When asked who should play them in the movie of their life, what is the one name that people say? Although they are usually being sarcastic, the answer I hear the most is “Brad Pitt”.
And why not? He’s a versatile actor, having played a cowboy hitchhiker, a vampire, a con artist, a spy married to an enemy spy, a man aging in reverse, and Tyler Durden from Fight Club, to name a few.
The movie Fight Club didn’t do as well in theatres as expected, but after its release on DVD, it garnered a cult following. The movie centers around a nameless Narrator, who is suffering from insomnia and feels trapped in his white-collar job. He begins attending support groups so he can “appreciate real suffering”, and finally finds himself able to sleep after attending these meetings and crying with the people who are really dying. Then, he meets Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt), a soap maker (among other things). They go to the bar, have a few drinks, and just when they’re leaving, Tyler Durden randomly says those fateful words: “I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”
These are the words that started Fight Club, an underground place where men go to beat the crap out of one another. Together, the Narrator and Tyler Durden make up the rules of Fight Club:
1. You don't talk about fight club.
2. You don't talk about fight club.
3. When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he's just faking it, the fight is over.
4. Only two guys to a fight.
5. One fight at a time.
6. They fight without shirts or shoes.
7. The fights go on as long as they have to.
8. If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.
The violence of Fight Club serves as a metaphor for feeling, rather than to promote or glorify physical combat (which I admit, I thought the movie was about before watching it: A bunch of guys out to prove their masculinity by beating each other up). The fights represent the impulses these men have to break out of society.
Although the actual fight scenes serve to show how these men desire to feel, the subject of how these men are struggling to be men is touched on, too. Several times in the movie, the Narrator and Tyler talk about how messed up the version of how men are "supposed to be like" really is and how they’re personally struggling to be men because their generation was raised by women and they didn’t have a man to look up to.
I feel like there were a lot of subliminal messages in Fight Club (subliminal messages was another theme the movie touched on), and I’m pretty sure I missed most of them. After all, I’ve only seen Fight Club once. Warning for all those who have yet to see it and want to: It is graphic and kind of weird. And it feels kind of like watching a dream, especially when you see a penguin playing in the Narrator’s relaxation cave (Don’t ask).
So if you’re feeling a little fed up with what society tells you to be like: take Tyler Durden’s example. Sell all your worldly possessions, move into a dilapidated house, and start a Fight Club.
I never did see the movie "Fight Club." I want to though. I've heard it's very good and the lessons and whatnot are useful. I too am fed up with what society tells us to wear, eat, speak, and look like. Who can tell us what and who to be?!
ReplyDeleteHe is soooo gorgeous! Why haven't I seen this movie yet?! Possibly because fights scare the crap out of me, but I could watch anything with Brad Pitt in it I think! Those rules sound pretty intense. Besides starring Brad Pitt this movie seems to be more for the male gender. I still want to see it though!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I am telling on you to fight club. Secondly, I think the skinny kid off of Superbad would be in my movie biography, but with brad pitts fight club abs.
ReplyDeleteI tried watching Fight Club but I fell asleep and gave up on it. I found it kind of boring, wrong mood maybe. I never did know how the soap played into the movie so thanks for telling me that. Also, it would be interesting to see all the subliminal messages in that movie.
Wow this is an amazing blog Kayley. For myself I love this movie and I understood that it has a bigger picture. I love how as the movie goes from one seen to the other it just keeps pulling you in. Brad Pitt is by all means the perfect actor for the job and of course with the help of Edward Norton. It is probably one of the best movies of its time. But that's just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteFight Club is definitly a movie worth watching. The first time i seen it, i thought it was just going to be about fighting to, which i was pretty pumped for haha. But oddly enough, my favorite part about the movie was how intellectually deep it was. There was so much thougth provoking symbolism in it, that it caught me off gaurd. The movie was perfectly directed to, because all of the emotions of the characters were so clearly expressed, it makes you feel as if you were apart of it. Anyways, great post, well written.
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