Understanding movies: Fight Club

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Hello readers

Today, we will try to understand the philosophy and the psychology behind a 1999 8.8 IMDb-rated movie- FIGHT CLUB. We would highly suggest to watch the movie (if you haven't already) before reading further since there are going to be spoilers (Though we have tried not to give out the major spoilers)

OK, with that said, let's jump straight into it.

Monotonous life- a slow killer

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The first 14 minutes of the movie describe the boring, monotonous life of the nameless narrator and how it had caused him insomnia. It seems that the narrator was slowly dying inside, and just living life for the sake of it. This monotony breaks when he first attends an anonymous meeting for people with testicular cancer. Though he did not have the cancer, this was a place where other people were going through things way worse than him, and so, this was a place where he could be vulnerable, let his guards down, without anyone judging him.

And this is what he did, he let his walls down and started crying in the one-to-one sessions. And that night, he slept like even a baby wouldn't (something his body needed a lot). This feeling of letting it go, being able to cry and let it all out felt so great and liberating that he became addicted to it. He started attending all the anonymous meetings that took place in the building. This just became his spot to escape his reality.

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The meetings were very different from his reality. While his rest of the day involved working like a lab rat and exchanging fake pleasantries with everyone he met, the meetings were a place that was real, it was a place where people were vulnerable, it was a place where the narrator could open up.

All around us, we see people living such monotonous lives. Having to do the same job everyday, travel the same route, work like lab rats day in and day out. While we cannot change the reality, Fight Club does teach us the importance of self care. We need to have the time for ourselves so that we can take care of our mental and physical health. 

Some solutions to break the monotony can be spending time with family, exercising, travelling. picking up a hobby etc. In the beginning, it will feel like an extra burden on your already busy life, but it is as much important as your job. These activities make sure you don't fall into the trap of monotony and also helps you achieve a work-life balance.

The trap of Materialism

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"The things you own end up owning you". This famous line by Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt) pretty much sums up the adverse effects of materialism.

Another route of escapism for the narrator was to buy Ikea furniture. He was trying to find his inner peace and happiness in those furniture. But as like many other addictions, all this did was give him a short dopamine hit. It did make him happy for a short while, and then it was gone. He was again sad and miserable, and so, this became an addiction.

But this perception of his was soon destroyed when his apartment was burning in flames. The dialogue between the narrator (Edward Norton) and Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) at the bar in the next scene, makes him realize how unnecessary those things were for his survival and mentally, they were just doing more harm than good. Their dialogue also hints about the theory of consumer capitalism (which is basically sellers, for their own benefit, manipulating consumers to buy their products through mass marketing techniques) and how it is weakening us.

This is very evident and applicable in today's world as well. Big companies try to sell us all kinds of furniture and amenities by marketing it like their product is the only thing keeping us away from all the happiness and satisfaction in life. But as most of us already know, that is so not the case. In fact, it rather makes us just want to buy more! and this is what shopping addiction is all about.

And social media has just fueled this behavior even more. All the celebrities and so-called-influencers are just selling us all these products to the point that many of us believe that being rich and having all those possessions must be what would make a person happy ( Related to the first end of the success spectrum ). But in reality, they are just trying to sell a product for which they try all these psychological tricks and marketing techniques to make you buy the product.

So you need to ask yourself a question, do you really need that thing? 

A very effective strategy which works for many people is not being impulsive to buy anything. Let's say you want that new smartphone. Instead of buying it instantly, you wait for a week or so. This helps you in not falling prey to the marketing tactics and helps you consciously think whether you actually need a new phone. 

Our love for chaos

We, as a society, might not want chaos in our real lives, but we love watching chaos on screen. We just love characters like Joker or Tyler Durden. Why do we love chaos?

Well, it can be partly because much like the narrator, we also have a part in us that wants to live freely, not follow any rules and just do what it feels like doing ( For psychology lovers, Sigmund Freud considers this as the Id, one of the three forms of our mind). So, while we do realize that leading a life like that isn't sustainable and practical, watching it in movies satisfies the need of that part in us, while not having to face the dire consequences that come along with it.

But while we do love watching chaos, we always yearn for our hero to resolve the chaos. This is basically the strategy for almost every superhero movie out there. But this is where Fight Club slightly differs. It doesn't have the "happy ending", where all the issues and chaos is resolved and everyone lives happily ever after. It not only ends with chaos, but also leaves us judging the fate of the narrator and whether his actions were justified. This is one of the aspects that makes Fight Club really interesting.

P.S: We have discussed only a few of the main philosophical/psychological ideas of the movie because honestly, this movie has so many entangled ideas that we would have to write a book to cover them all. If you really want to dive deep into understanding this movie, we would suggest you to see some Youtube videos on the analysis of this movie.

Written and Edited by: Yash Jayesh Doshi