“The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.” Even if you haven’t seen this movie until now, you know that quote from everybody else having said it at one point in their lives. This film was received well among audiences and critics, rated at an 8.9 out of 10 on IMBD. However, many critics expressed concern that the film would start copycat behavior with all of the violence displayed in it. The film could be misinterpreted as an endorsement of violence instead of a warning against what could happen when men get sick and tired of day to day life to the extent that they get a little crazy.
The Narrator is one of those men, tired of the drudgery of his life. He travels often for his job, feeling the effects of jet lag constantly, and is an insomniac. He defines himself by his possessions, as we can see with the view of all his stuff in his apartment.
This consumeristic mindset he is in is is line with the mindset of his society, yet he is empty. He is not complete. Because he is so dissatisfied with his life, he goes to his doctor seeking help. All the doctor says to do is to visit a support group, where the Narrator finds great solace in others misery.
The connections he makes at the support group help him sleep, and he becomes a support group ‘tourist’, jumping from group to group to find peace. He notices another woman doing the same thing, Marla, where he is then disturbed and disgusted that the therapeutic support groups no longer help him.
The Narrator meets his alter ego, Tyler Durden on a flight home from one of his business trips. Though he does not know it yet, he is both men. He starts Fight Club, in search of something more substantial than his daily life. In order to break out from the confines of society, the men in Fight Club can unleash their anger and really connect with another person by beating each other to shreds.
This was a key example of non-conformity, however it was taken to another level. In not conforming to the day to day life of living in a consumeristic society, the Fight Club still conformed to Tyler Durden’s philosophy. And his philosophy is somewhat correct, he just takes in to the complete next level by destruction and terrorism. He says in the film, “We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won’t.” He is completely correct in his philosophy, that “The things you own end up owning you,” as we have seen in the Narrator’s own empty and unfulfilled existence.
It’s no wonder that critics were concerned about copycat behavior, as when this film was released, these feelings did exist among many men. The film takes these feelings and thoughts to the extreme, however it wasn’t so implausible. The message of the film was clear to me, yet I can see why critics were still concerned if people didn’t think about it. Consumerism and material goods are not important, and what is important is that humans need to feel connected to one another. Beating each other to the pulp is probably not the best way to do that, yet especially with the fact that Columbine had recently happened when this film was released, the copycat effect was a legitimate concern.
I like the point you made about one of Tyler's purposes of fight club being a conforming anti-conforming cause. The fact that almost 100% of what his character was saying is very true in the world today.
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