Fight Club is a 1999 film adapted from the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The movie was directed by David Fincher. The film plot revolves around an unnamed narrator, played by Edward Norton, who is disillusioned with his white collar job and meets a soap salesman named Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, together establishing an underground fight club, tackling the issues of the everyman archetype in the Narrator and the general feeling of disillusionment within modern society.
The movie opens with the Narrator consumed by avarice and the chasing of material goods, a consequence of culture advertising, where the culture emphasizes the chase of goods as the true pursuit of happiness. Later on during the film, he loses his apartment and everything he owned to a house fire, turning to living in a broken down and squalid home with Tyler Durden. Later during the film, the fights that are hosted further drive home the message of rejecting the idea of materialism, the fights having the symbolism of abandoning societal norms and stripping away the fear of pain, giving birth to new self reliance in the people who participate in the film.
The contrast of the Narrator and Durden in the film highlights the themes as well, with the Narrator being a typical everyman, disillusioned with his job, chasing happiness through material goods, while Durden represents a “ Übermensch”, a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, of a person who seeks out the discomfort and unrest, rejecting the comfort of societal norms, and rebelling against them.
As a look into the dejection of the everyman archetype, Fight Club stands as a thought provoking film which invites its audience to consider their personal values. The film should be analyzed thoughtfully, as it may be misconstrued as glamorizing violence, seeming irresponsible and brutal when the underlying message of the fights is a way for the men to feel again, as they describe themselves as “numbed.” Other than that, I would highly recommend the film.
Fight Club stands out as a powerful commentary on the feeling of disillusionment within modern society, cementing itself as a cult classic and a polarizing film for decades to come. Through powerful dialogue, enthralling story, and the message delivered through incredible cinematography, the movie remains as an interesting thought piece.
