Fight Club (1999)
Directed by David Fincher
Who has also done Se7en and The Social Network
Screenplay by Jim Uhls
Who has also written Jumper
Based on the novel by Chris Palahniuk
Who has also written Haunted and Survivor
Cast/Characters
Narrator
Tyler Durden
Marla Singer
Robert Paulson
Angel Face
Edward Norton
Brad Pitt
Helena Bonham Carter
Marvin Lee Aday (Meatloaf)
Jared Leto
Introduction
Tagline: Mischief. Mayhem. Soap
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a
shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in
every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/plotsummary
Fight Club, the movie, exists to solve the very problems of meaning it poses. It holds a mirror up to
young white males and says, "This is who you are." And the very act of holding up that mirror
allows the film to own a dark part of the culture which cannot be experienced within the culture…
When there is a communal or cultural void, history suggests that violence can complete that lack.
Fight Club exposes the void and offers three solutions: crying, violence, and movies.
http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue8/fightclub.html
Fight Club is a social commentary about our generation, which is in many ways devoid of spirit and
marked by consumerism. It is the story of a man's spiritual journey towards enlightenment in modern
society; of trying to find one's place in the world.
http://www.helium.com/items/436164-fight-club-a-journey-towards-enlightenment
Allusions, References and Noteable Notes
The Everyman has come to mean, in literature and drama, an ordinary individual with whom the
audience or reader is supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in extraordinary
circumstances.
Usually nameless, the Everyman character is constructed so that the audience can imagine itself in the
same situation.
The most reluctant of reluctant heroes, the Everyman does not particularly crave adventure and
excitement. He just wants to live his live and has no particular need to prove himself or engage in
thrilling heroics. The everyman steps into the role of the hero because nobody else can or will and in
many cases because it's The Right Thing To Do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyman
http://www.kingyak.com/categories/8-geekdom/86-archetype-of-the-week-the-everyman.html
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a
desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with
criticisms of consumption
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism
Enoughism is the idea that there is a point where consumers possess everything they need, and buying
more makes their lives worse rather than better. The Sydney Morning Herald described it as a "... graball term, originally coined by the British author John Naish, [that] denotes the growing rejection ... of
materialism, in both the greedy consumption and workaholic acquisition of wealth."
Like simple living, enoughism emphasizes less spending and more restraint in the buying behaviour of
consumers. Enoughism is an antonym to consumerism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoughism
Hegemony: the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others.
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=hegemony
Filmmaker and writer Jethro Rothe-Kushel comments that “Fight Club comments profoundly on
America's problems of meaning (e.g. indentured servitude to capitalism in a land of freedom, violence
in a land of justice, consumer Darwinism in a land of community, meaning in a post-modern reality
that understands all meaning as a relative cultural construct, etc.).”
http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue8/fightclub.html
cap·i·tal·ism: an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of
production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private
individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of
wealth.
Darwinism is the evolutionary theory that adheres to the maxim “Survival of the fittest” –
meaning that the strongest members of a species will be the ones to reproduce, creating
relative genetic shifts in the species through time.
Post-modernism is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of
objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. It
involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they
are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of language, power
relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male
versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Rather, it
holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependent on who the interested parties are and
what their interests consist in. It attempts to problematise modernist overconfidence, by
drawing into sharp contrast the difference between how confident speakers are of their
positions versus how confident they need to be to serve their supposed purposes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism
Relativism is not a single doctrine but a family of views whose common theme is that some
central aspect of experience, thought, evaluation, or even reality is somehow relative to
something else.i Cognitive relativists hold that there can be no universal knowledge of the
world, but only diverse interpretations of it. Moral relativists hold that there are no universal
standards of moral value, but only the cultural norms of particular societies.ii
Some relativist maxims include:

"That's true for you but not for me."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"You can't judge other cultures by the standards of your own."

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”iii
The idea that nothing is real except in the mind of the individual finds its roots in the Greek
Sophists, who argued that since nothing can be perceived except through the senses, and all
men felt and sensed things differently, truth was entirely relative. There was no absolute
truth.iv
Some famous relativists include: Gorgias, Michel Foucault, Noam Chomsky. v
Existentialism is a philosophy centered upon the analysis of existence and of the way humans
find themselves (often with feelings of disorientation and confusion) existing in an
apparently meaningless or absurd world.
What the human conditions is all about is better understood in light of the meaning of the
word "existence," which comes from the Latin "existere," meaning "to stand out." Humans
exist in a state of distance from the world that we nonetheless remain in the midst of. The
belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they
make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook. And personal choices become
unique without the necessity of an objective form of truth. An existentialist believes that a
person should be forced to choose and be responsible without the help of laws, ethnic rules,
or traditions.
Existentialism is the search and journey for true self and true personal meaning in life.vi
Some famous existentialists include: Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus,
Martin Heidegger, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche; artists such as Dostoevsky,
Jackson Pollock, Ibsen, Samuel Beckett, Kafka and even Woody Allen.vii
Kushel quotes Fichner as saying that "We're [men] designed to be hunters and we're in a society of
shopping. There's nothing to kill anymore, there's nothing to fight, nothing to overcome, nothing to
explore. In that societal emasculation this Everyman is created."
Emasculate: (denotative definition) to remove testes from a male animal; (connotative
definition) to deprive something, usually a male, of the strength and vigor normally associated
with it.
Ego and Shadow is a psychological theory proposed by Carl Jung. Stemming from Sigmund Freud’s
theory of id, ego and superego (instinctual pleasure principal, conscious reality, internalized moral
standards – respectively), Jung’s theory centers around the idea of duality of self: that our ego is a false
self that “maintains its existence by denying contents that are uncomfortable to it, and clinging to
contents that it narcissistically identifies with. The contents denied by the ego (weaknesses,
shortcomings, and instincts) are referred to by Jung as the Shadow. "Everyone carries a shadow," Jung
wrote, "and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is." It may
be (in part) one's link to more primitive animal instincts, which are superseded during early childhood
by the conscious mind. “The ego,” writes Kushel, “is constructed around societal norms and the desire
for behavior which "fits into society."
http://www.kheper.net/topics/psychology/ego-shadow.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_%28psychology%29
Dichotomy: 1. division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs. 2. division into two
mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dichotomy
Solar-Lunar Twin Ego is an archetypal pattern noted by Howard Teich which has rivalrous pairs/twins
in opposition to one another that, together, compose the masculine ego. Archetypal authority, Joseph
Campbell discussed this pattern: the two, Sun-child and Water-child, antagonistic yet cooperative,
represent a single cosmic force, polarized, split, and turned against itself in mutual portions. The lifesupporting sap-power, mysterious in the lunar rhythm of its tides, growing and decaying at a time,
counters and tempers the solar file of the zenith, life desiccating it its brilliance, yet by whose heat all
lives.
Examples of such dichotomous pairs include Romulus/Remus, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde or Jacob/Esau and
take their roots in the two-headed Roman god Janus.
http://drhowardteich.com/articles_pdf/3_The%20Twin%20Heroes-%20Campbell%E2%80%99s%20SolarLunar%20Vision%20of%20the%20Masculine.pdf
Film Noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly
those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is
generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s.
Critics tend to define the model film noir as having a tragic or bleak conclusion, but many
acknowledged classics of the genre have clearly happy endings (e.g., Stranger on the Third Floor, The
Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and The Dark Corner), while the tone of many other noir denouements is
ambivalent, in a variety of ways. The ambition of this section, then, can be no more than modest: it is an
attempt to survey those characteristics most often cited by critics as representative of classic film noirs.
As diverse as that set of movies is, the diversity of films from outside the classic period that have been
discussed as noir is so great that any similar survey would be impractical; however, those classic noir
identifying marks often referenced in neo-noirs—however frequently or seldom they actually appeared
in the original films—are noted as are certain signal trends of the latter-day mode.
Characteristics of Film Noir usually include:
- Visual Style: Film noirs tended to use low-key lighting schemes producing stark
light/dark contrasts and dramatic shadow patterning. The shadows of Venetian blinds
or banister rods, cast upon an actor, a wall, or an entire set, are an iconic visual in film
noir and had already become a cliché well before the neo-noir era. Characters' faces
may be partially or wholly obscured by darkness—a relative rarity in conventional
Hollywood moviemaking. While black-and-white cinematography is considered by
many to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir, color films are routinely
included in noir filmographies.
Film noir is also known for its use of Dutch angles, low-angle shots, and wide-angle
lenses. Other devices of disorientation relatively common in film noir include shots of
people reflected in one or more mirrors, shots through curved or frosted glass or other
distorting objects
- Narrative: Film noirs tend to have unusually convoluted story lines, frequently
involving flashbacks and other editing techniques that disrupt and sometimes obscure
the narrative sequence. Framing the entire primary narrative as a flashback is also a
standard device. Voiceover narration, sometimes used as a structuring device, came to
be seen as a noir hallmark; while classic noir is generally associated with first-person
narration (i.e., by the protagonist), Stephen Neale notes that third-person narration is
common among noirs of the semidocumentary style
- Plot, Character, Setting: Crime, usually murder, is an element of almost all film
noirs; in addition to standard-issue greed, jealousy is frequently the criminal
motivation. A crime investigation—by a private eye, a police detective (sometimes
acting alone), or a concerned amateur—is the most prevalent, but far from dominant,
basic plot. In other common plots the protagonists are implicated in heists or con
games, or in murderous conspiracies often involving adulterous affairs. False
suspicions and accusations of crime are frequent plot elements, as are betrayals and
double-crosses. According to J. David Slocum, "protagonists assume the literal
identities of dead men in nearly fifteen percent of all noir." Amnesia is fairly
epidemic—"noir's version of the common cold", in the words of film historian Lee
Server.
Film noirs tend to revolve around heroes who are more flawed and morally
questionable than the norm, often fall guys of one sort or another. The characteristic
protagonists of noir are described by many critics as "alienated"; in the words of
Silver and Ward, "filled with existential bitterness". Certain archetypal characters
appear in many film noirs—hardboiled detectives, femme fatales, corrupt policemen,
jealous husbands, intrepid claims adjusters, and down-and-out writers. For characters
of every stripe, cigarette smoking may seem virtually mandatory.
Film noir is often associated with an urban setting, and a few cities—Los Angeles,
San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, in particular—are the location of many of the
classic films. In the eyes of many critics, the city is presented in noir as a "labyrinth"
or "maze" Bars, lounges, nightclubs, and gambling dens are frequently the scene of
action. The climaxes of a substantial number of film noirs take place in visually
complex, often industrial settings, such as refineries, factories, trainyards, power
plants—most famously the explosive conclusion of White Heat. In the popular (and,
frequently enough, critical) imagination, in noir it is always night and it always rains.
- Worldview, Morality and Tone: Film noi is often described as essentially pessimistic.
The noir stories that are regarded as most characteristic tell of people trapped in
unwanted situations (which, in general, they did not cause but are responsible for
exacerbating), striving against random, uncaring fate, and frequently doomed. The
movies are seen as depicting a world that is inherently corrupt.
www.wikipedia.org
Edward Norton is quoted as saying that "Art has always reflected society. Art doesn't invent violence. It
doesn't inspire violence. This movie examines violence and the roots of frustration that are causing
people to reach out for such radical solutions. And that's exactly the sort of discussion we should be
having about our culture. Because a culture that doesn't examine its violence is a culture in denial, which
is much more dangerous." (Source: Entertainment Weekly, October 15, 1999.)
Discussion Questions
Text as Story
 Symbolic significance of the support group the Narrator finds to help him
 How does the Narrator represent the hegemony of American capitalist idealism? What, then, is
symbolic about the Narrator’s story arc?
 How is the struggle between repression (and the resulting unfulfillment) and (sometimes dangerous)
carnal fulfillment explored? What are the implications of each choice?
 What is the significance of the Narrator’s “power animal”?
 What is the connection between love and violence in the film? What are the implications for a
society with these two concepts co-existing?
 Who or what is defeated in the resolution of the film? What is the message/purpose/implication of
this?
 What is the significance of each of Tyler’s jobs? How do the underscore the message of both his
character and the film?
 A concern of many critics is addressed in an article by Gary Crowdus: "They felt scenes served only
as a mindless glamorization of brutality, a morally irresponsible portrayal, which they feared might
encourage impressionable young male viewers to set up their own real-life Fight Clubs in order to beat
each other senseless." How is the message of the film stand to be potentially undermined by the
audience it portrays?
 Why is Marla’s being a “faker” so offensive to the Narrator?
 What is the purpose of each of the secondary characters? (Marla, Robert, Angel Face?)
Text as Technique
 What is the purpose of structuring the narrative to come full-circle (bookending scenes)
 In which ways does the film fit the criteria for film noir? Would you consider this an example of film
noir? Why or why not?
 After Tyler explains splicing frames into movie reels, there is an implication that such splices exist in
the film itself. Where and what are they? Why are they included? What is their purpose?
 What is the purpose of constructing a nameless protagonist? How does his namelessness play into
his relationship with Tyler?
 Why has Fichner chosen to use voice over narration? When are voice overs used? Why? When do
they stop? Why?
 How are framing and camera angles used to establish what is important/significant in the Narrator’s
life at the beginning of the film?
i
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/#2.5
http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/r9.htm
iii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativism
iv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_approaches_to_Hamlet
v http://www.quantonics.com/Famous_CRites.html
vi http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism
vii http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/
ii