Yes, Fight Club. A movie about an insomniac who starts an underground fight club for the people like him that like to beat each other senselessly. Despite initially being a box office flop, Fight Club became a cult classic movie with many passionate fans after years. Besides its fabulous story, characters, or direction, Fight Club is probably one of the most philosophically dense movies out there and as dark as squid’s ink. Well, if I start analyzing Fight Club and the philosophies presented, it would probably take thousands and thousands of words, and one can talk about it all day. So here’s a brief overview of the watch-it-before-you-die and certainly my favorite movie of all time.
Fight Club is a 1999 crime thriller based on the 1996 novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. If you have seen any of Fincher’s movies before, it would be easy enough to figure out that Fight Club is directed by David Fincher, the American movie director known for his dark and atmospheric movies with low-key lighting and heavy use of shadows like in his masterworks such as Se7en, Zodiac and Gone Girl and Fight Club being a prime example of Fincher’s style of work. The narration easily fits well with those dark themes, and I don’t think it could be any better. Fight Club is what a true cinema fan enjoys with the narration combined with overwhelming acting and heart-thumping sound design and tracks with thrilling suspense to sheer plot twists. The dark storytelling will start kicking in from the beginning and will make you keep going all the way through. You will feel that there’s something off with the film initially, but when you get the hang of Fincher’s style, you would love it and enjoy every minute of his storytelling. One thing that makes Fight Club one of the greatest movies in the cinema is certainly the authentic direction.
Fight Club is a story about an underground fight club that then turns into a domestic terror group that causes vandalism, so people let go of buying materials to fulfill their life, aka materialism, and to escape the consumer culture. But do not limit the scope of Fight Club just to the underground fight club. Fight Club is more about the characters than anything else. The story revolves around three main characters; the narrator, Tyler Durden, and Marla Singer. The main protagonist of the film is an unnamed narrator that suffers from serious insomnia. The narrator is a white-collar worker who hates his job and tries to complete his empty life by buying off luxury rich things so he could feel. Haven’t slept for 6 months, the narrator seeks help from support groups. The narrator then started attending every therapy session and just got addicted to other people’s pain, crying with them and relating their situations. And then, the narrator finally started to get some sleep. Everything is going alright. The entry of Marla Singer ruins the narrator’s wellness. A “tourist” and fake like him in all ways except she attends the support sessions just for free coffee. The situations get back to how they were before. The narrator again can’t sleep. He’s neither awake nor asleep all the time. The narrator and Marla then decide that they can split all the sessions in half. The narrator again starts to sleep well. Now comes the turning point in the life of our protagonist. The narrator meets Tyler Durden, the founder and the salesman of Paper Street Soap Co. and the most bizarre or the “intellectual” character of the story, and shares their numbers. Tyler was just another single-serving friend he met on a flight to the narrator and didn’t expect him again. Upon reaching his condo, he finds out that his home, decorated all his life with valuable luxury items, was destroyed by an explosion that must have happened because of gas leakage. All his years of hard work resulted in nothing. With nowhere to go, he calls Tyler from the flight, and both get down for a beer at a bar. Tyler tells the narrator about his philosophy of life that we all work hard for the jobs we never liked to buy things we don’t need so we could fill our lives. Tyler then asks the narrator to just cut the foreplay and ask him directly to stay at his residence. Tyler and the narrator then start a friendly fight where they beat each other senselessly, thus starting the infamous fight club.
Fight Club is known for its story or direction, but it’s the philosophy presented that renowned the movie. And talking about philosophy, Fight Club has not only one or two philosophical ideas but a plethora. So let’s put some light on the heavy philosophical monism presented in Fight Club and some famous quotes.
Consumerism
An idea of consuming/buying objects to complete your life or fulfill the emptiness inside you like the narrator.
“We’re consumers. We are by-products 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… ” -Tyler Durden
Pain And Change
Pain and death are at the core of every human being. Pain has the deepest and the most real connection with life. No matter what, you can’t run away from pain. Pain is real. You can’t obtain anything without payoff or sacrifice. Deal with the pain. It’s real, no running away.
“It’s Only After We’ve Lost Everything That We’re Free To Do Anything.” -Tyler Durden
You Are Not Defined By What You Possess
“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.” -Tyler Durden
Self Destruction
“I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let’s evolve, let the chips fall where they may.” -Tyler Durden
The story, characters, storytelling, and philosophies cook to something perfect for cinema lovers. You’ll be pretty confused the first time, but the thrill and intense layers of curiosity among the characters will keep you going till the end. And personally, I have watched this shit a hundred times and still find every moment entertaining. The movie is dark, intelligent, disturbing, somewhat surreal, and easily relatable to you if you work your ass off for the jobs you hate. Fight Club is a movie that you’ll either like because it’s entertaining or will have a huge impact on your lifestyle.
This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.
-Tyler Durden