Fight Club Essay
Fight Club: A formal review
Tarrin Duerr
WGST 250
March 4th, 2014
Prof. Walters
Fight club is the fictional story of an unnamed man who has recently been suffering from episodes of insomnia. It is based off the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk; it was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter as the three main characters. The film was released in Canada October 15, 1999, a month and a half before the WTO protests. In order to combat his condition Jack (Norton) seeks out various therapy groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Cancer survivors. Through these groups he indirectly meets Marla Singer (Carter). Their chance encounter sends …show more content…
The movie starts out with the camera hurtling, at a microscopic level, out from Jack’s brain; the camera continues to pan out until it focuses on a single hair continuing until the viewer notices a gun shoved into the hero’s mouth (Inside Out. (n.d.). Film Comment.). The epic cinematic effects do not stop there, later on in the film a lengthy scene exploring how Jack’s apartment and life exploded in a blaze of glory; the pan-out style of cinematography used in the title sequence is also utilized in this scene as well.
One of the more interesting aspects of this film, that many critics have failed to point out is the timeline of Fight club the novel, Fight Club the film, The WTO protests and the 9/11 tragedy. Fight club the novel was published in 1996, presented were ideas of anti-capitalism, anti-media and undertones of intolerance for religion. FOX picked up the rights to make the book into a movie in 1997 …show more content…
For the past millennia, religion has determined gender roles in many societies. Many religions offer men as being the dominator, aggressor, leader and just; whereas women are painted as emotional, caregivers, affectionate and often the temptress. A major theme in Fight Club is the critique of religion; one of the most famous Fight Club quotes is from Tyler Durden, “Our fathers were our models for God, if our fathers bailed what does that tell us about God? Consider the possibility that God does not like you, God doesn’t want you, and in all likelihood God does not like you”. This explains Tyler’s reasoning for his rejection of God, based off the simple God-Father principle. In this speech Tyler makes to Jack he refers to them as “Gods unwanted children”. The members of Project Mayhem are then referenced this throughout the rest of the film. Tyler can also be seen as a critical allegorical reference to a Jesus or God like figure. Tyler announces the rules of Fight Club and later on the rules of Project Mayhem. Tyler’s word eventually becomes law around Project Mayhem; even as Jack demands information on Project Mayhem he is constantly reminded of the rule he made earlier “Do not talk about Project Mayhem”. The members of project Mayhem obey the narrator’s rules over his direct orders. This a reference to the many Judaeo-Christian religions around the world in which the members have accepted The
Tarrin Duerr
WGST 250
March 4th, 2014
Prof. Walters
Fight club is the fictional story of an unnamed man who has recently been suffering from episodes of insomnia. It is based off the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk; it was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter as the three main characters. The film was released in Canada October 15, 1999, a month and a half before the WTO protests. In order to combat his condition Jack (Norton) seeks out various therapy groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Cancer survivors. Through these groups he indirectly meets Marla Singer (Carter). Their chance encounter sends …show more content…
The movie starts out with the camera hurtling, at a microscopic level, out from Jack’s brain; the camera continues to pan out until it focuses on a single hair continuing until the viewer notices a gun shoved into the hero’s mouth (Inside Out. (n.d.). Film Comment.). The epic cinematic effects do not stop there, later on in the film a lengthy scene exploring how Jack’s apartment and life exploded in a blaze of glory; the pan-out style of cinematography used in the title sequence is also utilized in this scene as well.
One of the more interesting aspects of this film, that many critics have failed to point out is the timeline of Fight club the novel, Fight Club the film, The WTO protests and the 9/11 tragedy. Fight club the novel was published in 1996, presented were ideas of anti-capitalism, anti-media and undertones of intolerance for religion. FOX picked up the rights to make the book into a movie in 1997 …show more content…
For the past millennia, religion has determined gender roles in many societies. Many religions offer men as being the dominator, aggressor, leader and just; whereas women are painted as emotional, caregivers, affectionate and often the temptress. A major theme in Fight Club is the critique of religion; one of the most famous Fight Club quotes is from Tyler Durden, “Our fathers were our models for God, if our fathers bailed what does that tell us about God? Consider the possibility that God does not like you, God doesn’t want you, and in all likelihood God does not like you”. This explains Tyler’s reasoning for his rejection of God, based off the simple God-Father principle. In this speech Tyler makes to Jack he refers to them as “Gods unwanted children”. The members of Project Mayhem are then referenced this throughout the rest of the film. Tyler can also be seen as a critical allegorical reference to a Jesus or God like figure. Tyler announces the rules of Fight Club and later on the rules of Project Mayhem. Tyler’s word eventually becomes law around Project Mayhem; even as Jack demands information on Project Mayhem he is constantly reminded of the rule he made earlier “Do not talk about Project Mayhem”. The members of project Mayhem obey the narrator’s rules over his direct orders. This a reference to the many Judaeo-Christian religions around the world in which the members have accepted The