Fight Club
How destruction leads to fulfillment according to Fight Club
Just a few days ago, I re-watched Fight Club. The movie is full of metaphors and philosophical questions that serve as the underlying theme of the story, a critique of modern society and consumerism, and much more. And this video will be about –
How social individualism causes psychosis of extreme dissatisfaction, due to which an individual lives within the utopia of psychic projection, which involves destruction of past experiences and current status.
Sounded a bit complex? Let me simplify it a bit.
Modern society-
The movie starts with a pretty good introduction to the lifestyle of the narrator, he is not named in the movie. He works as an automobile recall specialist but is unfulfilled by both his material wealth and job. His personality is completely shallow, life without any meaning which makes him feel like a copy of a copy of a copy. He has to compensate for this by trying to create an identity through his products. So, he creates an alter ego, Tyler Durden. Tyler is the representative of all restricted emotions which the narrator has. Tyler is unapologetic, confident, and handsome. Everything the narrator wants to become.
Tyler Durden: “The things you own end up owning you.”
This iconic line encapsulates the film’s critique of consumer-driven identities, where possessions become extensions of ourselves and dictate our worth.
Consumerism –
But the question arises as to why he is so unfulfilled by his job. The society in which the narrator lives is full of people who derive their meaning in life from the products they use. The narrator as well, is prey to it. This type of thinking makes a person shallow and superficial. This system makes the protagonist opt for salvation into a psychic projection. The narrator develops an alt personality which is contrarian in nature. Scenes where he inserts porn clips in normal movies show this nature of him clearly. His motive in the movie is shown as destruction.
The irony of the world –
If we create a society where the rule is that nobody follows any traditions irrespective of age, race, place, religion, and nationality. Then, after a certain time, not following any tradition will turn into a tradition itself. That’s my of Project Mayhem of Tyler Durden. The anarchy he preaches masks a form of authoritarianism, reflecting how attempts to escape one form of control can inadvertently lead to another.
The narrator hates his boss but due to hierarchy can’t say anything. But, Tyler’s assessment changes him completely. Tyler breaks the social construct that the narrator had. For him, to get a salary of 5 months, he had to work really hard, fly through planes and do boring stuff. But, he breaks the social construct within himself and acts upon his impulse.
Pain –
Now let’s talk about a scene from the movie that has a lot of philosophical aspects to it. In this scene, Tyler is lecturing the Narrator on pain and why he should accept it rather than run away from it to be truly free.
Pain is an essential part of somebody’s life and the interesting thing is we can associate pain with a thing from the past that has happened already and something that might happen in the future, it is a unique ability of humans.
What Tyler does is he tells the narrator to accept the pain as it is, to not run away from it. It’s only after doing this, will he be able to accept reality.
Now, in the scene, the narrator says that he understood it, but Tyler replies with “This is premature enlightenment”. The narrator hasn’t fully accepted it but is scared so he gives in. The same thing can be seen in the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita where Arjuna says he understood the message of Lord Krishna after Krishna shows his final form. But in reality, he was just scared. So, he gave in.
You can see that his first response to this was escapism. But, Tyler brings him back to reality and tells him to see his pain. Don’t run away from it like dead people do. Treat it like a man. It’s not about how to avoid pain but choosing the pain you want to suffer for your entire life.
Reality-
“Fight Club” delves further into philosophical rabbit holes as it challenges our perceptions of reality. The film employs disorienting visuals and unreliable narration to mirror the protagonist’s mental turmoil. Is what we see real, or is it an illusion crafted by a fragmented mind? This narrative technique underscores the notion that reality is often a construct, shaped by our perceptions and experiences.
Conclusion-
“In its intricate web of chaos and philosophy, ‘Fight Club’ presents a challenge to our perceptions and assumptions. It compels us to question the price of materialism, the nature of identity, and the balance between freedom and order. As we journey through the mind-bending layers of this cinematic masterpiece, we find ourselves confronting our own beliefs and values, just as the narrator confronts his own reflection in the enigmatic Tyler Durden.”
“Remember, the first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. But maybe, just this once, it’s essential to talk about the profound philosophical insights it has to offer.”
Qinshu 