Fight Club (2007, DVD)

"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."

What is it about Fight Club? You might just wonder as much as I, should your forum experiences amount to anything even remotely similar to mine. It was out of sheer, morbid curiosity that I finally elected to cough up the dough for the DVD of this movie which I had not seen -- a risk I only take on the rarest of occasions.

A month later, I find myself at a loss to describe my initial reaction, let alone my feelings after all this time.

But one thing is for sure -- if you just started surfing the cinematic waves in the last two or three years, then it is probably too late for you to absorb the full effect Fight Club has on its viewer. This is no fault of the movie's. The problem is the overabundance of dopplegangers. Fight Club has been copycatted by so many other films in countless ways over the last few years, not one of which I could mention without potentially spoiling.

So if you're just now thinking of seeing Fight Club for yourself, it may not hit you the way (I'm sure) it did to those who caught it back in 1999, before the proverbial attack of the clones.

That being said, Fight Club is still a worthy investment for other reasons, not the least of which is the dynamic duo that is Brad Pitt & Edward Norton. Together, they are like subtle gladiators in the ring, rocking the stadium tenderly with their attempts to outdo each other, and consequently raising the bar to greater and greater heights. Edward Norton adds suave charisma to an otherwise preppy guy in a cubicle, and Brad Pitt is one of the coolest, smartest and most self-sufficient characters ever imagined.

In some ways, I am reminded of American Beauty. American Beauty showed us a family that might have looked perfect on the outside, but had several issues on the inside. Fight Club builds us a family (well, a club) that is far from perfect on the outside, but comes together with all its issues, tosses them out the window, and achieves a different kind of perfection through fighting. Granted, it probably sounds a little wacky. As Norton's nameless character narrates at one point, After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down.

Like American Beauty, Fight Club takes an extensive social commentary and weaves it into a coherent plot. It's not exactly the kind of plot that leaves you hanging by a moment on what will happen next, but you'll practically fall off your seat wondering what will be said next.

Norton plays a nameless character, whom is sometimes referred to simply as "The Narrator". I'll just keep calling him Norton. He is in the midst of a bout of insomnia, and his performance at work suffers for it. Fight Club tosses a little foreshadowing into its kickoff...

Norton: "Come on, I'm in pain!"
Doctor: "You wanna see pain? Swing by First Methodist Tuesday nights, see the guys with testicular cancer. That's pain."

Norton inexplicably attends the event, despite not having the ailment himself. This leads in a rather odd direction, as Norton finds himself attending all sorts of these meetings, from melanoma to tuberculosis. He is soon addicted. All the while, he is narrating his feelings, what's leading him there, how he is feeling, and so on. Norton spits his narration out with all the disimpassioned composure of Kevin Spacey himself.

Then one day, Norton notices a girl who is attending several of the same meetings that he is. He sees his own sin in her, and it infuriates him. The weirdest thing about it is how utterly un-weird it is.

He and this girl, Marla, eventually agree to alternate nights so that they will never see each other again. Then, on one of his business trips, Norton meets Tyler Durden (Pitt). At first, Tyler is just a "single serving friend" he meets on an airplane (You know, like single-serving packets of sugar, single-serving coffee creamers, etc.) But when Norton comes home to discover that there had been an explosion in his apartment, destroying all of his worldly possessions, the only person he can think to call is Tyler. Not long afterward, "Fight Club" gets started, but I couldn't possibly spoil that part.

The violence gets pretty extreme in this flick, but the thing is, it's not hate violence. The guys get together, have fights, hit each other, hurt each other, but never hate each other. Tyler asserts from the start, "Someone yells "Stop", goes limp, taps out, the fight is over." There is only one scene that occurs where the violence is accompanied by (what seems like) hate, and even then, the one getting beaten laughs at the other guy while it's happening. Suffice it to say, it is one of the more outlandish scenes I've seen in this lifetime.

My initial reaction to the eventual "big revelation" was kind of "Eh." I didn't think it changed much of anything. It was only after a few subsequent viewings that I started to see how obvious it all had been from the beginning. In the meantime, I was really starting to appreciate and know these two guys for who they were. The one-liners between them are priceless. The facial expressions and little things (Tyler banging on apartment doors or chewing raucously over the phone) are just hilarious. I'm not sure I've figured out why Marla is even in the movie at all, but she provides some interesting insight into Norton's character and there is one shot of her that had to have been inspired by Madonna's "upside down" shots in the "Secret" video.

The script here is based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Jim Uhls brings it to life on the screen. With David Fincher in the director's chair, these guys put together one truly interesting piece of work. I almost always lose count of the quotable quotes in this movie by the 30-minute mark -- there are just too many good ones to count. On the whole, Fight Club is one of the biggest "mindf*ck" movies of our time. It is almost its own level of consciousness.

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time."

The Matrix might tell us that our world isn't real, but Fight Club offers a few reasons why. Perhaps the only problem is that the movie makes it look so much easier to change things than it really is! Anyone can spend an hour or two watching these guys live in a destitute house full of chemicals, rotten wood and peeling paint and say "That would be so cool." But I'd venture a guess that 90% of them wouldn't last a week. It is our nature to see beauty everywhere but here.

My psychological side is not getting along too well...
I have come to the conclusion that this is one of those movies which, the more you attack it, the stronger it gets. The ones who don't get it might just be the ones that end up learning the most from it. It's all about the open mind, baby, even if you're a dumbass like me who can't see satire for what it is -- a way to say anything you want without having to take responsibility for it. It's only the exaggeration that makes it funny, which I'd guess makes hypocrites out of all those who love satire but hate Jim Carrey. So back to what I was about to say with regard to what nuances of Fight Club don't stir the proverbial Kool-Aid of my.. er, psyche.

I have oodles of love for this movie, and then there is this part of me that wants to hate it at the same time. Assuming in the first place that there is a lesson to be learned, I'm totally lost on how you apply this "knowledge" to your life. What are you supposed to do, sell all your furniture and live in your car? Quit your job and walk around town picking fights because suffering produces character? You think it doesn't produce character to work your fingers to the bone to earn a living? To coin Pink Floyd, I'd rather be comfortably numb. They make it look so easy to let everything go, but most of us don't have the resources to locate free housing to hide from people's expectations, let alone the tolerance to live in those conditions. Yeah I guess its our own fault that we don't have the tolerance, or at least that we choose not to build tolerance. So maybe that's what it's trying to say, fundamentally. But some of us don't have the time. We have to do this thing called "eating", we have to have money to do that, we have to work to make money. If there is a better way of obtaining your basic needs besides blatant stealing or growing corn in the back yard, I'm all ears.

Hypothetically, we could all "be our own person", we could stop being slaves, and we could all start working for ourselves. Then everyone would be sitting in his booth, waiting for the big bad "I am the contents of my wallet" consumers, but then, there would be none. We depend on consumers as much as they depend on us -- you can't have it both ways. If this is just supposed to be for frustrated retail workers who looooove hearing consumerism get trashed because they can't find any friends who will admit to being as misanthropic as they are, then fine. Just consider the source.

As for the whole "you have to lose everything to be free" deal, I never fully bought that concept either. It is predicated on the assumption that those who "depend" on their possessions absolutely MUST be doing it because someone told them to, and not by their own free will. The variable exists whether we are free or not. Someone is always outnumbered. But there is very little substance to "freedom" in the first place. If people choose not to take advantage of their free will and go about their routines living the same day over and over again, that in itself is a choice that they make because they are free, not in spite of it. Maybe they just do it because it's comfortable. Freedom is slavery... slavery to yourself. Freedom is control... control of yourself. If people lose that because of possessions, then blaming the possessions is like blaming guns. Taking away the possessions doesn't make a person free any more than taking away all the guns decreases the crime rate. Maybe the idea is that fighting separates you from yourself and enables you to fully "let go". I'm still working on that one...

"Self-improvement is masturbation. Now self-destruction..." It seems to me that if you were to completely destroy yourself, nothing would be left. Yet, one of the taglines asks "Which is worse, Hell or nothing?" as if to imply that "nothing" is worse. Must be another satire thing. They're the ones taking their clothes off, it sounds to me like self-destruction is masturbation. One day when THAT makes all the magazine covers and gets.. erm, glorified in movies then, by the same logic, it would be masturbation. It's not self-improvement itself, but perhaps fitting in, that is masturbation. But, the Narrator doing what he does because of Tyler "telling him to" is no different, is it?

But damnit. I love this movie. I love the attitude. I love the chemistry. I love Marla's screaming. I love the way it reminds me of so many people I know now. Maybe I just like it for the same reason that Bruce likes it when he turns into the Hulk. (Or the Almighty...) In a world where "getting in touch with your feminine side" gets all the hype, Fight Club shows us what it's like getting in touch with your masculine side. Further proof that women are superior. The only way Fight Club would win that debate is changing the argument to whether or not "superior" is even a worthy thing to be. So much like my father. So much like me...

Not Necessarily the Top Ten Fight Club Quotes, but the First that Come to Mind

10.) Norton: "A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."
Business woman: "Are there a lot of these accidents?"
Norton: "You wouldn't believe."
Business woman: "Which car company do you work for?"
Norton: "A major one."

9.) Tyler: "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."

8.) Tyler: "Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate, so we can buy sh!t we don't need."

7.) Norton: "Marla... the little scratch on the roof of your mouth that would heal if only you could stop tonguing it, but you can't."

6.) Norton: "Bob loved me because he thought my testicles were removed too. Being there, pressed against his t!ts, ready to cry. This was my vacation... and she ruined *everything*. "
Marla: "This is cancer right?"
Norton: "This chick Marla Singer did not have testicular cancer. She was a liar. She had no diseases at all. I had seen her at Free and Clear my blood parasite group Thursdays. Then at Hope, my bi-monthly sickle cell circle. And again at Seize the Day, my tuberculous Friday night. Marla... the big tourist. Her lie reflected my lie. Suddenly I felt nothing. I couldn't cry, so once again I couldn't sleep."

5.) Lou: "I'm f*cking Lou. Who the f*ck are you?"

4.) Tyler: "Ha ha ha ha ha! You just had a near-life experience!

3.) Norton: "When people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just -- "
Marla: "-- instead of just waiting for their turn to speak?"

2.) Norton: "Except for their humping, Tyler and Marla were never in the same room. My parents pulled this exact same act for years."

1.) Norton (on his boss): "He was full of pep. Must've had his grande-latte enema."