different out for him. When his apartment mysteriously explodes, he only has two numbers in his pocket to call; Tyler's and Marla's. It is clear he struggles for who to call but eventually chooses Tyler (Layton 122). Later he finds out that Tyler (who we know is actually Jack's alter ego) is sleeping with Marla. This realization cripples Jack even more, feeling abandoned yet again. These choices echo into society. Jack, the consumer, has two choices when his life is falling apart: Tyler, the product, or Marla, who represents possible intimacy and also Jack's guilt for taking advantage of the therapy sessions. Like much of society would, the consumer chose the more intriguing product. There is a line in Layton's article, Something to Do With a Girl Named Marla Singer that illustrates this point beautifully, The narrator tries to get Marla to stop attending meetings, and Marla asks him why these groups matter so much to him. He says:

6 Example 6 I don t know. When people think you re dying they listen to you, instead of Marla finishes his sentence, Instead of waiting for their turn to speak. Yeah, yeah. This interchange indicts a narcissistic world in which the chances for subject to subject relating in everyday life are almost nil. In moments such as this, the film crucially links capitalism with the destruction of capacities for intimacy (123). But what of Tyler Durden? Even though the character of Tyler is the epitome of anarchy and lust, a true character drunk with evil, how is he so lovable to an audience? Why do we embrace this character and how can this raving lunatic be so appealing to us? Simply put, he is the little voice in our heads that says, I don't care what you want, I am going to chase my own ambitions. If you read all of his innovations that he states in the movie, you'll realize that we recognize ourselves within each statement. He lists these rules as necessary thoughts needed in order to succeed: 1. No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide. 2. I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let s evolve, let the chips fall where they may. 3. It s only after we ve lost everything that we re free to do anything. 4. You re not your job. You re not how much money you have in the bank. You re not the car you drive. You re not the contents of your wallet. You re not your fucking khakis. 5. People do it everyday, they talk to themselves they see themselves as they d like to be, they don t have the courage you have, to just run with it. 6. Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken. 7. This is your life, and it s ending one minute at a time. (Clark)

7 Example 7 We all want to succeed and have the confidence to chase our dreams. We all want to be a part of something bigger. Tyler, even though his methods are ludicrous, he embodies the adventurous, animalistic state that we all carry inside of ourselves. He is the villain that represents the hero's dream. Once again we look at another contradiction within society. All of these rules Tyler preaches are honorable and admirable. Yet the film has these rules come from the criminal, not the domesticated Jack. We praise success and ambition, yet it is the evil doers who actually follow these rules. Does that mean that if everyone were to follow these selfish innovations that we would fall into a pit of social and cultural armaggedon? Maybe. We need the docile, timid, rule abiding citizens in order to keep life in balance. Leaders are just as important as followers; however, no one ever tells you that. Throughout life all we hear is, Be a leader. Enter: cultural contradiction. It is upsetting that we as a population pride ourselves in being unique and morally stable, yet we have so many contradictions that we turn away from. We believe that everything we do is right and that our culture is a flawless machine, but in actuality we discretely pride ourselves in our villainous big business corporations even though it can make us unhappy. We enjoy watching the actions of on-screen anti-heroes because they have the endearing traits that we see within ourselves; yet we believe we are pure and wholesome. After looking at this movie it is clear that these heroic values that we idolize, aren't necessarily heroic values. Our constant consuming of products is hurting us more than we realize, yet the massive chain corporation of Starbucks is our go-to friend. We (society) preach one thing yet exhibit another; Fight Club is the perfect representation of this phenomenon. How interesting it is how ignorant and oblivious we could be to our own pitfalls.

8 Example 8 Work Cited Clark, Brian. Tyler Durden s 8 Rules of Innovation. Lateral Action, Lateral Action, Dec. 2011, lateralaction.com/articles/tyler-durden-innovation/. Fight Club (1999) Plot Summary. IMDb, IMDb.com, Giroux, Henry A. Private Satisfactions and Public Disorders: Fight Club, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Masculine Violence. JAC, Vol. 21, no. 1, 2001, pp , Accessed 27 Nov Layton, Lynne. Something to Do with a Girl Named Marla Singer: Capitalism, Narcissism, and Therapeutic Discourse in David Fincher s Fight Club. Narcissism, Melancholia and the Subject of Community, Sept. 2011, pp , doi: / _4. Lizardo,Omar. Fight Club, or the Cultural Contradictions of Late Capitalism. Journal for Cultural Research, vol. 11, no. 3, 7 July 2007, pp doi: /