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The Drinker Recommends...Fight Club

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch


Fight Club is one of those movies that has a lot of interpretations and continues to stay relevant. I largely agree with The Drinker here. Some people think Fight Club is nothing more than "toxic masculinity" the movie. Or some sort of fascist guidebook. Or anti-capitalist or pro nihilism. Is it all of those things? What do you guys think?
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
I like the bit where things happen.

what? if I mention the twist that Tyler Durden isn't real, and the Narrator is actually the person who did all this? am I gonna get someone moaning I spoiled a movie?

also, Bruce Willis was dead the whole time and Keyser Soze was Kevin Spacey.
 

MudoSkills

Volcano High Alumnus (Cum Laude)
I'll give this a listen when I finish work but a lot of Palahniuk's early novels are about hollow consumerism, celebrity obsession etc - the idea of the American dream gone wrong/rejected is at the centre of the book.

Reading this as 'toxic masculinity' is the same puddle deep head scratching that declared Joker a signal flare for the incel uprising.
 

MudoSkills

Volcano High Alumnus (Cum Laude)
I've never read the book. I'm not sure I could separate it from the movie after all these years. Any major differences?
It has been more than 15 years since I read it but the main difference I can recall is that the narrator's intention with the ending is clearer.

He doesn't shoot himself to 'kill' Tyler, he does it to put him out of action for a while - shooting himself in the face so he gets hospitalised. Doesn't work though, as IIRC the orderly at the hospital addresses him as Mr Durden, implying he can continue pulling the strings.

Tyler also pops up in some of his short stories which retroactively make Fight Club much worse, and there's a fucking terrible graphic novel sequel.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
It has been more than 15 years since I read it but the main difference I can recall is that the narrator's intention with the ending is clearer.

He doesn't shoot himself to 'kill' Tyler, he does it to put him out of action for a while - shooting himself in the face so he gets hospitalised. Doesn't work though, as IIRC the orderly at the hospital addresses him as Mr Durden, implying he can continue pulling the strings.

Tyler also pops up in some of his short stories which retroactively make Fight Club much worse, and there's a fucking terrible graphic novel sequel.
Interesting. I remember considering picking up the graphic novel sequels since I liked the movie so much. I'll stay away.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
God that channel gimmick gets old fast. And I don't think he said anything that hasn't been said on every Youtube movie channel in the last ten years.

But, he's largely correct. If anyone thinks it's pro anything they really didn't pay much attention. It's about the fragility of masculinity, men's mental health, and how the two intertwine. Some people are still shocked to find that it was written by a smartly-dressed, bespectacled gay man.
 

TrainedRage

Banned
It has been more than 15 years since I read it but the main difference I can recall is that the narrator's intention with the ending is clearer.

He doesn't shoot himself to 'kill' Tyler, he does it to put him out of action for a while - shooting himself in the face so he gets hospitalised. Doesn't work though, as IIRC the orderly at the hospital addresses him as Mr Durden, implying he can continue pulling the strings.

Tyler also pops up in some of his short stories which retroactively make Fight Club much worse, and there's a fucking terrible graphic novel sequel.
They also “meet” in a much funnier way in the book. On a nude beach. That also lends to the “homoerotic fantasy conspiracy”. But I don’t buy that. Yeah Chuck is gay but I don’t think that’s the intent of the book.
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
God that channel gimmick gets old fast. And I don't think he said anything that hasn't been said on every Youtube movie channel in the last ten years.

But, he's largely correct. If anyone thinks it's pro anything they really didn't pay much attention. It's about the fragility of masculinity, men's mental health, and how the two intertwine. Some people are still shocked to find that it was written by a smartly-dressed, bespectacled gay man.
As I said to Nymphae Nymphae check out his long-form streams. Doesn't do the "drunk scott" bit on there. I agree it's not a super original take but it's put together nicely and in a fun way.

If I remember correctly for the Rogan interview Chuck did he said very plainly it's a story about men working their shit out. Similar to the Dead Poets Society.
 
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MudoSkills

Volcano High Alumnus (Cum Laude)
Interesting. I remember considering picking up the graphic novel sequels since I liked the movie so much. I'll stay away.
It's a bit like Lunar Park by Brett Easton Eliis if you've read it - where the author gets tortured by his creation/the success of his creation.

Very dull, very self indulgent.
 
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