Fight Club Movie Review Paper Example

Introduction

Fight Club is a film categorized as a fable. It is by David Fincher and predominantly illustrates a contemporary consumer society, men losing their masculinity identity (Hunter and Singh, 2015). These are men who are gray-collar workers. The film also demonstrates how a materialistic society creates social stratification. Gray-collar employees are those selling their labor to earn wages (Hunter and Singh, 2015). Concerning stratification, it is apparent that the number of grey-collar workers is higher than that of blue-collar employees. However, these individuals struggling to survive still serve the capitalists who are above them. Thus, it becomes challenging for them to achieve the ideal because, concerning the paradigm of social-conflict, some individuals are more advantaged than others due to stratification. Consequently, an overwhelming feeling of alienation because of their powerlessness reality emerges (Hunter and Singh, 2015).

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Summary of Fight Club

A young urban male working in a prominent car manufacturer finds difficulty in sleeping. Although the man lacks any associated afflictions, he starts attending support groups to get rid of the emotions he was experiencing (Adra, 2010). He finally finds sleep but is ruined when he stumbles upon a young lady called Marla Singer. This woman also attends the support group. The man knows that this lady lacks afflictions with maladies for which these groups exist. The presence of the lady somehow lessens the effects of the stories the man hears. The life of this man, however, changes, when he comes upon a soup maker, called Tyler Durden (Adra, 2010).

This soup manufacture acts as an antithesis of those with insomnia. Under unusual situations with the young man's condo, he decides to move in and live with Tyler (Adra, 2010). Tyler resides in a dilapidated house in the outskirts of the town, somewhere abandoned. After some roughhousing with the soup manufacture in a car parking area, the male with insomnia finds it turns out to be a routine or a ritual which eventually helps him in coping with the difficulties of in his life. The fight club becomes attractive to many people, some who want to watch as well as those who wish to join. After realizing that other men who have insomnia exist, Tyler starts a fight club which is to remain a secret (Adra, 2010).

The fight club's popularity grows in addition to all its scope's aspects. The nature of the club later gets out of control leaving the insomniac confused about the things happening around him. He even does not know how to get out of his situation without causing harm to himself. The filmmaker intended to demonstrate conflict that exists between a young people's generation and a system of value advertising (Fight Club, 1999). The use of violence in the film is a metaphor standing for feelings founded on a generation's conflict. The fight club, however, did not meet its expectations and received a lot of polarized reactions especially from film critics. The way the movie got produced was effective in affecting the presentation of its contents. Fincher was more committed to getting it close to reality with an atmosphere that is almost tangible. In fact, the use of digital effects in the film makes it seem dreamlike. It makes it easy to follow the themes while enjoying every inch of the film (Fight Club, 1999).

The first scene on ''The Eight Rules of Fight Club'' stood out as an iconic part of the film. In the scene, average men are seen taking off their wedding rings, removing loafers as they measure one another slowly. The scene shows how these individuals discover a part of them they never believed existed (Fight Club, 1999).

Additionally, the film points out potential, respect, and control as the primary substantive points. Potential becomes illustrated through men with no real purpose in life. It is additionally shown in men without wars except those fought spiritually. The movie tries to show viewers that everybody needs to be kind to one another through respect as they never know when or where they will meet again. Another significant point is control where everybody is always working hard to remain in control of almost everything. The film demonstrates that everybody believes that when they are in control of everything, their lives will become safe. However, the film became cited controversially in 1999. Many individuals considered it as creating a new mood within the political life of America (Hunter and Singh, 2015).

The popular culture slowly develops in the film where an emphasis is placed on masculinity and contemporary gender representation (Hunter and Singh, 2015). These themes get looked at as a response to some structural femininization sources. This feminization becomes experienced by men because most of them have become embedded in a consumerist system which is an economy that is entirely service-oriented. Additionally, the film tries to develop a version of cognitive mapping and class orientation within that late-capitalist period (Hunter and Singh, 2015).

Several sociological or pop cultural themes emerge in the film. The first one is 'work.' The narrator portrays this concept when he becomes distressed about his inability to be in control of his life and work. Because of this, the fight club somehow makes him feel in control which he initially lacked during his white-collar job. Gender is another concept seen when the narrator reacts to the disconnect he had with his surrounding. The aggression demonstrated in the club also shows how males conceptualize their mental problems in the world (Lennon and Limonic, 1999).

Social integration is another concept seen in the first scene where people who were socially integrated had less possibility of developing psychological distress as compared to those who were poorly socially integrated. The issues which came out strongly in the film are consumerist and capitalist themes which are believed to be an essential role played by women. These are consistent and dominant themes that emerge throughout the film. The movie illustrates the twentieth-century consumer culture that men lived in and which resulted in these individual's destruction (Lee, 2002).

While comparing pop cultural themes of both fight Club and those of Scot Pilgrim vs. the World, we realize some differences. The popular culture is of the fight club emphasizes masculinity and contemporary gender representation. These themes get looked at as a response to some structural femininization sources (Layton, 2017). This feminization gets experienced by men because most of them have become embedded in a consumerist system which is an economy that is entirely service-oriented. Additionally, the film tries to develop a version of cognitive mapping and class orientation within that late-capitalist period. On the other hand, Scot Pilgrim vs. the World interestingly selects its pop culture where it reaches both the youth and the old people. For instance, it incorporates elements acquired from a classic known as Nintendo games as its theme music. The youth can thus identify with the movie. The movie mainly communicates growing up and nostalgia (Thoits, 1999).

References

Adra, J (2010). Sociological Analysis of Fight Club.

Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. 20th Century Fox, 1999. DVD

Hunter, S., & Singh, S. (2015). A network text analysis of fight club. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(4), 737-749.

Lennon, M. C., & Limonic, L. (1999). Work and unemployment as stressors. A handbook for the study of mental health, 284-294.

Lee, T. (2002). Virtual violence in Fight Club: This is what transformation of masculine ego feels like. Journal of American & Comparative Cultures, 25(34), 418-423.

Layton, L. (2017). Something to do with a girl named Marla Singer: Capitalism, narcissism, and therapeutic discourse in David Fincher's Fight Club. In Narcissism, Melancholia and the Subject of Community (pp. 91-117). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Thoits, P. A. (1999). Sociological approaches to mental illness. A handbook for the study of mental health, 121-138.