Categories
Website design By BotEap.comThe Fight Club movie was one of those unique movies that helps define a generation. The film was preceded by the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, who created such a stir with the book and later the film that people began treating Chuck himself as Tyler Durden, often offering to “babysit” people at their request. . So what was it about your movie that touched such a cord with people? Many were simply drawn to the entertainment elements of the movies, but upon closer examination, the movie had a much deeper meaning that this review will attempt to explore. Although we start from the idea of an analysis of Tyler Durden, his alter-ego, referred to in the film as “Jack”, is also very relevant to this discussion.
Website design By BotEap.comThe narrator “Jack” begins the film with a terrible case of insomnia caused by an existential crisis. Like Meursault’s character in Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, who commented that “life had begun to stalk him”, Jack has reached a point in his life that is also completely devoid of meaning as evidenced by his quote, “This is your life and it is ending one minute at a time.” Finally, Jack seems to embrace the Buddhist idea that the meaning of life can be achieved by actively meditating on one’s own death. He joins various survivor groups where he can see people at the end of life, and this seems to bring him a lot of peace. Perhaps a part of him takes comfort in the fact that fate has been cruel to others while continuing to forgive him, and this gives him a sense of peace where he can finally get some sleep.
Website design By BotEap.comEverything changes when Jack meets Marla, who suffers a similar existential crisis. Marla, while as lost as Jack, does not have a place in America’s mainstream consumer and is essentially a bottom feeder in society. Regardless, Marla and Jack are soul mates, and there is an immediate attraction that Jack cannot act upon, until his subconscious creates Tyler Durden.
Website design By BotEap.comSo Jack’s spill on Tyler can be partially explained by looking at the fundamentals of dissociation. This occurs when someone’s thoughts become too uncomfortable to process consciously and move to another state as a psychological defense against these painful feelings. So the question is: what was so uncomfortable in Jack’s life that he needed to create an alter ego? The answer can be found by looking at our great American society and how consumerism creates an empty sense of self.
Website design By BotEap.comIn Adam Curtis’ documentary The Century of the Self, the roots of American consumerism are explored by following the trail of Sigmund Freud’s nephew named Edward Bernays. Bernays had studied his uncle’s works extensively and became convinced that people could be manipulated into buying products based on their instinctual drives towards aggressiveness and sexuality.
Website design By BotEap.comTo back up a second, Freud postulated that our subconscious is made up of three separate functions known as the id, the ego, and the superego. The superego assumes the function of what we consider to be the “conscience” that drives us towards moral and just behavior. The id, on the other hand, is our drive toward destruction and sexuality that Freud thought was inherent in human nature. The ego acts as a kind of arbiter between these two forces to create a balance in which people can function successfully according to the rules of society.
Website design By BotEap.comFreud believed that we are all inherently aggressive and that the id is the dominant force in our lives, and is only restricted by the conventions of society. In Civilization and its Discontents, Freud stated that “men are not kind creatures, who want to be loved, who can at best defend themselves if attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual gifts must be considered a their neighbor is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his ability to work without compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to sixteen his possessions, to humiliate him , cause him pain, torture him and kill him. “
Website design By BotEap.comSo, going back to Edward Bernays, he felt that his uncle’s ideas could be used to exploit the American public into buying things they didn’t need if he could make them feel that these things would make them more sexually powerful or perceived as more aggressive. Consider the how of Tyler; Damn it, a whole generation pumping gasoline, waiting tables; white collar slaves. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need ”in this sense.
Website design By BotEap.comPart of Jack has begun to understand that constantly acquiring furniture and other things for his condo is a pointless pursuit, totally devoid of purpose and satisfaction, and he feels a strong urge to act on this feeling. Much of Jack’s dissociation has to do with this empty sense of himself that he realizes that he has been filling for years by buying things, that is, “What kind of dining room set defines me as a person?” Tyler also makes a comment: “We are the children of the middle of the story, man. Without purpose or place. We do not have a great war, nor a great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war, and our great depression is our lives.” . We have all been brought up on television to believe that one day we will all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars. But we won’t. Little by little we are learning that fact, and we are very, very pissed off. “Jack has begun to reject the consumerism of the one who has become something of a slave, as evidenced also by his comment that” the things you have end up being yours. “
Website design By BotEap.comTyler’s comment is very valid and can be supported historically. Before industrialization in this country, most people lived in rural communities where there was a shared sense of community and the values of hard work and self-reliance were emphasized. With the advent of industrialization, people began to flock to cities, and with this migration, many of the core values of the rural way of life were also left behind. As people began to live closely together in the United States, a desire to “keep up with the neighbors” soon developed, where people wanted to acquire as many possessions as their neighbors to keep up appearances. This mindset was soon exploited by people like Bernays, who worked with companies to create ad campaigns that capitalized on this idea.
Website design By BotEap.comHowever, World War II disrupted the county, and the “sense of purpose” Tyler refers to came from standing up to Adolph Hitler and protecting the world from the spread of fascism. However, after WWII, the consumer machine rallied and we were soon back to the idea of buying new and better things in accordance with our deeply ingrained subconscious desires. However, the next generation partially rejected this idea and, in the 1960s, a number of social causes such as the Women’s Movement, Civil Rights, and the end of the Vietnam War energized the people, and once again created a unified sense of purpose.
Website design By BotEap.comChildren born after this generation are Tyler’s “middle children of the story.” With more media constantly bombarding them than ever, and with no political or social causes to back it up, “Generation X” became one of the most restless and dissatisfied in history, and this is where we pick up Jack’s story.
Website design By BotEap.comAn interesting part of Jack’s story comes from analyzing his ideas about women and sex. At the beginning of the movie, we see him holding a catalog that he likes that is a porn magazine and instead we see that it is an advertisement for Ikea. Jack, by satisfying his psychological desires by buying things, has suppressed his sexual urges and has become celibate. When you create Tyler, you can finally release your pent-up sexual frustration and release your desires for identification. But when Jack lets this genie out of the bottle, sexual conquest is not the least of Tyler’s wishes. Freud also believed that our drive for destruction would emerge when the conventions of society were removed, and this is exactly what happens in the case of Tyler, who wished to destroy the consumerism that has prevented Jack from acting on his natural primitive urges.
Website design By BotEap.comTyler’s actions suggest that destruction may also be evolutionary, as evidenced by his comment that “only when we lose everything do we have the power to do something.” By destroying Jack’s possessions, he feels like you’ve set him free, but it’s also important to understand what Jack can do now. It’s interesting to consider Tyler’s advice that “self-improvement is masturbation, but self-destruction is where it is.” Released, did Jack find redemption? This brings us back to his comment at the end of his trip, where he comments “This all has something to do with a woman named Marla Singer.”
Website design By BotEap.comSo is love Jack’s salvation? Certainly this is a hypothesis. At the end of the movie, when Jack destroys Tyler, we see two things. One, the towers of consumerism falling to the ground, and two, him joining hands with Marla in perhaps their first moment of real intimacy. Perhaps this suggests that Jack has destroyed the power of his addiction to consumerism while also realizing that there was a drive in human instinct more powerful than just sex.
Website design By BotEap.comSo is that the message of Fight Club? That love can be the redeeming force that frees us from our shackles? I think this is a probable explanation. While as a viewer I particularly enjoyed watching Tyler / Jack break free from the bondage of consumer addiction, we still have Jack’s comment that “this all has something to do with a woman named Marla Singer.” The nature of the psyche is such that the ego’s defenses are not removed without being replaced by another force to protect the ego. In Jack’s case, by killing Tyler, he freed himself from his dissociation and unified the forces within him on a single front. Taking down the towers exorcises the demonic forces of consumerism that have been filling Jack’s empty self, and he is now free to live through the redeeming powers of love.
