"Fight Club" (1999)

Where is my mind

I first watched «Fight Club» when I was 15 and I developed fixation on this film. I thought that Tyler Durden was unbelievably cool and his quote «Self-improvement is masturbation» became my motto. Nevertheless, a little part of my subconsciousness realized, that I will follow, one way or another, the Narrator’s path and there will be too little anarchy in my life.

After 12 years and five years of office work, I could judge this film more maturely. And I have decided to have a little David Fincher marathon. Experiencing huge pleasure after rewatching «Seven» and «The Game». When I have heard the opening titles music, I have tuned myself for pleasure. Have I felt it?

The Narrator always followed the guidelines. He graduated from college with some not-so-personally-desired degree; he took a not-so-favorite job. He doesn’t have his own tastes and preferences and he merely follows the IKEA trends. Lack of any personal joy leads to an insomnia.

Sometime he is able to battle insomnia by visiting support groups, but another faker Marla Singer ruins it all. They are able to «split up the world», but one of these flights the Narrator meets a weird soap salesman Tyler Durden. After acquaintance, the Narrator’s combo blows up and he moves to Tyler. Since that, he life takes a drastic U-turn…

Almost everybody, when he steps up to adult life, tells himself that he will live as he likes and he won’t work some detestable job, he won’t serve some boss, he won’t worry about bills and debts, he won’t take part in some collective stupid recreations and he won’t try to pretend to be a good member of society. The reality turns out quite different and the most of us will end up as the Narrator.

Permanent insatisfaction steps out and the people are trying to cope with it. The society offers million way of pseudo-happiness as booze, online games, massage parlors and interest clubs. Someone gets lucky and he will find his true happiness, but the most will find only temporary relief. And someone goes even further.

Tyler Durden is a quintessential dream of an average office worker or a Russian school kid, who grew up in the 1990s. He is not bound by societal norms, he always has his own opinion and doesn’t try to suppress it for the society’s sake. He loathes the modern society and commits himself to small acts of sabotage. That is why Tyler Durden is an ultimate fantasy buddy almost for everyone.

Everyone dreams sometimes to punch somebody. Everyone sometimes dreams to smash a face of colleague, who is reading us morals about work ethics, accuracy and discipline. But the modern society banned such forms of dispute resolutions. Nevertheless, the dream lives on and sometimes we some wonderful dream pictures.

Fight Club is a place, where you could feel like a «real man». Every Saturday you could give way to your aggression and fight someone. It doesn’t matter, if you won or not, you have found a way to put an end to all disputes. After taking a part in one Fight Club session, you could tolerate the reality more freely, but you develop almost a drug addiction to these meetings.

Fight Club becomes a totalitarian sect. Sects are one of the ways to fill up the internal void. Clever sect managers are playing on human weaknesses and offers an easy way to get a meaning in life and internal freedom. In reality, sects are mental prisons, but voluntary non-freedom is not so painful, as compulsory non-freedom.

Such «liberated» people are ready to do anything to please their leader. With such loyal army, Fight Club transforms into Project Mayhem and the latter’s activities are far beyond the weekend’s punching club. The Project’s acolytes are turned into zombies and nothing can close this Pandora’s Box. The only thing, which you could do is to remember David Bowie’s lyrics -  It's too late to be late again.

In 27 years, you discover these extra elements in «Fight Club» and you’re no longer consider it a story about cool guys, who are leaded by the coolest of them all – Tyler Durden. Also you understand, that you should find some authentic source of joy and not one of the numerous surrogates.

That is why, friends, doesn’t abandon your internal Tylers or they will overtake your usual profiles. Blogging helps me to control my internal Tyler. And if you envision yourself as a sect leader, doesn’t miss «Fight Club» - it is a perfect guide for any totalitarian leader.

From the art point of view, the film is also excellent. «Fight Club» is a schizoid film, which is unpredictable until the last second. I hope that David Fincher would wake his internal creator and would please us with some cool film on the level with his «creative trilogy» («Seven» - «The Game» - «The Fight Club»).