October 17, 1999

1999, 2 hrs 25 min., Rated R for extreme violence, sex. Dir: David Fincher. Cast: Edward Norton (narrator/Jack), Brad Pitt (Tyler Burden), Helena Bonham Carter (Marla), Meat Loaf (Robert Paulson).

Fight Club is brutal. It is not a socially redeeming picture with an absolute moral, so don't see it on a date. Sure it shows us that anarchy and fascism is bad, but I was hoping that this was universally understood as dangerous to society. What Fight Club is, though, is a visually compelling motion picture full of some of the best imagery and acting this decade, rivaling 1994's Pulp Fiction in cinematic achievement.

Ed Norton is the main character and narrator of the story, frequently breaking the "fourth wall" of the movie by talking directly to the audience. We know his emotions and his thoughts by frequent quips from an unfamiliar device. In the movie, he reads a book where a body's organs speaks in first person, so from then on he would say such thoughts as "I am Jack's complete lack of surprise" or "I am Jack's smirking revenge," then proceed to give a statement of meaning.

I am Jeff's story-teller: The plot revolves around Norton's character, an insomniac who is severely disillusioned with the world. He buys countless furniture and useless items from catalogs, but only feels comfortable with his life while attending support groups for people with diseases he doesn't have, such as testicular cancer and kidney disease. It is there that he is able to open up and cry and know that others care ("losing all hope is freedom"), meeting such men as Bob (Meat Loaf). Bob is a troubled soul, a man who has "bitch tits" because when he lost his "manhood" his estrogen level went into overdrive so he developed female characteristics. Bob is one of many memorable characters in Fight Club.

But when Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), another "tourist," shows up, this ends Norton's ability to feel. It is after this loss that on one of many business trips he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a man after his own heart who says what Norton wants to hear. It reminds me of when Rush Limbaugh went national on the radio, and conservatives finally heard their voices in the media.

Realizing they enjoy sparring, Durden and Norton's character form Fight Club, a secret group where other men (not just white) who fall for Durden's burden resort to pummeling each other as a way of venting their anger at a world where they are expected to look like Gucci models and buy leather couches. Just as the men in Norton's testicular cancer group moan the loss of two of their favorite parts, these men feel psychologically cut off from the world.

I am Jeff's weak stomach: Director David Fincher also gave us Se7en, and it appears that in Fight Club he is trying to one-up himself in pushing the limits of decency and morality. The former work was full of several scenes that caused me to turn my head in disgust, while the newer work likewise is full of images showing the causes of gruesome and brutal violence.

I am Jeff's opposing view: Critics of the movie have worried hundreds of men would start fights and clubs all over the country, leading to a militia state full of Neanderthal men. This is absurd and complete hogwash. One of my favorite critics, Roger Ebert, claims that Fight Club is a "celebration of violence," which could not be further from the truth. Nowhere does it seem cool to bring down the American economic system while brawling in dank basements and engaging in criminal activity.

I am Jeff's good cheer: I've never been in a fight. Don't particularly care to, either. I have been good at sidestepping potential flammable arguments, and luckily my 6'4", 300 lb. frame is enough of a deterrent to those who are not as pacifist as I am.

Also, I enjoy my world, where I bought a Jeep Cherokee in order to feel good about myself while driving, a computer to work on my web site and keep in touch with friends and family, and I hope to buy a better couch and assorted furniture. Living in a decrepit, rundown house is not something that appeals to me. I like my nice, expensive apartment in suburban Atlanta. Thus, a group such as Fight Club is not in the least bit appealing.

These are the sorts of things that Norton's character and Tyler Durden come to despise in Fight Club. I know there are men who feel the anger over losing that primal masculinity in their everyday lives. However, perpetrating harmful pranks, blowing up corporate logos and committing vandalism against "the man" is not going to help you feel better. Instead, these neo-nazi-like skinheads only react to their discipline and programming. They have lost their freedom through brainwashing of another, worse sort.

I am Jeff's common sense: Instead of becoming anarchist and criminal goons, maybe these guys should find another role model. Someone who will advise them to be men in other ways, such as buying a fixer-upper of a house and remodeling the entire place with loud and heavy tools. Or, do what millions of other men do, work out at the gym and gain strength and lose weight while venting frustration in that Tae-Bo class. Do whatever makes you feel manlier, even if it is just drinking beer and playing cards while swapping war stories at your meetings for the Royal Order of the Water Buffalo.

If they really want to feel pain have them do something productive like give blood. Or unproductive and sure to cause mayhem like walking naked into a feminist meeting and shouting "All women must give me oral sex!"

Fighting, however primitive and rarely necessary, does not make you more of a man. I admit that Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer ever, but now he's a vegetable because he spent too much time being knocked upside the head instead of floating like a butterfly.

I am Jeff's praise: Despite not relating with the mental and emotional level as the men in Fight Club, I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. From the opening 30 minutes where Norton's character tries to find comfort in support groups, to the meeting with Tyler Durden that ultimately begins the Fight Club, I was entranced. During the film, within seconds I would travel from fascinated to amused to disturbed, but 50 to 1 more the last emotion in the final 30 minutes.

The music, by the Dust Brothers, adds to the atmosphere of the film: pulsating and racy. The visuals are eye candy, ranging from Norton's character entering his personal "cave" to the realism of constant fighting, with abundant blood and scars. Also, in one scene we are introduced to Durden's character and his jobs, such as a film projectionist. Norton's character tells us that he likes to splice a single frame of a porn film in a Disney-esque picture. With that, I can only say that if you notice some flashes during the movie, it is not the fault of the theater. During post-movie discussions on the Internet afterwards, apparently even I missed several.

I am Jeff's sense of hypocrisy: Tyler Durden rants about how men should not have to bow to advertisements that want men to conform to the perfect body, yet he has the most chiseled body ever shown in film. I think this is purposeful, as one shot shows how angry he is at the Calvin Klein ad, and the next shows him without a shirt, sporting the perfect, "Men's Health" ideal six-pack of abdominals.