MS4

Fight Club has mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its music and creativity, while others criticize its violence and portrayal of masculinity. Audience reviews are mostly positive, with many appreciating the thought-provoking aspects of the film. The movie explores themes of masculinity, mental health, societal alienation, and the erosion of individual identity. Some sociological theories that can be applied to the film include Marxism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. There are biases against the film, with some seeing it as immoral or encouraging criminal behavior. Personal values, beliefs, and gender influence the enjoyment of the movie. Overall, Fight Club is enjoyed by more people than not, but opinions vary. Hello, my name is Sydney McCarty, and the film I chose to do is Fight Club. When looking for reviews for Fight Club, the first place I turned to was Rotten Tomatoes. On the tomato meter, Fight Club is rated with an 80% overall score, while the audience score is rated at a 96%. When looking at the critics' reviews, there is a mix of love and hate for this film. A top critic from Times UK praised the film's music choices and said that it is Another top critic, Bob Thomas from Associated Press, scored Fight Club at a C-, saying that Fight Club remains the ugliest, most inhumane film since Natural Born Killers. Natural Born Killers is a movie that many people believe aids and idolizes killers. The audience reviews are mainly high rating, with a few reviewers who rated it low. Those who rated the movie low were either confused about the movie and why it was so popular, or felt it tied in with glorifying crime. The high raters applauded the creativity and thought-provoking aspect of the film. My second review is titled The Men Who Still Love Fight Club, and comes from The New Yorker, and is written by Peter C. Baker. Baker describes Fight Club as an inspiration for men and connects the seduction community as the switch from posting Fight Club quotes on Facebook to trying to live the Fight Club life. Baker goes on to say that he had tuned into message boards such as Pick Up Artist to learn more about how influential and relevant Fight Club was. Baker noticed that there was an idolization for Tyler Durden across all boards. After conversing with Harris O'Malley, creator of Paging Dr. Nerd Love, over a summertime period, O'Malley told Baker that Fight Club was quoted regularly. O'Malley found that several men were disaffected and felt they had done everything they were told to do, and yet nothing happened. O'Malley figured out that Fight Club and Matrix provided a lot of meaning to these men, because they were both about social malaise and about people waking up. Baker also talked with Fight Club enthusiasts and found that their main focus was the first half of the movie, where narrator was addressed, the endless cycle of consumer culture, and the emptiness and longing narrator felt. Many of the people Baker talked to spoke of how Fight Club encouraged them to change things about their life and brought happiness into their life. Baker also touches on the female view of Fight Club, and stated that Fight Club does have female fans, but is also a symbol for certain instant myopias of masculinity. The only female character in Fight Club was not painted in the best light, and because of this, several women have confessed to O'Malley that if a male said his favorite movie was Fight Club, it was a warning sign. My next article is titled, What You're Getting Wrong About Dave Fincher's Fight Club, by Matt Goldberg. Goldberg talks about how easy it is to miss the actual point of Fight Club due to how appealing Tyler's character had become to the public. He said that the one problem Fight Club has is that Fincher made the lifestyle so interesting that some audience members don't follow the turn into rejection, and see why Tyler's philosophy is so deeply bald. Goldberg continues by saying, Fight Club doesn't offer answers for the struggle of life, but it critiques the world. He turns Tyler's maxim, It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything, as a responsibility towards others rather than a freedom for the sake of self-indulgence. He states that the reason narrators aren't worked out is because he rejected selfish sensibility and allows himself to open up. Goldberg sums it up by saying, What Fight Club understands is that the modern male is in an incredibly tenuous place when he becomes disconnected from his own emotions and the healthy ways of expressing those emotions. The first research question I had was, How does the film portray masculinity and its impact on identity? My answer is, The reviews I have found have highlighted that Fight Club portrays a more toxic side of masculinity, men indulging in primal behavior such as fighting as well as criminal behavior, and using women and others to get what they want are some of the toxic actions shown in Fight Club. An article from Baker talked about how people viewed and applied their understanding of the movie to their life and were able to find a new identity. Unlike what some people fear, the impact on identity has been a positive one rather than leading people into a life of crime. Fight Club opened up their eyes and they were able to be better. My second question was, How does the film address mental health and societal alienation? My answer is, The film addresses societal alienation by having the members be lower workers than the average Joes until they come together and create a brotherhood of sorts. Going back to Baker's article, Men in real life connect with this movie and can acknowledge the loneliness of the narrator and relate to it. My last question was, How does the film address erosion of individual identity with consumer culture? My answer is, The film addresses the erosion of individual identity by consumer culture by showing a nameless man who works a boring commercial job just to buy things he doesn't need and to continue this meaningless cycle of life. It isn't until narrator's apartment burns with all of his physical belongings that narrator feels or becomes free from consumer culture and the audience can see that narrator acts like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. Some biases that Fight Club faces are that it can be seen as a movie specifically for men, a movie that's too violent, or an immoral movie. Many people with biases against Fight Club could believe that when others watch this movie, they feel justified and are encouraged for their criminal behavior. The societal issues within this movie are very real and very accurate, though the actual storyline many of the audience have gathered is not realistic. The different social factors of the audience has a play in how much the individual enjoys the movie. Values, beliefs, and gender have the most sway over this movie. Someone who is religious and has strict morals would not go see this. Many women do not find the contents of Fight Club appealing and therefore would be unlikely to watch it. I would say that there are more reviewers who said Fight Club was surprising on Rotten Tomatoes, but I do think overall more people enjoy this film over those who do not. My own personal assumptions and biases regarding Fight Club were neutral. It seemed like it was a film mainly geared towards men that displayed a lot of violence. I knew nothing about this movie before I watched it for this project, and while I didn't necessarily love it, I was drawn to the mental and social aspects of this movie. I have nothing against violent movies. In fact, I enjoy them. But I was aware of the fact that this was predominantly for men, and that might have contributed to me not really enjoying the storyline. Marxism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction are some of the sociological theories that can be applied to Fight Club. Marxism is a theory that focuses on the struggle between social classes and how economic factors shape society. There is a clear depiction of class struggle with Fight Club, as narrator is a seemingly alienated and dissatisfied white-collar worker who rebels against capitalism. Conflict theory is derived from Marx's ideas, as it views society as a dynamic and constantly changing entity. Fight Club displays the struggle for identity, work, and power. Symbolic interactionism views symbols, social interactions, and language as the shapers of individual meaning and behavior. Some powerful symbols found throughout Fight Club are the soap-making process, the rules of Fight Club, the iron burn, and Tyler Durden himself. I don't think I'd consider these theories a limitation, but rather a guideline on how to remain unbiased and open-minded. When researching anything, it can get overwhelming, so having a track to stay on, or change to, can bring out great results with research and also encourage people to choose a career in social sciences.