When it comes to learning lessons from biology, the feminist movement has a very poor track record. In the 90's, it was claiming that men are violent because some mythical force known as the "Patriarchy" encouraged them to be violent. In order to counter this corrupting force, feminists pushed schools to encourage boys to be more feminine, and to move away from society's harmful influences.
"Fight Club" debunks all that nonsense. The narrator, whose real name we never learn, begins his story at a therapy group, being hugged by a man with very large breasts. This is a support seminar for men with testicular cancer. Here is a powerful metaphor--these men have lost their organs for producing testosterone. They are weak and flabby, powerless against feminism's third wave. The man with breasts was once a champion bodybuilder, and even he has been castrated.
We then learn more about the narrator. When he is immersed in society, he feels like he has no soul. He suffers from terrible insomnia. He orders tons of furniture from IKEA--hardly a manly endeavor. Then, one day, he is on a business trip and on the plane he sits next to a sociopath named Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden manufactures and sells soap for a living, which he makes out of human fat that he steals from liposuction clinics. His house looks like it could fall apart at any minute. When the narrator's house burns down (destroying all his IKEA products), Tyler Durden allows him to move in on one condition--"Hit me as hard as you can". He reveals that he has never been in a fight in his entire life (as is the case with the narrator), and the two men break out into a fight. They feel good afterward, and attract the attention of other men who, like Durden, work lower-class jobs. All of the men were raised by single mothers, far from any masculine influence. They have a lot of primal, pent-up rage. To help the men unleash their rage and feel complete, Durden and the narrator start a therapy group known as Fight Club. The men in the group meet a few times a week and fight one another.
Once Fight Club becomes a way of life for the lower class men, they launch a front known as "Project Mayhem", which becomes a revolutionary force. They seek to destroy the corporations that had once enslaved them, to overthrow society. In the end, they succeed.
The lessons of this movie are powerful--do not forbid men from expressing themselves, and make sure that young boys are properly socialized to be decent human beings. If you don't, there will be a Tyler Durden on every block.
"Fight Club" debunks all that nonsense. The narrator, whose real name we never learn, begins his story at a therapy group, being hugged by a man with very large breasts. This is a support seminar for men with testicular cancer. Here is a powerful metaphor--these men have lost their organs for producing testosterone. They are weak and flabby, powerless against feminism's third wave. The man with breasts was once a champion bodybuilder, and even he has been castrated.
We then learn more about the narrator. When he is immersed in society, he feels like he has no soul. He suffers from terrible insomnia. He orders tons of furniture from IKEA--hardly a manly endeavor. Then, one day, he is on a business trip and on the plane he sits next to a sociopath named Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden manufactures and sells soap for a living, which he makes out of human fat that he steals from liposuction clinics. His house looks like it could fall apart at any minute. When the narrator's house burns down (destroying all his IKEA products), Tyler Durden allows him to move in on one condition--"Hit me as hard as you can". He reveals that he has never been in a fight in his entire life (as is the case with the narrator), and the two men break out into a fight. They feel good afterward, and attract the attention of other men who, like Durden, work lower-class jobs. All of the men were raised by single mothers, far from any masculine influence. They have a lot of primal, pent-up rage. To help the men unleash their rage and feel complete, Durden and the narrator start a therapy group known as Fight Club. The men in the group meet a few times a week and fight one another.
Once Fight Club becomes a way of life for the lower class men, they launch a front known as "Project Mayhem", which becomes a revolutionary force. They seek to destroy the corporations that had once enslaved them, to overthrow society. In the end, they succeed.
The lessons of this movie are powerful--do not forbid men from expressing themselves, and make sure that young boys are properly socialized to be decent human beings. If you don't, there will be a Tyler Durden on every block.
