Fight Club, American film tragedy or just misunderstood?

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2000)

From the title, I'm sure many believed I would discuss how the film "Fight Club" was a blatant display of contemporary fascism, but that's not what I think. Beyond the violence, the big names, the media attention, I saw a message and not just a film. Almost like the child-genius in "Magnolia" telling his father that he needs to be treated better, I saw "Fight Club" tell me I need to re-evaluate what is important in my life. This is not to say that the film has changed me in some grande way, sure I did change, but ever so slightly. After "Fight Club" the purpose of film changed, that's minute in comparison to the great picture that is life. It's my humble opinion that a film like "Fight Club" was totally misunderstood.
Unlike many who saw the film, I left the theatre fearing physical pain. I now shudder whenever I hear a friend mutter that he wants to "beat the hell" out of someone. It's scary that a strip of celluloid was able to do that to me, rather than further desensitize me towards violence, the film has caused me to avoid confrontation. I think that's wonderful, but a lot of people do not. A lot of people are disgusted by the film, simply because of it's vastly horrific violence. But truth be told the film does not even have as much attack on the human body as I was expecting. So what made it appeal to me, a "modern teenager"?
It was the director, David ("Se7en", "The Game") Fincher. He's a visionary, I see him as one of the few young talents in Hollywood that actually have some sort of feel for what the camera is allowed to see. His directing is fresh, dark, gritty and especially URBAN. Through his previous works we have seen at least two sides of the class spectrum which have always shown some darker side of man. In "Se7en", we witnessed the absolute hell that could befall a pair of civil servants, two officers of the law and though it was not a major display in the film, there had to be a point in the main characters' lives when they had to come to grips with what and who they were dealing with. Needless to say, there is a sad ending and a great tragedy. Meanwhile, in "The Game", more than a year later we are treated to the darker side of the rich socialite, and we are treated to a happy ending. But in "Fight Club", there was no happy or sad ending.
There was loss and there was gain whether it was wanted or not. And amidst this, Fincher was able to take that whole idea of "funky" and "digital" to it's darkest, while he erased the classes which were present and highly focal in his other films. Indeed this is true as we see the various faces and races which the actual "Fight Club" incorporates, mixed together trying to release some aggression. And things do get over the edge, but there is a sense of loyalty borne between the men who dare to journey into the darker side of himself. "Fight Club" to the characters in the film was practically religion and a new way to live. They were better than most people in the real world, because they did not live for the material items, they were actually able to live for life. That means that they were living for something that material items and cool gadgets could not buy. Would it eventually lead to mass murder? Perhaps, but I think they would have gotten bored with it by the time it got that out of hand. I believe that much is true because, regardless of the new found strength they were given by "Tyler Durden", they were still products of the Generation X. Basically they have all inherited some short attention span. It was a fad, nothing lasts forever in this day and age. Besides which, "Fight Club" would have eventually become commercialized.
Big industry is always looking for the next big craze, and I don't think that the members of "Fight Club" would support something that could be commercialized. Once you commercialize it it becomes an easy target for merchandising, then they would be back at square one. But they can always live in the now and know that they were doing something different, doing something real, and doing something beyond therapy to help improve themselves.
So I say to Fincher, and Palahniuk (for his original novel), and Uhls (for the adaptation to the screen), and Norton, and Pitt, and everybody who helped to make such a great film, and of course the Dust Brothers for an absolutely seamless soundtrack; Thank You! You have actually accomplished making a film that has actually entertained me beyond the visual and story and was successfully made in the 90's. Don't get me wrong, there are a vast number of incredible films made in the 90's such as "Usual Suspects", "Philadelphia", and "Trainspotting", but "Fight Club" was directed towards me, and that felt good, I felt appreciated. I could identify with the struggles like no other film before it, that just makes me feel great. I think it was misunderstood, maybe I'm right or maybe I'm wrong, but that still doesn't mean that it was a bad film. To conclude I would just like to say that I wish to read the original novel by Chuck Palahniuk, but half the adventure is actually finding a copy which I have unsuccessfully accomplished. It's a rare book, so there must be a good reason for it's popularity.