The bold, gritty, scabby existential question

Rating: Null/10 (17 November 2004)

Most of us (by "us" I mean the people reading this article) lead relatively predictable lives. And even if you lead an eventful life, experience will in time make your life predictable. We cope, we make our own little comfort zone and wallow in the illusion that we know ourselves, our limits and possibilities. This seems to work, but sooner or later you become hopelessly dependent on continuity. Every change upsets you. We become incapable of change or growth. We just keep within the bounds of expectations. This is what happens to all the yuppies in The Fight Club. to end their jaded rut, they get caught up in a constant quest for feeling, to convince themselves that they in fact exist. And if nothing testifies to your unique importance, what then? We'd all rather be hated then ignored. Neglected children tend to seek attention by becoming (self-)destructive. And they are neglected. By their fathers and then by modern society. Basically Tyler's Fight Club revolves around reciprocated auto mutilation. But Tyler himself is completely different. He's basically an ideal: smart, capable, free. But his freedom has a price. Like an übermensch, he could only become what he is in adversity, and the destruction of, well, everything contemporary society holds dear. So the question is: who's side are we on? We can keep on being cogs in the relentless clockwork of modern consumption society and its superimposed limitations and expectations. Or we can throw it all away and become a Nietzschian übermensch, living in constant struggle. Neither sounds attractive to me. And in the end, I can identify with Tyler, stuck as he is between an existential rock and a hard place.I think that the movie doesn't give us an answer to this problem. But I think it's bold enough to just pose the question, even if it is buried under layers of grit and scabs. Maybe the Fight Club isn't about that at all, but the movie is still impressive. Like bite marks.
Big up to Chuck, Jim, David, Brad, Edward and Helena!