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Popular Culture Review
theme methodology, which will be used to examine Fight Club. We conclude
with a brief application of the themes of this movie to other social movements.
Breaking Fight Club’s Rule: Talking About the Film
A pawn of corporate culture, Jack is a recall coordinator whose success
is a result of his adherence to the “K E A nesting instinct” (Fincher), the belief
that only through the accumulation of furniture and material objects can one
truly be defined as an individual. Afflicted with insomnia, he finds his way to
various support groups to alleviate his own suffering by reveling in the suffering
of others. This panacea, though, is nullified with die appearance of Marla,
another spectator to other people’s pain. As the feminine epitome of all that Jack
has come to revile in consumer culture, they soon part ways after designating
separate support groups each may attend.
Not long after this encounter. Jack meets soap producer and salesman
Tyler Durden, who becomes Jack’s confidant and savior following an explosion
that destroys Jack’s apartment. In exchange for a room at Tyler’s house. Jack
agrees to Tyler’s request to hit him as hard as he can, and thus the concept of
“Fight Club” is bom. The mles that come to define this and every Fight Club
meeting stress secrecy, fairness, and obedience. The group’s existence is not
about the fight itself, but the redefinition and acceptance of masculinity without
reverting to more feminine means of self-exploration such as self-he lp groups.
As the success of Fight Club grows, Tyler creates an extension of the
organization called Project Mayhem. While Fight Club exists as a means for
individual men to deal with their own insecurities and inadequacies. Project
Mayhem is about deconstmcting the social order that initially emasculated men.
The members have no identity besides the “space monkey” moniker given to
them by their leader, Tyler. Once again the impact of a feminine character is
felt. Marla reenters Jack’s world in the form of a suicide attempt that Jack
ignores but Tyler responds to, creating a complex triangle of interactions based
on sex, love, respect, and revulsion. Marla’s presence complicates the power
stmggle that empts between Jack and Tyler for control of the organization. Tyler
sees her as nothing more than someone to be used, but Jack sees her as a threat
to his relationship with Tyler.
As Project Mayhem expands. Jack comes to realize that the
organization is no longer about mischief and disinformation, but something
much more sinister. Only after a near-fatal car crash does Jack learn the truth
about himself and the organization. First, he realizes that Jack and Tyler are not
separate individuals, but instead are two parts of a split personality. Tyler is
everything that Jack wants to be: strong, sexy, intelligent, and a leader; so in
order to cope with a society that wouldn’t accept him. Jack created Tyler.
Second, he learns that Tyler and Project Mayhem are planning to destroy
buildings that contain the world’s financial records. After a struggle for control
over which personality will survive, the film concludes with Jack killing Tyler