FREE ESSAY ON AN ANALYSIS OF THE FILM FIGHT CLUB

AN ANALYSIS OF THE FILM FIGHT CLUB

An analysis of the film Fight Club
For years, David Fincher has been turning out some of the most stylish and inventive
thrillers to ever hit the American screens. In spite of critical and public backlash, his
Alien 3 remains the most technically interesting of that series, and Seven stands as the
suspense film upon which all other modern suspense films are based. With The Game, he
proved himself more than a one-movie wonder and emerged as one of the most original
filmmakers working in Hollywood. His new film, Fight Club, however, is his most
challenging piece of work. It is a film that demands that its viewers look past what's on
the surface and find something deeper. 
Fight Club is a multi-layered film with many subplots and multiple themes. Fincher delves
into such topics as consumerism, the feminization of society, manipulation, cultism,
fascism, and even the psychosemantics of the human id and ego. Primarily, it is a film
that surrealistically describes the status of the American male at the end of the 20th
century: disenchanted, unfulfilled, castrated and looking for a way out. It depicts how
consumerist males have been emasculated by their modern life styles, by a feminized
consumer culture that places more worth on nice furniture and nice wardrobe than
masculine values like power and strength.
The central character in the film, who remains nameless and who is played by Edward
Norton, is very much like Lester Burnham of American Beauty. He is trapped in the
corporate world and finds himself increasingly dissatisfied with the fruits it is
supposed to deliver. 
Norton's character leads an unfulfilled and aimless life. Rather than masturbating as an
outlet, he buys furniture from IKEA. It is by no chance that our Narrator is not given a
name: he is the Everyman of the 90s, a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct (Fight Club)
with an apartment that owns him more than he owns it. He also suffers from insomnia for
which the only cure seems to come in the form of going to self-help groups for terminal
diseases like testicular cancer--testicles and their absence being one of the themes--or
tuberculosis. The emotional confessions of the participants give him a vicarious sense of
being alive and provide emotional release, which then allows him to sleep soundly. While
he enjoys good health, he is closer to death than the people he communes with on a
nightly basis. They face physical mortality at any moment. He faces spiritual mortality
every moment of his waking life.
It is through the depiction of the Narrator's support groups that the feminization of men
in society is most effectively described--through the one for men suffering from
testicular cancer in particular. These are full of men opening up, crying, exploring
feelings... doing all those things women are supposed to do. One of the testicular-cancer
patients, Bob (Meat Loaf) has, as a result of his hormone treatments for the disease,
developed huge breasts. The representation of this man--a former champion body
builder--weeping openly, clasping Jack to his ample bosom during a session, is the
prefect image of the emasculated man.
Soon, the narrator's world is invaded by another emotional tourist, Marla Singer, a
suicidal waif living on the edge of society. The Narrator is both repelled and intrigued
by this woman, who cheats and steals, scratching out an existence while the Narrator
struggles with his daily grind. Unlike the Narrator, she attends support group meetings
purely for the voyeuristic entertainment value. Since the Narrator cannot cry in the
presence of another faker, his insomnia returns.
On an airplane ride to visit an accident site on behalf of his company, he meets Tyler
Durden who is everything he is not. Brash, self-confident and dressed like a pimp, Durden
describes himself as a soap salesman but he gives every indication of leading a darker
existence. The Narrator finds himself drawn to Tyler.
When he arrives back at his apartment building, he discovers his apartment on fire. His
precious Ikea furniture and all his belongings have been destroyed in a mysterious
explosion. With no one to call, he turns to Tyler and the two bond immediately. Tyler
identifies the cause for the Narrator's desperation: he is a victim of a feminized
consumer culture. Tyler's therapy is simple, he helps the Narrator remedy the imbalance
in his own life by making him feel like a real man by fighting, actually beating each
other to bloody pulp. Together they establish a fight club for men, as an underground way
to express rage and living on the edge, to feel alive by approaching death.
Much criticism has been made about the film, especially that it glorifies violence
(Ebert, Fight Club, http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1999/10/101502.html).
Perhaps in a way it does, but so do thousands of other films, such as Raging Bull, Taxi
Driver, Saving Private Ryan, etc. What differentiates Fight Club is the fact that while
it is a condemnation of society's dehumanizing effects, it is also a warning. Violence,
just like therapy groups and other various drugs is addictive and it quickly leads to
disturbing acts of terrorism. Violence is not the answer to men's problem, it is merely
another problem. Fight Club realizes that it does not have a good answer, and it does not
offer one.
This is a provocative film, and there is a danger of many people missing the point. Those
unwilling to look deeper than the surface may see Tyler's philosophy as dangerously
fascist and nihilistic, a call for random violence and the destruction of civilization.
There is little doubt that Tyler is advocating these things, but the film is not. The
Narrator's way of living like a sleepwalker is certainly no way to live a fulfilling
life, but Tyler's Project Mayhem group is no better. Its members can eventually do little
more than recite Tyler-isms and follow orders, essentially becoming mindless drones of
another sort, the only difference being that they are now drones following a different
dogma from the corporate one. This is definitely not presented as ideal in the film. 
There is one very interesting aspect which provides a cunning twist and adds another
thematic layer to the film. It is first when Tyler sleeps with Marla that we get a hint
that Tyler is pure id unbound, and this sets up what we eventually discover: that both
Tyler and the Narrator are the same person, the ego and the id fractioned, disassociated
from each other. The fact that they live in a decaying house but in different rooms is
symbolic of that separation. The Narrator's transformation is brought about through his
identification with his id, the instinctive self that is dominated by the pleasure
principle. Tyler is the image of male power, literally the phallus, while the Narrator,
the ego, struggles to control the socially unacceptable impulses. Their yin yang dynamic
is also symbolized by the Narrator's IKEA table.
After only three films, Fincher has developed a distinct style. There is a consistent
tone running through all his films which could perhaps be characterized as bleak. In
Fight Club he creates a dark, murky world which is reminiscent of Seven's shadowy
yellowed tones. Fincher proves that he is a master visual expert by fascinating us with
some stunning shots, starting with the opening credits sequence which takes place in the
Narrator's brain. In one spectacular scene, the Narrator's apartment is laid out like a
page in a furniture catalogue with text blurbs on the screen describing the various
pieces.
Fight Club's hallucinations are real, we see the imagined plane crash, the penguin at the
center of the Narrator's being. There is a sort of dream logic in the direction; Fincher
strays from conventional storytelling by using non-linear chronology and frequent
breaking of the fourth wall. At one point, our narrator explains how reel changes work,
and how this enables Tyler to insert a single frame of porn into family movies. The film
ends with a single frame shot of porn which suggest that it is actually being projected
by Tyler himself.
Crucial to the film's success is the Narrator's voice-over, a device that often does not
work in movies. In Fight Club it is essential, not only to comment ironically on the
action, but also to raise the idea that our narrator may indeed be completely unreliable.

Also, before Tyler enters the film, he appears several times, flashing into scenes
subliminally for one frame at pivotal points where the Narrator moves a step closer to
his change of life. This element was already used by Fincher at the climax of Seven,
where he flashed a quick frame of Gwyneth Paltrow's head. 
Fincher works in the nether regions of the color spectrum, preferring blacks, grays and
other muted colors. The only truly lively color used is red, which is Tyler's color and
symbolizes fire, blood, rage, passion, etc.
Fight Club can perhaps most precisely described as provocative. It is an exceedingly
violent, self-consciously subversive film that will provoke repulsion, controversy, and
laughter. Fight Club should, however, provoke thought, which is clearly its primary
intention. Intelligent viewers who see beyond the nihilistic surface will discover a
movie of multiple layers and metaphors that is as rich in ideas as it is a visual feast.