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It took me about two days of reading and studying the numerous posts on this forum, but I think I finally got the entirety of the idea of the film, Fight Club. Now, don't get me wrong, I love this movie, but the problem Fight Club has is that it's main idea is blinded and shrouded by its overwhelming power to "rebel".
First of all, I agree with "cheeksw" (5/28/01 post) in that the movie was not at all about "do what Tyler Durden does." (par. 3) Tyler Durden was definitely the bad guy in this movie. I knew that from the first time I saw Fight Club. Tyler's idea of "utopia" is a world where guys blindly kick each other's asses into a pulp and blow up buildings just to release their "primal instincts" that have been repressed by a materialistic society that forces them to live for commercialism. Well, the film definitely got that point out clearly enough. Tyler's army of men is reduced to a mindless cult that lives only to follow Tyler's instructions. They are the "space monkeys", doing only the job they're trained to do. Edward Norton's character is the only one who actually disagrees with Tyler. He is the only one who actually thinks for himself.
This brings me to my first point: the movie wasn't about going crazy on everyone and everything, it was about thinking for yourself. Many reviewers of this film called it "fascist". They were exactly right--and exactly wrong. That's the irony of it. The film as I see it has a strong resemblance to George Orwell's "Animal Farm". Orwell's main idea in that book was "it's okay to rebel, just don't do it like Russia did it." Fight Club's main idea is "it's okay to rebel, just don't do it like Tyler did it." Tyler's rebellion against society is fascist in every way. Webster's Dictionary defines fascism as "a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition". Now, tell me if this isn't Tyler's fight club in a nutshell. Look at some of the words. "A political philosophy...that exalts nation and often race above the individual..." ("You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.") "...stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader..." (Tyler.) "...severe economic and social regimentation..." (space monkeys doing the jobs they were assigned to do.) "...forcible suppression of opposition." (when Tyler forces Lou to let them use the basement, when Tyler's group forces the Commissioner to forget about the recent crimes around the city.) History has already told us that fascism doesn't work. So, it might even turn out to be that Fight Club actually embraces individualism and free thought (for ourselves).
Now, alot of Tyler's ideas about a rebellion are definitely good ones, but he, like every other rebellion throughout history, forgets to look at the entirety of human nature. Humans don't just desire to kill each other and everything. I agree that we should pay more attention to our desires to kill, but that's not the only desires we (they) have. They also have a desire to create and appreciate. Tyler was only partially right when he said, "Self-improvement is masturbation. Self-destruction is the answer." Tyler was subjecting the "space monkeys" only to destruction, which turned them into babbling drones who only followed Tyler. Tyler creates nothing and appreciates nothing, and this angers the Narrator, who is the only one who realizes Tyler's mistake. He tells Tyler this in the final scene of the movie:
Narrator: Do something for me. Tyler: What? Narrator: Appreciate something. Tyler: What? Narrator: Look at me... Tyler: What? Narrator: My eyes are open.
The Narrator both tells Tyler that he screwed up and tells the world to think for themselves. If you want to watch a film on the appreciative side of human nature, watch "American Beauty".
What saddens me is that most people get the wrong idea from Fight Club. Palahniuk made Fight Club's anarchist, nihilistic, and violent tendencies too powerful. They block out the movie's true message. I just hope that people read this and get the true idea of Fight Club.
So, basically, Fight Club is about how rebellions only accomplish a redirection of power to another, even worse government. Technically, it's not about how we need to rebel; you don't need someone else to tell you that. I'd put "Fight Club" in the "anti-utopian literature" genre, which follows these five characteristics:
- Man is able to destroy all of mankind, not only himself. - Man is at the mercy of a higher power with no control over it. - It analyzes the the theme: man's inhumanity to man. - Man starts out bad and ends up worse. - Man is directed for purposes other than developing what's best in nature.
"Fight Club" is nothing new, but it is definitely a genius work of art.
If you want more information on this topic, I'd consider reading some of George Orwell's works.
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