Radical and Original

Rating: 10/10 (11 March 2001)

Violence? Essentially none compared to Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator and many other recent films. Critics see an opportunity to jump all over this movie for its violence when in fact it is it's various themes, which threaten the establishment, that are the problem to them. People are not used to Hollywood putting out a movie that reflects society and its various members' feelings, they are uncomfortable with that. And they usually do a good job of stopping these kinds of films from being made. They would rather a happy, repetitive and empty film than an honest one. But there is a segment of the population that looks for the original and different film.
This film is mocking society and it's pretty sad the length it has to go to do this. Getting beaten to a pulp is the last resort to life that Jack sees in this early twenty-first century age. Society says we should graduate from high school, go to college, get a well-paying job, get married, then have kids, but something seems to be missing to Jack while in the job stage of life, he is emotionally empty, numb and to top that off he has insomnia. So to get some emotional feeling and contact and to possibly get some sleep, he attends support groups where each group has a different illness, which Jack has none of, but goes for a shot at life, an opportunity to live. Now it is true that Jack isn't suffering with the various cancers within each group but nonetheless Jack is suffering. Jack is suffering from insomnia, he's confused and he's unhappy. So to treat these ailments he attends the support groups. So along with the other support group-goers Jack is attempting to heal a problem. After a few months he sees a fellow "tourist" named Marla who goes to the support groups and also has none of the illnesses. So now Jack is again unable to sleep, so he tells Marla his problem and from then on they agree to attend different support groups.
Fight Club is great in so many ways. For example: this was one of the first movies to use photogrammetry, which is the shots you see going through the building floors then into the van with the bomb in it. The cool sex scene in the movie is also done by the use of photogrammetry. Photogrammetry was also used for the footage of the apartment blowing up: zooming into the stove and into the back of the refrigerator. Fight Club definitely has the most original story of at least the past couple of years; the protagonist's real name is never given; that's different and interesting. This movie challenges everything about current-day society: whether it is corporate influence, or modern living, or being a sheep in a herd, or any of the other subjects that are addressed in the film. This movie ends with a great song too, "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies, appropriate title too. The intro into the film is amazing as well - the brain ride. The music compliments the movie so well and fits in great with the whole modern-day age theme.
For the people who are uncomfortable with Fight Club and people who find it offensive. These people obviously have problems of their own that need to be addressed. As Edward Norton said, "Art reflects the flaws of society" and if people are uncomfortable with this then they are the problem. These people are perfectly comfortable with a movie like Saving Private Ryan that shows limbs flying off, faces ripped off, torsos blown off, etc. but they can't handle a fist to an eye. And it's a willing fist to an eye, both fighters realize they are going to get hit and they want that. Whereas in Saving Private Ryan the people getting shot do not want to get hit, there is a difference. It just shows the contradictory views that these conservatives hold, totally partial to one thing over another. What decides what type of bloodshed is acceptable? The answer is what the bloodshed is representing (what that particular movie is about). In the case of Saving Private Ryan it was patriotic bloodshed, non-threatening bloodshed, acceptable bloodshed, but in Fight Club the bloodshed was part of a type of radicalism that was deemed a threat by the establishment whether it be Hollywood, the corporations, or the government. That is where censorship comes in, the free flowing of ideas, which is completely necessary for a healthy democracy. When censors start to flex their muscle that's when some form of communism or fascism makes its appearance. With one critic calling Fight Club fascist, I say censoring an idea is fascist (an example most obvious in the case of Brazil where Terry Gilliam almost could not get the movie released). If you don't like Fight Club or the ideas it presents then don't watch it, but don't decide for others if it is acceptable to watch or not.
A few insights that I gained: the car company that Jack worked for is Ford Motor Company. This is shown in the scene when Jack beats himself up in front of his boss and they quickly show a glimpse of the letters "FMC" on his boss's business card, which would refer to Ford Motor Company. Jack got over his TV addiction that he and so many Americans have. This shows that to live you have to lose that addiction. Upon reflecting, Tyler is so free in the ways that most (and almost all people) aren't. Tyler doesn't have a car, doesn't have bills, doesn't have pointless possessions, he doesn't work everyday to pay for his new $25,000 car, he's free. The rejection of material possessions is one important idea to take away from the film, if nothing else.