Misconception Analysis

Rating: 9/10 (3 June 2016)

While universally praised by all types of people, teenage and young adult audience members in specific tend to gravitate towards Fight Club, hailing it as one of the greatest films of all time and currently placing it at #10. on IMDb's Top 250 films. However, there are plenty of people that deem this film overrated, and while I can't quite agree with that, I would say, much like Pulp Fiction, people tend to consciously praise this film for the wrong reasons and through superficial means. For the fairly shallow reasons people claim to like this film, I would say in that sense, it is overrated. I would argue that this film is quite misinterpreted by common audience members and even by well-known film critics. Edward Norton's narrator character is not named, to serve as a vehicle for the audience to adopt themselves upon. He is a regular American white collar Caucasian male in his thirties. He is a regular person. He is a loser to many as his life is empty. In essence, he is the audience. Tyler Durden represents the other extreme, while being a different side of the same coin. Audiences generally love Tyler Durden, and it makes sense that they do in a way, as he embodies everything they wish to be or wish to have. Tyler Durden is the ideal masculine role, but the Narrator is given the task to redefine that role.
Tyler Durden influences the Narrator to give up his dependent and materialistic lifestyle and embrace life for what it is; in essence all that matters is up to the individual. I think the film is also about finding a balance and not going too far in a way. The film is about how people should strive to improve, accept their worth, or lack of, but not give in so far that they lose sense of their individuality.
There's an over growing sense that one should not give in too much. The fight clubs and Project Mayhem begin to form a cult with set rules and priorities, embracing a mindless sheep like organized role, which is what they are set out to go against. They ultimately and ironically are fighting against what they are, which gives more insight and meaning to the film's twist. The twist is what audiences tend to focus on, while thinking the film is actually endorsing what the fight clubs and Project Mayhem stand for. The answer is neither 'no' nor 'yes' but rather 'sort of'. As mentioned before, the film argues for balance. The narrator, while ultimately agreeing with Tyler in some ways, feels things are getting out of hand, especially after a man is killed. Once he kills off Tyler, he is then ridding himself of the extremist side of him in a way, though not fully as he is still adopting some of that side. Tyler taught him not to need consumerist products and lifestyle, but he went too far and the narrator realizes he does not need Tyler. The film is about gaining a little bit of both sides. Tyler is not the hero. He is going too far and the audience needs to catch onto the fact that he is not the ideal one should strive for, but rather strive for that of the protagonist at the end. One should be their own individual but strive to improve and not give in and embrace extremes. The film is first about ridding one's self of the materialistic means and ideals society sets forth, including hyper-masculine extremist role models that Tyler embodies. The film is being more like the narrator than Tyler. Despite this, audience members lose sight of this and still view the film of being film as being for Tyler's philosophy and character ideal.