Toni Nymeyer
R. Dolleman
Writing 122
26 April 2015
Fight Club: Freedom from a Controlled Society
The film Fight Club (Flincher) shows the influence of consumer culture in America and how it destroys our individuality. It tells a tale about liberation from a corporate controlled society, with the narrator representing the ultimate consumer. Fight Club shows how we can distance ourselves from how we are told to think and act.
The narrator, a wealthy young professional took all the right steps towards the common American goal. He went college, got a high paying job, and lives in a luxury condo. Representing the 20th century American, he cannot be complete unless he has certain things in his possession. He refers to his belongings a part of him. After his condo blows up and everything in it is destroyed, he tells the detective, "That was not just a bunch of stuff that got destroyed it was me!”
In the beginning of the movie he is looking through an IKEA catalogue and asks, “What kind of plates define me as a person." He's not asking what personal characteristics define him, but what possession most accurately does. We think this way about ourselves all the time, always shopping for the perfect items. Why do we need possessions to define who we are? The need and desire for material possessions is impressed upon us by our consumerist culture. Tyler says, "You are not your job. You are not how much you have in the bank. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking Khakis.” As we grow more dependent upon our property, we slowly lose sight of what should truly be important to us.
Another character named Marla Singer becomes a different kind of victim in this movie. Since consumer culture has influenced people to value possessions more than people, it’s harder to find people who will love her. She goes to support groups because when people think your dying they really listen to you instead of waiting for their turn to speak. After Marla gets tired of the social groups, she takes a lethal dose of xanax then calls the narrator looking for someone to care for her. She tells him, “This isn’t a call for a real suicide, it’s just a cry for help.”
We are all raised seeing consumer advertisements. When we were in grade school, classmates wouldn’t think you were cool unless you had the best name brand things. The big companies making the advertisements do not care about the customers who watch them. The narrator’s boss is a symbolism of those big companies. He doesn’t care about how people died while driving the cars he sells. He dodges responsibility if an automobile accident that his company is responsible for effects his bottom line. The advertisements are made to make you think you need to buy their product no matter what. They make you think their product is the most important thing in the world, and if you want to really fit in you must buy it. They really try to burn that image into our minds. Putting their logo on everything they possibly can. You can even see products being advertised throughout the film.
The movie takes a violent approach to help free society from consumer culture. They become involved with gruesome fights and cause chaos all around them. Throughout the movie all they wanted to do is destroy. Their belief was, after they destroyed everything, they would be able to feel independent. The narrator says, “This was mine and Tyler’s gift, our gift to the world.”
Toward the end of the movie, Tyler’s risky and destructive plans become very alarming. This tension leads to a surprising self-discovery for the main character. He begins to value relationships and morality more than possessions.
Though the film may be highly controversial, I believe that every American should see it. It is one of the best examples of today’s modern consumer-oriented society attempting to control who we are as individuals through the things we own.
Works Cited
Fight Club. Dir. David Flincher. Perf. Ed Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter Brad Pitt. 1999. CD.