1. ‘Despite the gesture of destroying symbols of corporate power at
the end, Fight Club is a film about power and control, not
liberation.’ How far do you agree?
When looking at Fight Club, power, control and liberation are themes
that cannot be ignored. I think that, how far I agree with the statement
made would depend entirely upon which aspect of the film I was looking
from.
For example, right from the beginning of the film we can see that Jack
has ‘become a slave to the Ikea resting unit.’ This gives a strong
suggestion of the consumerist values of western culture, how
materialistic society has become. It has developed a strong consumerist
ideology. It would seem to me that the burning of Jack’s apartment
(unknown to the viewer at the time but it is in fact himself that causes
the fire) is a symbol of his rebellion against this mainstream
ideology. He becomes ‘freed’ from the idea that he needs material
possessions to ‘complete’ his life and himself. I would be inclined to say
that it is in this respect that Fight Club is about liberation. It is about
removing yourself from the ties put in place by society and the ideology
that is imposed upon us. This Marxist idea that is strongly shown
through this escape would suggest that the film is about liberation.
However, the character of Tyler has very much control over Jack. This
would lead me to agree with the statement that Fight Club is about
power and control. We can see right from the beginning of the film, this
kind of power Tyler may have, the splicing of Tyler’s image flashing at
important aspects of the opening suggests we can expect him to
change the way Jack acts, as it could almost suggest to the audience
that he is part of a fabrication of Jacks mind (although this is not clear
until we have seen the ending). Nietzsche’s theory of nihilism is quite
relevant to this film. Despite Jack’s journey being one of what should be
self-discovery, Tyler’s power over Jack’s actions turns it into one of self-
destruction. Unaware of what he is in fact doing to himself, Jack goes
along with the plans of ‘Fight Club’ and is sub-consciously having his
path altered into destruction and not into freedom. One of the more
prominent scenes to display this controlling idea, would be the scene in
which Tyler lets go of the steering wheel of a moving car and Jack tries
to take control but Tyler convinces him to just ‘let go’. This scene clearly
shows the audience of how controlling and powerful Tyler is towards
Jack. He can convince to effectively drive himself to death.

2. In this scene Tyler also says, ‘we are not special’ I feel that this is quite
contradictory to the message he is trying to get through to Jack. He
initially begins by getting him to rebel against mainstream ideology and
be different, and this turning into ‘we are not special’ throws many
different ideas at Jack and it is only when Fight Club turns into Project
Mayhem that Jack finally sees what’s happening. He finally begins to
see the control this figure has over him. This begins a whole new
liberation process; he needs to free himself of Tyler’s influence and free
himself of his nihilistic personality to regain his own control and have his
own actions overwrite that of Tyler’s.
Another theme that runs throughout this film is one of masculinity. In
modern western society, women seem to have more relevance than
ever before. This is shown through the femme fatale-like character of,
Marla. At the very opening of this film, Jacks voice over tells us that
“Marla is at the root of it all”. This warning of her is inflated more by the
constant diegetic alarms/bells that sound every time she appears in the
frame. (Marla is an anagram of ‘alarm’ suggesting she is a clear threat.)
It would seem that masculinity if questioned throughout this film and
Marla is a character that threatens to undermine Jack’s masculinity. The
character of Bob is another example of how men are being feminised,
(after having testicular cancer, the medication has given him breasts).
The Fight Club initially starts out a form of liberation for them, only men
are allowed. It allows them to fight with only there fists, to regain the
feeling of masculinity that is considered to be lost in modern society.
The underground nature of this club, (literally in the sense that it takes
place in a basement) brings the men together. ‘We are still men. Men is
what we are’. Again I would suggest that in this sense, Fight Club is
about liberation, regaining the male status. Almost taking them back to
caveman roots. Nevertheless, Fight Club once again, simply becomes
another form of control and a new ideology to conform to. Everyone
needs direction, need somebody for reassurance.

3. Fight Club is considered to be quite a post-modern text, continuous
self-referential scenes, most clearly the scene in which Tyler is working
as a projectionist. Fight Club also refers to several other ‘cult’ films,
one shot in particular is notably famous to be an imitation of the rape
scene from A Clockwork Orange. Nearer the beginning of the film Jack
says ‘a copy of a copy of a copy’ this almost suggests that a post-
modern text is nothing more than a mixture of themes, shots and
meanings taken from other texts. This could be a suggestion of how
society moving. No longer moving forward, just moving in circles picking
up parts of the past to mix into a ‘new’. I feel that this post-modern
aspect of the film would suggest that liberation cannot be accessed
because there is no way forward out of a society of ideologies that are
imposed upon us subconsciously. With that in mind, I would tend top
agree with the statement that Fight Club is simply about having power,
may that be over a society, a gender or one person.

4. Fight Club uses cinematic means to produce a fantasy which is also a
serious exploration of masculinity”. How far does this statement capture
your own response to the film?
The cinematic and thematic exploration of the undervalued blue-collar
workers of America in “Fight Club” is an expression of the results of the
suppression of masculine, animalistic and natural elements within modern
society. While viewing the film the consideration the audience makes
alongside the protagonist “Jack” (whose identity is questionable) appears to
be questioning whether it is right to fight against this society of anti-masculine
individuals who strive for materialism is really an emotional struggle.
We see that Jack experiences the consumerism of society while he is
struggling with insomnia (created by the addiction to materialistic items in his
apartment) through the sequence are fast-paced close-ups of popular items
such as Starbucks cups, Crispy Creme Doughnuts and moreover a shot of his
American dollars. These are noticeably crumpled and not at all patriotic with
the logos not facing the framing. This focus upon materialism suggests a
masculinity dealing with the feminine love of shopping coupled with the
anonymity that American city dwelling brings. The idea that this could be
anywhere in America is suggested with a memorable close up of stickers
bearing “Hello. My name is _____” that evoke a response of loss of direction
and identity within the audience. The anonymity and IKEA-catalogue based
sequences we see Jack experience in his hallucinations are also a possible
schizophrenic embodiment of this lack of any true identity or even his
individuality hinting that arguably his importance as a man is being tested.
“Fight Club” embodies the idea of Nietzsche: the idea of a superman being
possible is alluded to in the ever-repetitive doppelganger/split-persona of
Tyler appearing in a subliminal flicker at the side of the frame throughout the
first few scenes. This demonstrates the power that Tyler has over Jack’s

5. mind, and it gets ever more present as the film progresses. It becomes more
apparent when we see him in a tracking shot at the airport on an escalator,
almost as if the camera shows a preference to following his movements rather
than Jack's. This is because we see this side of the masculinity of the main
characters split personality being the alpha male, also displayed when the
camera tracks his movements from behind and in front as he is surrounded by
a crowd in the basement. “Project Mayhem”, the needless fight of violence
and terror, is powered by this dominant figure, giving the audience clues that
this individual does not let himself be owned by possessions unlike Jack, and
regards himself as his own.
Also seen in the masculinity of the postmodern traits of the film is the
reference to a rape scene in “A Clockwork Orange”, as the eerily similar,
exaggerated disorientation of angle of Tyler after beating up government
officials is reminiscent of a more sinister, evil scene from a film about anarchy.
This instils a sense of fear in the spectator, as the masculinity of this man
appears to be turning into something more power-hungry and fascist. The
intertextual reference to 'A Clockwork Orange' also confirms the postmodern
significance of this film as it generates so many questions but ultimately and
superficially fails to answer them.
The film also displays a radical array of misogynistic traits through the
character of Marla, an anagram of the word “alarm” and met with the sound of
sirens and non-diegetic influences of danger. This gives us the idea that the
main character Jack is so terrified by this femme-fatale and disturbed by her
appearance that his masculinity is challenged. In a neo-noir style, we see the
framing of Marla introduced sinisterly via shadow and with her hat obscuring
half of her face dominating the screen, she also gives the impression of power
as it convinces us through the low-angle. Her character is also, while present
during a scene in which the self-help group has to reflect and meditate,
blurred in the background, while Jack thinks when we are catapulted into the
frantic hallucination of Jack in a cool-blue icy cave, in his head, is interrupted
by Marla smoking (that demonstrates further the hybrid of noir genre
incorporated), she is clearly more dominant. It's as if she is the masculine
one, she uses the word “slide” and this dialogue perhaps provokes the idea of
Jack’s deterioration leading from here into the audience’s mind. When we
next see her in the crosscut back to the church-style environment, it is Jack
who is blurred and unimportant.
The narrative also relies on its use of cinematography to relay certain ideas
through stylistic and mise-en-scene elements. Almost pornographically shot in
a grotesque way is the footage of Jack turning up to his office beaten and
bloody, with close-ups of his bruises after his decline into fighting that
suggests that the main character has traded his addiction of self-help groups
and materialism for the exhilaration of fighting as a form of release. The film
also closely explores elements of homosexuality by referencing the
experimental style of directors like Kenneth Anger, as we see that the
fetishising of objects and improving the body of the men has elements that
arise in “Fight Club”. It could be suggested that Jack is in love with the idea of
Tyler, and therefore we are greeted with the notion that he is in fact

6. homosexual or may have deep emotional struggles with such tendencies.
Furthermore, the response at the Viennese Film Festival to the film was an
angry one of shock and concern over the films fascist, Nazi style links. The
sequence in which we see Tyler and Jack stealing a liposuction factory’s
human fat and processing it into soap to sell to the rich delivers a haunting
message that there are still Nazi-style thoughts born of a generation in need
of a disciplinary style of life to stop their masculinity going downhill. The
cinematic means used to portray Jack’s early obsession with self-help groups,
such as shot-reverse-shot from his close up face centred in the middle of the
frame looking solemn, and then to a list of self-help groups not unlike a
religious scroll, back to his face, and paired with organ, church style non-
diegetic sound express the vulnerability of his addictive nature. This
foreshadows his steady decline into being open to fighting and causing
mayhem because of his easy transfixion’s with things.
Furthermore, the theme of gender confusion is embodied in the role of Bob,
an ex-fighter who was once an alpha male, now resorting to crying at a self-
help group and suffering from testicular cancer that physically and mentally
feminises him. The viewer’s response is an automatic pity when Jack uses
ironic dialogue that injects a hybrid of comedy into the film and we feel sorry
for Bob. This emotive response is also strong in our fear that Jack will
continue to gradually deteriorate as we see him jeering and fighting alongside
the “Project Mayhem” gang – the division between Tyler, the alpha male, and
Jack, the less superior character by means such as a phone booth window,
trees, furniture and other characters suggest a fighting battle between Jack
and his other persona. Because we see this vulnerability in Jack that lacks the
usual American ego of a masculine male, we see that the masculinity he
craves and worships is in fact slightly evil.

7. Fight Club’ - social, political and cultural
contexts
The fight against commercialisation
Jack is a character that represents a heavily domesticated male. He
himself fears that has become commercialised, asking himself “what
kind of dining set defines me as a person?” - personality is something
not be assessed when looking at Jack. Instead, we make our judgments
on his surrounding objects. There is no emotion, he is a product on the
conveyer belt. He is manufactured. However, it appears that he is not
the only one.
Jack and Tyler form the Fight Club in order to deal with this outrage.
They form it to claim male individuality back - as Tyler puts it himself
“How much do you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?”
This, ultimately, is why Project Mayhem is introduced - it’s aim is to
destroy commercialisation through mass chaos. The men who take part
all feel the same way. They are sick of being plain, sick of being
‘textbook’. Now that they have re-gained their masculine identities with
the help of Fight Club, they are prepared to show this to the
commercialised world by destroying everything that they felt had
pushed their purpose and existence out of the way. While the press
may have argued that a ‘good idea about male insecurity’ became lost
with ‘right-wing nutters’, it is also possible that this insecurity was just a
stepping stone on the path to extremism. It provides a source, a reason
for their actions.
Identity and masculinity
From the early stages of the film, it is clear that the masculine identity is
something that Jack is trying to re-gain. It has become buried and
alluded by capitalism. What capitalism has done to this generation of
men is taken away their place in the world, and the intentions of Project
Mayhem is to destroy capitalism, so that these men can have a purpose
once more. They can feel useful for doing what they do.
This could explain why Jack is able to view Tyler in such a fascinated
way - he is everything that he wants his life to be like. This also could be
why so many other men were eager to be part of Fight Club - through
violence, they have the chance to cling on to whatever is left of
masculinity. It is a place where they can feel like ‘men’ again.
Identity crises is also suggested at an early stage in the film - during an
encounter with Robert Paulson, a member of the testicular cancer
support group who has grown breasts because of his treatment. Jack
tells him that ‘we’re still men’. As Robert has gained breasts, he
probably feels less like a man, so this is simply an a attempt at a
comforting sentence. For Jack, however, it applies that his depressed,
domesticated lifestyle has drained away all masculinity from him. He

8. wants to cling on to what he can.
How has this affected culture?
“Two schoolboys grapple with each other as bystanders look on and
shout encouragement…pupils have set up their own Fight Club, based
on the ultra-violent film of the same name starring Brad Pitt. In the film,
disaffected young men fight each other in illegal bare-knuckle bouts.” -
Daily Mail, February 2008 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
522110/Pupils-set-lunch-break-Fight-Club-post-shocking-videos-
YouTube.html)
“Inspired by the 1999 film Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton,
underground bare-knuckle brawling clubs have sprung up across the
country as a way for desk jockeys and disgruntled youths to vent their
frustrations and prove themselves.” - USA Today, 2000, May 2006
(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-29-fight-club_x.htm)
“A 17-year-old mimicking Brad Pitt’s “Fight Club” character, who plans
attacks on corporate America, was arrested on suspicion of
masterminding a pre-dawn blast outside a Starbucks Coffee shop” -
The Washington Times, July 2009
(http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/16/starbucks-bombing-
blamed-on-fight-club-fancy/?page=1)
Critical reception
‘Fight Club is a dumbed-down extremism, Extremism Lite, no-brainer
extremism for the Rush Limbaugh generation, an audience that thinks
the "diceman" is a really challenging philosophy’ - The Guardian
"This monstrous film brutalises men everywhere" - Daily Mail
"Fincher started out with a good idea about male insecurity, but
somehow got this snarled up with a daft story about right-wing nutters.
It's hard to think of another movie this year that has begun so
promisingly and ended so poorly" - The Independent
“Shot in a convulsive, stream-of-unconsciousness style... Fight Club
does everything short of rattling your seat to get a reaction. You can call
that irresponsible. Or you can call it the only essential Hollywood film of
the year" - Time Out
“It means to explore the lure of violence in an even more dangerously
regimented, dehumanized culture. That's a hard thing to illustrate this
powerfully without, so to speak, stepping on a few toes” - New York
Times