Why do young men like Fight Club so much?
- Caitlin Willis
- Apr 1, 2021
- 3 min read
As a young woman who watched and enjoyed (be shook) David Fincher's cult classic, it's really interesting to see who the 'typical' audience became and how it got its revered status among Gen Xers. Young 'frat' guys have worshipped the film for years and I guess I just want to ask why they like it so much.
If you haven't watched the film this probably won't make any sense, just a pre-warning for you.
The film itself was originally a book which, after reading, I (personally) never really thought of again. Chuck Palahniuk published the novel in 1996, the story following a nameless protagonist as he suffers from insomnia. Released in a time when fiction was either a commentary on women in society or Harry Potter, it fit a niche that was previously untouched. There was nothing in America for the modern man and his belonging until suddenly there was.
David Fincher made a film adaptation that was released in 1999, and the plot follows an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) who meets a soap salesman, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), on a flight. The two dissatisfied men make an underground fight club where they brutally brawl other men discontent with their mundane lives (it all sounds very poetic). Their friendship becomes strained after their attention gets caught by Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), a destitute woman who the narrator meets going to support groups for emotional catharsis.
The film itself tackles some really big topics and themes that have been picked apart by theorists and academics for 20 odd years. Ideas surrounding toxic masculinity, failure, mental health and fascism (+ several others); there is a certain ambiguity that leaves the film open and a welcome space to avid interpretations.
When I was doing my A-levels I looked at the film in terms of ideology and wrote this:
I'm aware that these two paragraphs are a bit of a meal, so I've bolded the important bits.
"… By having a character with DID (dissociative identity disorder) as a protagonist we are able to view two different and extreme ideologies. One (protagonist, unnamed) is of the continuous ideal of consumerism, capitalism and the lack of identity and individuality it allows whilst the other (Tyler) follows the idea of rejecting consumerism (and Marxism) and experiencing real pain whilst trying to 'evolve' back to the basis of who we are. As the Narrator strays from the ideology of consumerism and capitalism toward Tyler's ideal of being free, the audience is shown how this idea of freedom links closely with fascism and how neither extreme is reasonable. As the unnamed protagonist strives for individuality by drifting from both Tyler's ideals and his own original beliefs, the film concludes with the revelation that to gain complete individuality, you must destroy consumerism, but by doing so, and destroying the collective, everyone is different yet still the same. The film rejects both ideologies of man and, by doing that, you may find the path to individuality.
The narrator, who we are welcomed to emphasise with the most, fights against 'Project Mayhem' and, although the terrorists (Tyler) are successful, they still die at the end of the film along with an innocent (Marla). Although the film promotes the rejection of capitalism it also fails to give a suitable replacement which could be a reference to how the world could not cope without the class system…"
Reading through others' interpretations this film really comments on how our lives are driven by consumerism, every other advertisement telling us how it'll make us happy and fulfilled (Netflix is great but what's the ratio between actually watching and scrolling for something to watch?). We work hard in jobs we hate to afford the price of 'happiness' that leaves us feeling unfulfilled and isolated. Something that tends to get glossed over is how this has also become a set standard for masculinity; how adverts sell it in designer underwear and Tom Ford products, it is not just women who have unreachable standards placed on our heads since day 1. (I noticed some startling parallels with Trainspotting so I'm going to put the 'Choose Life' speech from the second film under this (I think it's a better fit than the first one.).)
Fight Club manages to touch on this forgotten side of consumerism which is why a lot of young men today feel such kinship with the characters. The feature touches on masculinity and failure in a way that's relatable but also completely abstract allowing it to be accessible to Gen Z and our struggle against pressure and expectation.
I read a comment below the trailer on YouTube where a man in his early 20's said he rewatched the film whenever he came to a crossroads in his life. Perhaps for the reassurance that failure may be inevitable or the reminder that winning can be a hollow victory.
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