Fight Club: The Last Great Film of the 20th Century

When Fight Club is mentioned the images that come to mind are violence and Brad Pitt's abs. But upon it's release in October 1999, Fight Club was panned. It was too violent, it was too confusing and it could be the end of 20th Century Fox. What wasn't analyzed and what got lost in politics was the films meaning. If you go back in time it's the older politicians lobbying in Washington to get this film pulled from theatres. There weren't any young people because the film was speaking to them. Men who were in their mid twenties in the late nineties were in crisis. Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) says at one point, "We are the middle men of history, God's unwanted children." They had everything they were supposed to have to be happy but weren't and they didn't have anyone to tell them what else they needed or why. At one point the narrator(Edward Norton)says "We are a generation of men raised by women". This is referring to the boys who are now men, growing up without a father figure. They have that piece of their life missing so they feel compelled to have material needs. They need to be clean cut and trim their fingernails and organize their furniture because that's the only way they have ever known.


Fight Club is a metaphor for life. It taps into the psychology of the adult male of the nineties. The narrator represents the average man. In his mid twenties, living alone in a sophisticated apartment complex, and works at a desk everyday. Insert Tyler Durden who represents the average man's fantasy and the fun begins. Tyler Durden wears what he wants, does what he wants and comes off as the coolest thing ever. He is what the average man wants to be. Free willed without a care in the world. Fight Club is where all the average men come to channel their inner angst against all that they are. It's meditation, almost religious. Where Fight Club takes a turn is when it becomes a cult. It shows the average man that sure you can be free willed without a care in the world, but you were taught to be orderly for a reason.

The deep meaning in Fight Club is what should be taken from it. It's so zen in it's approach. The deep meanings were masked by the violence most likely because older people protesting were being told what they didn't want to hear, you didn't raise your kids good and this is the result: a lost generation of boys. This is backed by the quote "We're all going to be thirty year old boys". Men of the late nineties had a lot of questions about their lives and Fight Club did it's best to answer them. Why am I not happy? What do I need to do to be happy? What's my meaning in life? Fight Club shows through it's violence that the world is an ugly, violent place. You have the choice of giving up on it or living in it and staying true to yourself. You can either be a part of the violence of stand out from the crowd. This makes Fight Club the last great film of the 20th Century.