41
Never mind the incels – Fight Club is still a vital film about masculinity
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2024
41 points (80.6% liked)
Men's Liberation
1850 readers
92 users here now
This community is first and foremost a feminist community for men and masc people, but it is also a place to talk about men’s issues with a particular focus on intersectionality.
Rules
Everybody is welcome, but this is primarily a space for men and masc people
Non-masculine perspectives are incredibly important in making sure that the lived experiences of others are present in discussions on masculinity, but please remember that this is a space to discuss issues pertaining to men and masc individuals. Be kind, open-minded, and take care that you aren't talking over men expressing their own lived experiences.
Be productive
Be proactive in forming a productive discussion. Constructive criticism of our community is fine, but if you mainly criticize feminism or other people's efforts to solve gender issues, your post/comment will be removed.
Keep the following guidelines in mind when posting:
- Build upon the OP
- Discuss concepts rather than semantics
- No low effort comments
- No personal attacks
Assume good faith
Do not call other submitters' personal experiences into question.
No bigotry
Slurs, hate speech, and negative stereotyping towards marginalized groups will not be tolerated.
No brigading
Do not participate if you have been linked to this discussion from elsewhere. Similarly, links to elsewhere on the threadiverse must promote constructive discussion of men’s issues.
Recommended Reading
- The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity, And Love by bell hooks
- Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements by Michael Messner
Related Communities
!feminism@beehaw.org
!askmen@lemmy.world
!mensmentalhealth@lemmy.world
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
What?! The movie couldn't be more about masculinity and how it's warped into a dangerous philosophy. It pretty much predicted incels before there was a name for them. The narrator creates Tyler as his ideal image of the "alpha" male who is successful but still gives the middlefinger to the establishment and who of course is irresistable to women who Tyler only sees as pretty pieces of meat to fuck. He's who Andrew Tate wishes to be.
But Tyler is actually pathetic. He has his soap business but lives in squalor (which of course he tries to sell as freedom) Sure, he manages to create the Fight Club, but only by preying on other men desperate for a meaning in their empty, sad lives. And he couldn't have created any of this without the narrator's money from the settlement too. Which again is shown as this great triumph (because we see everything from the narrator's eyes), but it's objectively fully blown psychotic behaviour. The job might have been shitty but I also don't think we see him ever socialize with his co-workers. He was probably the smelly, weird colleague that everyone was glad to see leave the company.
And until "Project Mayham"'s last act of full-blown terrorism, their pranks objectively would only make them look like assholes too. (it's full on "just a prank, bro" behaviour). That's also what Marla explicitedly calls Tyler, an asshole. She's not attracted to him but the narrator.
The movie's happy end is not the buildings blowing up, it's the narrator killing this toxic part of himself and finally stop being alone and unloved.
(By the way, it's deeply ironic that he simply doesn't get that the self-help groups just give him a feeling of empathetic community that is completely missing from his life. Which is what the Fight Club is, as well, but there it's twisted into the old "men would rather hit each other than talk about feelings" bullshit. Again, toxic masculinity.)
It's also a scathing satire of consumerism, of course. That movie has several layers, that's why it's so good.
Sorry for the rambling rant.
TL, DR: The movie is told from the perspective of a deeply delusional man, but objectively he is a pathetic loner who randomly turns into a megalomanical asshole. It literally shows how toxic masculinity can warp your perception of reality and how this "philosophy" can radicalize men following it.
Recently saw a very interesting video which views Tyler as the real one who creates the narrator to make himself look better.. It's an analysis I have not heard before.
"Fight club isn't about masculinity" is a pretty weird take. Especially based on the argument that only incels think about masculinity? I don't think I disagree with what you're saying overall, but I strongly disagree with both those ideas.
I mean you might have a point about the article (idk didn't read) but "masculinity" is used in a lot of contexts, not just that one.
i agree, however both the book and film include the topic of masculinity so it’s not surprising that’s the 101 takeaway.
Is this "article" seriously three paragraphs? It's like they just wanted to make a headline.
Also, Tyler isn't an insomniac. He has dissociative identity disorder.
I believe that's just the paywall, but I also can't see it. Also, couldn't get around it with the usual methods.
Tyler doesn't exist, he's an alternate personality. But Norton's character literally says he has insomnia, and they show him unable to sleep in multiple scenes. He also has multiple personalities, possibly brought on by years of untreated insomnia.
Multiple personalities is dissociative identity disorder
spoilers!
actually i kinda like spoilers, that’s why i only watch movie trailers before reviewing the film.
This movie is one of my favorites because I feel Everytime I watch it, there's a new corner of society that can be picked a part that isn't easily noticed the first go around.