Friday, March 10, 2023

Fight Club... Fact or Fiction

Watching Fight Club earlier... i had a strange thought. what if fight club is really a depiction of an elaborate fantasy going on in the mind of a patient in a psych ward, or a coma. Every character that the narrator interacts with can be seen as a projection of how he really sees himself if he continues on the path he's currently going. His boss is the image of a self-obsessed prick who feels great about his totally meaningless life. He decides that to continue on that path is unthinkable. His inner angst causes him to seek medical help because he hasn't slept in six months. His doctor is an image of the narrator's attempt to solve his inner angst with drugs... i.e. lipstick red secanols red and blue tuonols. The doctor fails him by not giving him the drugs he seeks. This causes him (in the image of the doctor) to recommend trying to attend self-help groups instead. He specifically recommends a group that addresses men who have been castrated, causing them to behave like desperate women. At the castrated men meeting, the narrator meets Bob. Bob is the narrator's image of who he will soon become if he continues to solve his inner turmoil by attending meetings... a big moosey, eyes shrinkrapped in tears. It is also at the castrated men's meeting where his new savior, Marla, comes to rescue him from becoming a "Bob" ...a common nobody with no balls. Marla, really has no business being a "self-help groupie." She shows up in the most unlikely place (a testicular cancer meeting) in order to show the narrator how futile was his behavior. Marla's "trying to hit bottom" lifestyle is slightly more attractive than the castrated big moosey represented by Bob. She is "hard left" character who advances the story to the narrator's ultimate solution to his horrible life... Tyler Durden. Marla represents the narrators desire to transform... from a castrated man/weak woman to a rebellious strong woman. Marla represents a life of pure indulgence. She doesn't care about living, dying, or even surviving. She is willing to attempt suicide and gracefully "vacuate her soul," but Tyler goes to save her AND invite her into the narrator's nice "safe" life. Tyler represents everything that the narrator is not. That fact is made obvious during the great reveal.

No comments:

Post a Comment