Fight Club (1999)

 "How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?"

I first saw this film when I was in high school, and let's just say I went into a 'Fight Club' phase. No, I wasn't starting any underground fight clubs, but I immediately decided to read the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, and I became transfixed by its message.


For those of you who haven't gotten around to seeing it (which I highly recommend you consider), the film centers around Edward Norton's character (the nameless narrator), who has been suffering from severe insomnia.

 "When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake."

After taking his doctor's advice to witness more severe suffering, the narrator finally finds relief by attending support groups - whether it's for people diagnosed with testicular cancer, brain parasites or tuberculosis. The narrator becomes addicted to going to these meetings because they provide him with an emotional release that allows him to sleep at night.

"Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one."

However, the problem occurs when the narrator notices a certain female has recently been attending all of his same support groups. Cue Marla Singer (played by the lovely Helena Bonham Carter). And yes, Marla even attends the testicular cancer group, which she claims to have more of a right to attending seeing as how the narrator still has his testicles. The narrator is no longer able to get the same satisfaction while knowing there is another faker present. So, they decide to split the groups up and alternate days.

Then, the narrator meets Tyler Durden. Quite an interesting character, Tyler seems to embody all the things the narrator wishes he could be. He's cool, he's confident, he's not attached to material things and he just doesn't seem to give a damn about societal standards. In fact, he despises them.

"The things you own end up owning you."

After the narrator's IKEA-furnished apartment unexpectedly blows up, he comes to live with Tyler. Long story short, they decide to start fight club. Surprisingly enough, it gets quite a following. Men from all walks of life flock to these underground battle royales, and it seems to mean something special for each one of them.

That's as far as I want to go with the storyline, though, because I don't want to spoil the ending. But I will say that the club becomes something much larger, and there is definitely a fun and unexpected twist at the end.

For those who do want to know the ending... *spoiler* we discover that all these unaccounted for time lapses are actually due to the fact that Tyler Durden is the narrator's alter-ego. He never existed, at least not as a separate person. The narrator became him while he thought he was sleeping. Tyler embodied all the traits the narrator wanted to encompass but was too afraid to. So, in the end, the narrator has to "kill" Tyler or be killed by Tyler. This never-having-existed twist was so mind blowing and original in its time. No one could have seen it coming.

What's interesting is that the film was panned by many critics when it originally came out, largely due to the high level of violence. Only later, after the movie had been released on DVD, did it gather a cult following (interestingly enough, several actual fight clubs were reported to have started in the U.S.). I think it's a mistake to think this movie is advocating violence or nihilism. If anything, it's a reflection of contemporary manhood. Fighting was the only way for them to experience feeling in a society where they are otherwise numb. There's one scene where Tyler and the narrator are on a bus and see a half-naked man on a Calvin Klein ad, and the narrator asks, "Is that what a man looks like?" Tyler responds with "Self-improvement is masturbation. Now self-destruction..."

Tyler Durden: Do you know what a duvet is?
Narrator: It's a comforter.
Tyler: It's a blanket. It's a fucking blanket. Now, why do guys like you and me know what a "duvet" is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?
Narrator: Consumers...
Tyler: We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra...
Narrator: Martha Stewart...
Tyler: Fuck Martha Stewart! Martha's polishing the brass on the titanic. It's all going down man! So fuck off with your sofa units, and string green stripe patterns.

'Fight Club' has an interesting take on modern culture and how advertising has essentially emasculated men and turned them into a society of spectators. Our material culture ultimately defines our external signifiers of happiness, while the more meaningful pursuit for spiritual happiness is neglected. At it's most basic level, the film is about a man who is trying to redefine his place in the world. 

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."

Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter were excellent choices, and all of them delivered exceptional performances. The movie also has some interesting visual effects that still blow me away to this day. There is something very cool about the way the movie has a dark look and feel, and I personally enjoy the special images spliced into a few of the scenes. And, although the movie has a slightly different ending, much of the storyline is very close to that of the novel.

The funny (and slightly sad) thing is, Fight Club's message still rings true to this day. As I sit here on this Super Bowl Sunday hearing a commercial for the Ritz Cracker Pre-Game Show, I can hear Edward Norton's voice in my head.... "When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything... the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."

But if asked, you didn't hear any of this from me, because the first rule of fight club is: you do not talk about fight club. 

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Genre: Drama, Comedy
Synopsis: An office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression. An office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression
Rated: R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language
Running Time: 2 hr. 20 min.
In Theaters: Oct 15, 1999 Wide
Distributor:20th Century Fox
Directed By: David Fincher
Written By: Jim Uhls