Fight Club
For our first movie we chose The Matrix, but since that is so huge we're going with 'Fight Club.' Brad Pitt and Edward Norton star in this Chuck Palahniuk adaptation.
On the surface it's a movie about two guys who spawn a revolutionary therapy that inevitably turns into a cult. In actuality it is much more going on. I submit it all pertains to a struggle of lifestyle and purpose. -- Books
the thelosopher said...
this is 1/2 of film philos duo. I won't waste time so i'll get right to it. our first dialytic is on the movie "Fight club" which i view as having many layers of meaning that can be pealed off to go deeper. On the surface its about two people whose friendship is based on the pleasure principle and circumstance. Neither of which is sustainable. Because if scenerios change and/or the activity they have in common no longer supplies amusement, the friendship ends. And in this case with explosive results. But right near the end you realize the true nature of the relationship between our two protagonists. Thus i submit the Fruedian 3-layered psyche ie. id, ego, superego as the prevailing theme. The battle for the mind of tyler durdan(tyler having two sides brad pitt-id/edward norton-ego) is joined by Marla(helena bohnam carter)-superego, the love interest, which now makes the trinity. books, what up?
6:23 PM
6 comments:
this is 1/2 of film philos duo. I won't waste time so i'll get right to it. our first dialytic is on the movie "Fight club" which i view as having many layers of meaning that can be pealed off to go deeper. On the surface its about two people whose friendship is based on the pleasure principle and circumstance. Neither of which is sustainable. Because if scenerios change and/or the activity they have in common no longer supplies amusement, the friendship ends. And in this case with explosive results. But right near the end you realize the true nature of the relationship between our two protagonists. Thus i submit the Fruedian 3-layered psyche ie. id, ego, superego as the prevailing theme. The battle for the mind of tyler durdan(tyler having two sides brad pitt-id/edward norton-ego) is joined by Marla(helena bohnam carter)-superego, the love interest, which now makes the trinity. books, what up?
Who are we kidding here Marla as the Super Ego is totally bogus. It is plain to see she satisfies the Eros of the Brad Pitt 'Tyler' ID. I submit it a film purely based on the limits of which the mind are capable to go when faced with a supressed stress and/ or malcontent.
Ed Norton's character who I'll call 'Jack' has a life so uneventful that he has to create a purpose or a reason for even going forward. It couldn't Jump out at the audience with any more subdued, and barely noticeable force, than Jack saying he lived in '...a filing cabinet for widows and young professionals.' Who else would display an 'IKEA nesting instinct' more prevalent. These two classes of people are to of the main classes of people in our society who are judged mostly on their possessions. Their lives are empty except for what they have and their titles. Fight club exploits this and brings it to the fore front of society, 'You are not the sum of your possesions' And Jacks transistion from this to Tyler is so very neccesary for the mad man. If you don't believe me, follow this: In the scene entitled - A Near Life Experience - Tyler scolds jack for caring about veering into on-coming traffic in the middle of a down pour (Later Tyler gets Jack to accept that that was totally okay in order to fully hit botom). This same man walked past his exploded condo with all the debris from his place scattered about on the street, Ambulance present, fire fighters hard at work, neighbors all distraught and he says 'How embarassing a house full of condiments and no food.'
Priorities y'all, priorities. -H.F.B.P.
Books your misogyny precedes you! Because you cannot even fathom the thought that a woman could have a major role in the fight for a man's psyche. When I say woman I am referring to what a woman represents, the form (in the platoistic sense of the word). Marla-superego (as i will continue to refer her as) represents the world, the earth and everything in it. Jack's problems are a result of his lack of inspiration (another thing a woman represents). Inspiration, good or bad is the essence of mankind. His malcontent, melocholy, could be cured with a bit of the old in and out. eh hem! I know what your going to say, "but he did get some". In that case I submit that sex is not love, and sex as therapy will have the same effect as all of the other superficial things the ID offered. Its what us psychologists call escapism. Which brings me to my new theme. "Fight Club" is an attempt of discontented, uninspired men to escape the realities of life rather than having the courage to change them. This movie demonstrates an excersize in cowardice, overcome by rationality (not in the pacifistics sense of the word, either), or the epiphany of the fact that you can't blow everything up! (Ihope the terrorists are listening) H.F.
i'm going back to the "filing cabinet","empty lives" theme. that's an interesting point, one that i touched on in my previous comment. the idea that 'jack'-edward norton, is without inspiration, hence empty life. the comparison of widows and young professionals are keen, and i agree with your acessment. tyler has a quote,'we are the middle children of history. we have no purpose, no great war, no great deression'. 'our great war is a spiritual war and our great depression is our lives'. i submit that another theme, or a continuation of the prevailing theme is the search for meaning and purpose. in the this modern capitalistic society where possessions, status are important. the key is to find purpose and meaning. books H.F.
There are two films that I have discovered recently tha I think deserve serious contmplation and discussion. These films are Closer; starring Natalie Portman, Clive Owen, Julia Roberts and Jude Law. This IS Eros, my friend.
And Capote; starring Phillip Seymore Hoffman and Katherine Keener.
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