Fight Club

Fight Club was one of those movies from the 90’s that was going to polarize people because of its subject matter.  Some critics thought of Fight Club as an exercise in sadomasochism while others thought it was a biting social satire.  I would argue with the latter, but the truth is Fight Club is a cautionary tale against the dangers of nihilism.  The film starts with Jack a white collar worker, who suffers from extreme bouts of insomnia.  However, insomnia is the least of Jack’s problems Jack has become dissatisfied with his life.  He has become numb to the banality of his everyday life.  His life has become a series of routines that is one step away from turning him into a drone.  So in order to alleviate his existential crisis, Jack goes to support groups so he can feel better about himself.

 Most of these support groups are dedicated to people who have terminal cancer, so in essence, Jack latches onto these people to remind himself that he's more fortunate than them.  But he doesn't do this out of pity he does this to give his life meaning.  Alas, Jack's sanctuary is shattered when a sardonic Goth named Marla enters the picture.  Jack has seen Marla in various support groups and he knows that she’s a faker just like him.  However, unlike Jack Marla goes to these support groups as a voyeur.  Jack threatens to expose her but she retaliates by threatening to expose him.  So they come to an agreement of sorts, they agree to share certain days for the support groups. 

Weeks later, Jack meets Tyler Durden on an airline Durden is everything Jack is not.  Durden is charismatic, confident, crass and strangely funny.  Durden informs Jack that he’s a soap salesman.  The two engage in idle chat, but it’s clear from the get go that these two have a lot in common.  Later that night, Jack has what could only be described as the worse night of his life, his condo explodes and to make matters worse the police suspect him.  Inevitably, Jack calls Tyler and the two agree to meet at a local bar.  Durden gives Jack a monologue about his philosophy on life and the two hit it off becoming fast friends.
 
Durden persuades Jack to stay with him at his dilapidated house and Jack agrees.  As a favor, Jack agrees to hit Tyler and the two engage in a street fight.  This is the moment where the film really takes it stride, as Tyler and Jack engage in various street brawls other people take their lead and soon word spreads around about these street brawls.  Tyler and Jack create a club called Fight Club, an underground fighting club where people can fight with complete strangers.  As the film progresses, it becomes apparent that these people that join Fight Club are lost souls and misfits of society.  Most of these men have become broken and emasculated, from working at jobs they don’t like to buy stuff they don’t need as Tyler surmises.  In essence, Fight Club becomes their sacrament, their key to enlightenment. 

The film grows murkier as Marla starts to engage in a liaison with Tyler and Jack begins to have doubts about Fight Club.  To divulge any more would simply spoil the surprises that happen later in the film.  But I will say this, what transpires in the third act of Fight Club is both perplexing and prophetic in this post 9/11 world we live in today.  Many people have complained that Fight Club tonally is inconsistent, but this is not the case Fight Club is a dark comedy from start to finish.  There are scenes of utter hilarity in Fight Club, like the scene where Tyler and Jack steal fat from a liposuction clinic to make soap or the scene where Jack beats himself up to blackmail his boss.  These scenes may offend some, but for those select few that appreciate this type of dark humor, they will really get a real kick out of these scenes.  Over the past decade, Fight Club has developed a cult following of sorts and it’s not hard to see why.  Fight Club is a biting social satire about the superficiality of American culture and the absurdity of the materialism that is embedded in our culture.  It also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of going beyond social constraints and dedicating your life to philosophies that are primal, bestial and potentially dangerous.