Fight Club and the Doors of Perception

These are the all singing, all dancing SPOILERS of the world

 

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch Fight Club once every six months for the next five years. Each time, keep a written record of how you felt about it – where your sympathies lay with the characters, what you felt their real motivations were, what the message of the film was. Do not read your previous entries until you’ve finished the last one. Do not read criticism or watch documentaries regarding it. Do not do anything that could fix your opinion of it moreso than it is already fixed. Do not talk about Fight Club.

I can’t think of any other film that I have interpreted so differently each time I’ve watched it. I will of course admit that how I watch it is always affected by what’s going on in my life at the time. In my opinion that’s a major part of its brilliance – and on one occasion, its downfall.

Of course, there are some themes, plot-points and nuances of characterisation that are central to the film and sometimes made quite obvious for us. Sometimes it annoys me that the third act of the film goes to such lengths to explain that Pitt’s Durden is one and the same as Norton’s unnamed character -  who I will refer to as ‘Jack’ after the subject of the first-person bodily organ narratives he finds. We could figure that for ourselves- but it leaves the question of whether or not test audiences could. I guess not, if it was necessary to include such explication.

Casting my mind back, I remember seeing a very different film for the first time when I was sixteen or seventeen. Yes, it was on VHS so it looked like crap, but that’s not what I mean. As I prejudicially believe teenagers are wont to do, I found it to be a very ‘cool’ film. It had a stylish protagonist in Durden, a twist and an intellectual, establishment-defying message to it. Naturally, I really enjoyed the anti-Capitalist idea. Now I realise of course that Durden is a cult of personality and simply cannot tolerate anything as being perceived as more important than him.

The biggest difference between my perception of the film then as opposed to now is Marla Singer. Casting my mind back, I am certain that my younger self despised Marla as a moody, fickle attention-seeker. The film does an excellent job of aligning us with Jack though his narration and his placement in the foreground of scenes involving himself, Durden and Marla. It seems that Jack constantly takes the flak from Marla for her relationship problems with Durden. His politeness is stretched to its limit and the only indication of suppressed rage is the frantic scrubbing of his toothbrush on a shirt-stain. Her flirtation and groping seem to mock him, giving a glimpse of what she has with Durden, rubbing in her prior sexual rejection of him. When she speaks of the bridesmaid’s dress she is wearing and how special it was to someone, she seems to be building a self-absorbed adolescent tragedy around herself …

… until you realise that she is of course talking to Durden and alluding to the way he actually treats her – throwing himself into other tasks to avoid any kind of post-coitus bonding and eventually ejecting her from his home as if she no longer means anything. While it is true that Marla does nothing to help herself whatever way the film is watched, on second viewing she becomes an intensely sad, sympathetic figure.

Knowing that Durden and Jack are one and the same throws many other points into sharp relief. Suddenly Durden’s revelations about being “a generation of men raised by women,” and wondering “if another woman is really what we need” become elaborate rationalisations for ignoring Marla when he isn’t boning her. An enlightened visionary becomes a selfish asshole long before the third act.

It’s not to say that Fight Club is without failings. There is some painful exposition, but at least it is brief. Where the film fails, some of the blame can be laid on the audience. Watch Fight Club disengaged after the first viewing, suffering under the assumption that all its mysteries are unravelled, and you might find it tedious. The journalist knows this, because the viewer knows this. Time and space can vastly improve this film – after being bored by it once, I left it almost two years, and then found it revelatory when I came back to it.

There is so much to discuss, but I don’t see much reason for any more glib assertions about my interpretations.

What are your experiences of Fight Club?

-          David ‘Piler Turden’ Jackson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

You can feed his despicable lust for gold buying his first novel by clicking here. It’s called ‘Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity’ and sees cybernetically enhanced super-cop Jennifer Carter uncover a terrible plot to overthrow the British government while on the run from the very institution she is trying to save. It’s very violent, which he knows you’ll love because you’re a sadist. It’s mainly racists that get hurt, so it’s OK. He recommends waiting a while for the improved second edition, because the formatting didn’t transfer properly to all devices, goddammit!

More from David M. Jackson at I Love That Film:

 

Second-Hand Stories, Second-Hand Opinions

Face It - 'The Dark Knight' is Actually Shit

Are James Cameron’s Movies Misandrist, and What Would he Hope to Gain if They Were?

Why I Love That Film: Aliens 

More on Fight Club:

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation? (written version)

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation? (video version)

Lots more Fight Club links

Using Critical Approaches to Study Fight Club

Using Critical Approaches to Study Fight Club

Fight Club is a film that lends itself to study from a vast number of critical approaches. Each approach reveals a new way of looking at the film and new ways of interpreting its messages. Fight Club is a complex and subversive film and though it can be studied in many ways, I will focus on how useful feminist, psychoanalytic and genre approaches have been in reading the film as I believe considering gender representations is the most interesting way to read Fight Club.

Fight Club is a film that many have accused of being misogynist for its depiction of men who reject women and feel emasculated by modern society. Its representation of women is limited with only Marla being the main female character. The men in Fight Club appear to reject not only women but also the apparent feminisation of modern society. Tyler encourages them to forget their past ties to their homes and possessions and join a men only cult where they do not care about how they look, what they wear or the comforts of modern life. Tyler specifically questions if his generation of men ‘raised by women’ actually need another woman. He seems to suggest that because the fathers of many modern men have been absent from their son’s lives, the boys have grown up to be weak and too influenced by their mothers and femininity. Also this generation of men feel emasculated due to the impact of feminism and modern women being able to take control of their own lives. Men are threatened in the workplace, in education and even in reproduction as they have become less important and powerful now that women have the freedom to do more in society. Marla is one of only a few women in the film and is represented as unhinged, suicidal and as the root of all the protagonist’s problems. By encouraging the viewers to identify with Jack, it also encourages them to hate this woman that causes problems for him. However she is also revealed as the sanest character in the film by the end though she keeps coming back to Jack for his affection, she is also quite carefree and independent.

On the other hand others have claimed that the film is in fact not at all misogynistic and could actually be considered to be more about rejecting capitalism and the maturation of boys to men. Though Fight Club is all-male, the eventual goal appears to be to bring down capitalism rather than just reject women. The target of Project Mayhem is companies and banks that hold too much wealth in the world and by attacking them, Tyler and his followers aim to bring about increased equality. Jack is initially in awe of Tyler and his monologues, actions and world view but eventually by the end of the film, Jack learns that he must reject Tyler in order to live a happy and healthy life. Though Tyler criticises the capitalist economy, excessive marketing and inequality in society, he also acts like a terrorist and does not seem to have a well thought out or realistic plan for the future of society. Jack by the end rejects Tyler and instead realises that he appreciates Marla and as the credit cards explode in front of them, he holds her hand, showing that he has developed from the angry little boy of earlier in the film to a responsible mature adult who accepts that growing up and finding a partner is the way forward to a happy, healthy life. Fight Club is therefore not about rejecting women but about growing up and accepting traditional ways of living (such as heterosexual, monogamous relationships).

A psychoanalytic reading of the film also suggests that Fight Club is about growing up and finding a sense of self by learning to reject basic desires and external influences on a person’s personality. Freud theorised that within the brain was the part he called the id that was infantile and just held unconscious desires that we struggle to control. The super ego is the part of our brain that is influenced by external factors such as society and particularly our parents. In Fight Club, Jack’s personality splits and Tyler is like a manifestation of both his id and to a lesser extent his super ego. Tyler does whatever he likes; he is confident, has lots of sex, rejects basic comforts like duvets but also smokes and fights. In this way he is Jack’s id, unleashing repressed desires and acting upon them. However he is also a bit of a father figure to Jack and imparts his wisdom that Jack takes on board and learns from. Jack looks up to Tyler and learns how to speak and act from this mighty father figure but what he mostly learns is how to act on his repressed desires. Jack has been rejected by his father and other authority figures like his boss and is exploited by Tyler. Tyler is not simply his id but because he has values and beliefs to explain his wild, childish actions, he is also the super ego to an extent. Either way, Jack grows up through the fantasy of Tyler from childlike aggression and lashing out at other men to acceptance of a normal stable relationship with a woman.

Fight Club is also hard to classify in terms of generic conventions but analysing it in terms of a genre approach reveals it to share many of the characteristics of the romantic comedy, albeit a very dark one. Though Fight Club many have many of the generic conventions of action and crime films, it is really a film about a man and a woman who first despise each other and then begin a strange relationship that eventually blossoms into love. Romantic comedies pit a man and a woman together after a meet-cute. Jack and Marla meet at a testicular cancer sufferer’s support meeting. Jack immediately hates her but has to talk to her in order to separate their support groups. There is a fundamental misunderstanding at the centre of their relationship that causes conflict and once resolved allows them to be together. It has witty dialogue, the relationships (and love triangle of sorts) is at the centre of the story and love wins out over violence in the end. Fight Club is above all a very dark romantic comedy about a man and a woman getting together and the differences between men and women in modern society.

Fight Club is a rich text to study, taking any number of approaches. What it reveals about those approaches is that there is often some overlap and each approach can be useful to in order to ascertain what the messages and values of the film are. In the case of Fight Club, by using feminist, psychoanalytic and genre approaches, the film reveals itself to be a romance that is most critical of men rather than women and all approaches seem to suggest that Fight Club is actually a film about maturation and learning to embrace a healthy relationship with another person, rather than rejecting any gender, culture or way of life and examining it through these approaches is key to understanding the film fully.

For more posts on Fight Club:

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation? (written version)

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation? (video version)

Lots more Fight Club links


More A2 exam answers:

Analysing La Haine

World Cinema: Distinctive Visual Features

World Cinema: Social and Political Context

WJEC A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

 

Fight Club Video Essay

The other day I posted an essay answer to the question of whether Fight Club is a film about power and control or liberation. As I haven't done any video editing in a long time, I thought I'd throw together this video version of the essay. It's just me speaking the essay with lovely pictures and gifs to look at while you watch.

I quite enjoyed making this little video though I am a bit worried about my utterly monotonous voice. I thought this was me sounding excited! I tried to include video clips but couldn't find a way to download video clips from YouTube anymore. People must rip clips from films to put in their videos on YouTube but unfortunately I have no idea how to do this either. As usual my lack of technical skills are completely limiting what I can do. This video could have been so much more exciting with frequent clips from the film to throw in.

While browsing around for images to put to my words, I found a huge range of pictures. There is so much cool Fight Club fan art out there and I love the gifs people have made. I hope they don't mind me using such things on my video!



I'm thinking I make some more of these though I might see if this one actually gets any views first as I guess there is not much point in making more if no one is going to see them. What I really need to find out is how to get clips from film to put in and then I could break up the monotony of my voice over with something far more exciting!

I'd be very interested to know what anyone who reads this or watches the video thinks. If anyone has some technical know how and could point me in the direction of a site that allows me to download YouTube videos to avi. files, I would also be incredibly grateful.

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation?

Fight Club is the story of an unnamed narrator (from here referred to as Jack) who unconsciously creates an alter ego for himself in the form of revolutionary anarchist icon Tyler Durden. This split in the personality of the hero manifests itself in a whole new person being created who helps Jack to become free from the trappings of modern life. However Tyler is also an agent of control with great power over Jack and therefore Fight Club is both about power and control as well as liberation.

Tyler is virtually a fascist. His ideology is centred on the idea that pain and violence can be progressive. Fascists believed in the benefits of war, particularly for men as war can bring out the best in people. War allows people to come together to fight a common good, allows men to fight and be brave and strong and also helps society to advance technologically. Tyler believes that by creating his own army, he can change society for the better. These changes will include acts of destruction, damage and violence or at least the very real threat of violence. For example he intends to blow up credit card company buildings and threatens to kill a man if he does not strive to reach his potential by becoming a vet.

Tyler also controls his army like a fascist dictator. He shouts slogans at them like ‘you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake’, therefore controlling what they think and taking away their individuality. He makes them dress in an all-black uniform and shave their heads so they look the same. He refers to them as space monkeys who should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. He has great power over his army and controls their actions, their words and their thoughts. Project Mayhem members begin behaving like indoctrinated cult members, unable to think for themselves and chanting ‘His name is Robert Paulson’ simply because they fail to question authority.

Fight Club itself turns into Project Mayhem and the rules state that its members should not talk about it. Similarly Tyler insists that Jack does not talk about Tyler to Marla. Jack even says that sometimes Tyler spoke for him, almost like he is an abused and silenced housewife. Tyler may have some revolutionary politics and appear as a liberator but he is also a very controlling and domineering force in the film.

On the other hand, Tyler is also a liberator, a revolutionary and an anarchist. He is created by Jack because Jack is unhappy with the state of his current life, desperate for an escape from the boring existence of the modern corporate man. Tyler offers him freedom in the form of giving up his possessions, his job and learning to live without the trappings of IKEA catalogues and comfy living. Tyler teaches Jack to let go and ‘hit bottom’. This seemingly cures Jack of his insomnia and allows him to speak up for himself at work, scaring his boss and finally leaving his job. Tyler believes that having unnecessary possessions and media marketing keep people enslaved in their jobs and consuming products that they do not actually need. Tyler attempts to convince young men that they do not need to work boring jobs and keep buying whatever advertising tells them to buy. He wants men to free themselves from the comforts of modern living.

Tyler also tries to start a revolution against capitalism and the culture it has created. He wishes to blow up credit card companies in order to erase the debt record. In this way he is a socialist as he wants everyone to be free from debt so that all human beings can be equal again. He believes that destroying these companies, he can bring about real change in an unfair and unequal society. Marxists believe that a revolution will be necessary in order to bring about social change and to redistribute the wealth of the world to all people equally. Tyler appears s to be a revolutionary but he has to be a dictator to begin the revolution. The question is, in a freer and more equal society after erasing the debt record, would Tyler relinquish his power, leaving society to run itself or would he become an even more tyrannical dictator?

The film is also critical of corporate control over men in the modern world. Jack is bored and depressed because of the monotony of his job. His boss talks to him like a faceless robot and it seems that much of Jack’s life is dictated by work. He has to travel where work tells him and do as he is told. This allows him to afford the life he lives and the life that Tyler tries to get him to reject. Jack even mentions in his voice over that when space exploration develops, it will be the corporations that take control of the planets, naming them after themselves like ‘Planet Starbucks’. This shows that he thinks that corporate control is total and that their profits will allow them to explore and dominate the universe in the future. It is the banks that control the debt that keeps people working all their lives in order to pay it back and that Tyler wants to overthrow.

Advertising also is a key form of control that Tyler criticises for telling people what to buy, what to wear, where to eat and drink and how to look. Fight Club seems to stand against these sorts of control but in the end, the protagonist Jack rejects Tyler so perhaps it is more complex than to say Fight Club is simply anti-capitalist and against corporate control.

Marla appears to be the most liberated character in the film. She does not fear death, she does not let her gender stop her from attending testicular cancer support groups and she steals from others with reckless abandon. Jack/Tyler does seem to have some control over her as he manages to mess with her mind and she keeps coming back to him. She is also literally restrained and dragged back to Jack in the final scene of the film, showing that again, Project Mayhem is as much about power and control as liberating the masses.

The question of whether Fight Club is all about power and control or liberation really comes down to the intentions of Tyler and Project Mayhem. On the one hand their intentions to make a more equal society can appear noble and could help to set free a lot of the wage slaves of the world. On the other hand Tyler is a dictatorial presence and a hypocrite and it is only once Jack destroys him that he can truly be free. Fight Club is therefore about power, control and liberation. It questions corporate control over the world and has a character that advocates revolution but it also represents the revolutionary as a character to be critical and cautious of. Tyler is as much of a dictator as he is an anarchist and contrary to his demands, Tyler must be discussed. We have to talk about Fight Club.


More A2 exam answers:

Using Critical Approaches to Study Fight Club

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation?

Analysing La Haine

World Cinema: Distinctive Visual Features

World Cinema: Social and Political Context

WJEC A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

 

My Movie Influence: Fight Club @Inspired Ground

Today I have completed my very first ever guest post on another blog.  The amazing Andina at Inspired Ground invited me to take part by sharing a post on a film that has most influenced me.  What else could I choose but the greatest film of all time... Fight Club!

Here's the idea behind the series:

'Many people have their own movies they think highly, praised and probably started seeing things differently after watching them. Many times I’ve shared mine and I always wanted to know what others have. So I asked other people which movie they think to have the best influence on them.'


And here is the link.  Please head on over to Inspired Ground to check it out!

Massive thanks to Andina for asking me to take part!  I hope you enjoy the post!