Yep, seen that one too, Ace. Dont get me wrong though, there are aspects of it which I like. But having learned about the original premise [and script], I cant help feeling that it couldve been so much more.
Have allways loved this movie. However I have recently realized a much deeper meaning to it. Maybe this has been said, i didn't read this whole thread, but heres my new take.
This movie was about the one thing we all have in common. Our fear and how to get over it. As tyler said "you need to accept that this is your last day on earth" or something close to that.
This movie is about seeing how screwed we get on a daily basis yet we do nothing about it. Good people fear being hurt and hurting others. Thats why it was so hard to go out and pick a fight.
Without typing all night the short end of it seems to be the fact that until we come to terms with our own deaths good people will allways be pushed around by evil people and do nothing about it.
The fear aspect is shown from the small things like losing your job, going to jail, fitting in to fit in and not be ridiculed, to death itself. this movie now is 20/10 for me.
at its core the story is about ed nortons character and marla. Tyler was his means of getting marla,everything that span out of that is really extraneous although is what the story ends up focusing on for much of the time.
also have you guys seen this? its great
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrUOLbyG930[/YT]
There are elements to Fight Club that I enjoy. As a straight up psychological thriller it's pretty fun. Excellent performances all around. Cool art direction (though on a repeat viewing this weekend, I noticed that some of the CGI is looking fairly dated).
But I can't overlook what the deeper message of this film is. My reading of it is that our current society has essentially made yeunechs of all males. There is no way for them to become men because hunting, wars, and other "male" primal urges have given way to consumerism and 9-5 jobs. So these guys reject society as we know it and embrace their primal urges to fight one another. This eventually leads to more violent forms of this urge and a total rejection of consumer society.
So in sum; man have been made less by society, reject society in order to regain manhood.
So where exactly does this leave women in the equation? I don't think it can be disputed that the only prominent woman in the film, Marla, does not occupy anything close to a positive role. She's treated as almost a villain by Norton's character (until the end), and to Durden she's just a sexual object. She's also completely clueless throughout the film. Is this supposed to be a comment on how men view woman, in the primal sense? Competitor or sexual partner? I can't say for sure, but I think Marla's representation and the absences of any other female role raises some troubling questions.
I do know that when Durden gives his speech about how he wants the earth to return to wild and for men to be hunters again, all I could think was "Great, so we get to go back to making all the food and taking care of the babies in this fantasy? Gee, no thanks."
I guess my problem with Fight Club is that it, to me, essentially represents a white male fantasy of what a perfect world could or should be. I'm not particularly interested in that. We've already had the white male version of the world, and it sucked pretty hard for anyone who didn't fit in that category.
That said the ending always throws me
Norton is able to kill Durden. Is this Norton's character finally being able to accept the Durden aspect to his personality, or his he destroying the part of him that is screwed up? If it's the latter, maybe the film is providing some judgment on the acts of these characters after all.
I am fully aware this is a very feminist reading of Fight Club. That's the only way I can read it. I do understand why it appeals to so many guys. I get much less enjoyment out of it then my guy friends that's for sure.
I haven't read the book to be honest. I'm curious if it is more or less accurate to the film, and if the same themes come across.
at its core the story is about ed nortons character and marla. Tyler was his means of getting marla,everything that span out of that is really extraneous although is what the story ends up focusing on for much of the time.
also have you guys seen this? its great
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrUOLbyG930[/YT]
There are elements to Fight Club that I enjoy. As a straight up psychological thriller it's pretty fun. Excellent performances all around. Cool art direction (though on a repeat viewing this weekend, I noticed that some of the CGI is looking fairly dated).
But I can't overlook what the deeper message of this film is. My reading of it is that our current society has essentially made yeunechs of all males. There is no way for them to become men because hunting, wars, and other "male" primal urges have given way to consumerism and 9-5 jobs. So these guys reject society as we know it and embrace their primal urges to fight one another. This eventually leads to more violent forms of this urge and a total rejection of consumer society.
So in sum; man have been made less by society, reject society in order to regain manhood.
So where exactly does this leave women in the equation? I don't think it can be disputed that the only prominent woman in the film, Marla, does not occupy anything close to a positive role. She's treated as almost a villain by Norton's character (until the end), and to Durden she's just a sexual object. She's also completely clueless throughout the film. Is this supposed to be a comment on how men view woman, in the primal sense? Competitor or sexual partner? I can't say for sure, but I think Marla's representation and the absences of any other female role raises some troubling questions.
I do know that when Durden gives his speech about how he wants the earth to return to wild and for men to be hunters again, all I could think was "Great, so we get to go back to making all the food and taking care of the babies in this fantasy? Gee, no thanks."
I guess my problem with Fight Club is that it, to me, essentially represents a white male fantasy of what a perfect world could or should be. I'm not particularly interested in that. We've already had the white male version of the world, and it sucked pretty hard for anyone who didn't fit in that category.
That said the ending always throws me
Norton is able to kill Durden. Is this Norton's character finally being able to accept the Durden aspect to his personality, or his he destroying the part of him that is screwed up? If it's the latter, maybe the film is providing some judgment on the acts of these characters after all.
I am fully aware this is a very feminist reading of Fight Club. That's the only way I can read it. I do understand why it appeals to so many guys. I get much less enjoyment out of it then my guy friends that's for sure.
I haven't read the book to be honest. I'm curious if it is more or less accurate to the film, and if the same themes come across.
Again my new view on this film is very fear orientated.
But I think, in a much lesser way, Marla is going through the same things Jack is going through. Who is she? Why is she? That is why she attends all of the self help meetings. I think they are striving for the same thing.
Yep, seen that one too, Ace. Dont get me wrong though, there are aspects of it which I like. But having learned about the original premise [and script], I cant help feeling that it couldve been so much more.
I thought Fight Club was awful, it's just about a worker who hates life as Pitt was a figment of his imagination because of some mental illness he got and i think Norton should had been thrown into a mental house to be abused daily and lobotomized as i hate people with mental illness like Norton's character as people with Personality disorders should be lobotomized, that ending pissed me off.
.this appalling, grotesque, and interminable endurance-test is fairytale fiction for serial killers, imbeciles who succumb to road rage, and frustrated white guys--all the morons who seek excuses for their increasingly bad behavior and hair-trigger tempers".
Fight Club is just a cult movie, nothing more.
I think normal people should rule the world and people with DPD should be left in houses to be abused and lobotimized.
Helen Bonnie Carter was a snanky ***** in this movie.
I don't think Fight Club endorses lobotomy of the mentally ill. Actually it's one of the rare films that glorifies mental illness.
The movie suggest the embodiment of mental illness is a charismatic and ripped Brad Pitt; a revolutionary who will strike a major blow to America's consumerist culture while liberating men in ever city from being slaves to materialism and empty tradition.
Usually Hollywood portrays the mentally ill as evil serial killers or maladjusted rejects, not Tyler Durden.
Also I'd say the movie makes a case for both traditional values and anti-consumerism/male rebellion. It doesn't completely endorse or dismiss either.
I watched it for the first time a week ago. Completely loved it and understand why so many people are drawn to it. To this day the acting, effects, and cinematography are excellent. Top 10 movie for sure.
Norton's finest hour (and that's saying something), one of Pitt's finest hours (again, he's been good in a lot) and one of the most visually emotional endings in film history. It's romantic, it's haunting and it's the Pixies, what's NOT to love ? A truly brilliant film.
I watched a few videos about the film on YouTube. "Things you may have missed" type videos. I honestly didn't notice Brad Pitt appears in the film before his true introduction. Very small glimpses of him in half second frames. He appears once in one of those meetings Edward Norton was going to. Once when he's watching the lady walk away in an alley, and once in a commercial on TV.
Also did anyone catch on the last frame of the film, they put a frame of a dude's junk in it for less than half a second? Calling back to in the movie when he works at the theater, and put a frame of a sexual scene in a family film? Does that mean Brad Pitt is still believed to be inside his mind somewhere? Haha.
They dont make them like this anymore. Really was a film of its time and probably the film thats had the most effect on me as an adult, the timing of it just before the turn of the millennium probably helped its mythos as well.
Man had never had it so good but were more lost than ever. Stunning work of art, there's more things in here in to dig deep into that most films barely touch the surface on. If I ever need to get my head straight and refocus in my own life this film is the one I always go back to for inspiration.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
t:
