I'm a big Fight Club fan, and at first i just saw it as a damn good film! But it slowly started to dawn on me just how serious it is, there's stuff in there that is really true and can be attributed to everyone.

If this has already been done or is in the wrong area then i'm sorry.

The point behind Fight Club is that in todays society men haven't really got any chance to be men. I mean we don't need to hunt, kill or anything like that. The central character, Jack, has an office job which definately has no output for his masculinity. He's trying to exert his masculinity in the face of a de-humanizing job and a meaningless existence. If he were to die, who would care?
I dont want to go into story telling coz that's not what this thread is about, it's about the messages he gives us. "maybe self destruction is the answer" at first i didn't think twice about this but recently my life has become really mundane and pointless. And i want something to happen, i'm not suicidal AT ALL and i've got the worlds lowest pain threshold! But i have a strange desire to get hurt, i'll walk past a car and think "hmm, i could jump in front of that in such a way so i dont die or break a bone but i get hurt" then i suddenly realise how crazy that is and walk past it. I realized how incredibly similar this is to Jack.

If you think about it, our generation is more or less pointless. "We have no wars or great depression, our lives is our depression" And that makes sense to me, we have no greater goal to occupy ourselves.

Before i go i want to assure you im not a psycho, and i'm NOT obsessed with the film, it just raises issues that most people overlook.

Well, those insights are pretty obvious, and I, for my part, would advise you to change your life, if you are fed up with it. You don't need suicidal tendencies to do that, alas if you care much for your life it could be difficult...

And what some people overlook, destruction is also creation.

"would advise you to change your life, if you are fed up with "

I think one point is that it is not as simple as that. We are all multi-dimensional. This is shown via jack's multiple personality disorder.

Part of us strives for and loves security, safety, etc. Another part of us wants conflict, trials, danger, etc. Most of us have more of one than the other. But for many it is a battle.

Oh, it is that simple, but I did not say it was easy.

fetus fajitas,


So you have a "strange desire to get hurt".

If it doesn't hurt, then it ain't real, right?
Only what hurts is real.

And with time, you can take more and more, and there seems to be no end to your endurance of pain. Nothing seems unbearable. Reality slips away with every bit more pain that you can endure.

But that's just is: nothing is unbearable, you can make yourself endure anything -- except death. This is why death is appealing: this is the maximum, the few moments of life before you knew you would die -- I bet you think that then, in those few moments, then, you would feel alive, and things would make sense.

So you try to do (or you at least wish to do) anything that would bring you close to that moment of *life* right before death.


You are just in a strange phase of your life.

The fight club is just a way to tell the story. Men(and women, to a lesser degree) are feeling useless, but it isn't only because there isn't much work for them. There's manly work around.

They're feeling that life itself is pointless. It's very existential. What's the point of life? What am I accomplishing? What's going to happen when I die? What's wrong with this shallow materialism? Ect, ect.

At least, that's what I got out of it. Only skimmed the book - seemed exactly the same as the movie.

As for the desire to get hurt... those are just impulses. Everyone has them. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to open the door of a car and just fall out - just to try it. Some people feel compelled to shoot a gun when they hold them. Don't give loaded guns to children.

“Fight Club” seems to borrow very heavily from Nietzsche’s ideas about the problems of nihilism and what’s necessary to overcome it. I always liked the movie, but I appreciated it on a whole new level once I read some Nietzsche.

Hey fetus_fajitas,

I agree, a great movie. Many levels.

If you wish to feel invigorated in you inner male, you could try joining a fight club of your own. The martial arts may be just your ticket. Reaching the limits of physical endurance and abilities is uplifting. Doctors say that exersize is a key ingredient in overcoming many emotional issues. Not that I'm saying you have any. You sound normal enough. There are a lot of men with a similar outlook.

Seriously. In martial arts, any style, you get to hit things. You get to take a hit and you don't have to kill anyone. You can be a couch potato with no skill or friends and join a club and be welcomed in that community. I've taken classes with dudes in wheelchairs! That's a sight. Seeing a dude in a wheelchair break a few bricks, or performing katas. Also, self image and confidence are greatly improved and reinforced. If you can let enough ego go to accept instruction the fight clubs in your area will accept you warmly.

The evil ego driven archetype of a supersoldier drill instructor instilling ruthlessness on impressionable students is a poor myth. I've studied many styles and schools and NEVER has there been anything but like minded people wishing to improve themselves through physical study.

Try it out.
Really.

The first rule of fight club is...

YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB.
even on seemingly anonymous forum boards on the internet.

The first rule of fight club is...
YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB.

No,you can't have my balls :p

Start going to local punk shows and moshing. That's always good for getting hurt and hurting back.

Chuck Palahniuk said Fight Club was basically the Great Gatsby, except he made the two major characters the same person.