# Fight Club ( warning spoiler) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2000, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973 "2000-06-10T21:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/61 "2000-06-15T00:52:24Z")
Tyler Durden. You beez a-confuzin’ me. ---
**Author:** ![kemijo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@kemijo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kemijo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/62 "2000-06-15T01:11:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Norton’s character was Jack, but what was Brad Pitt’s? Hmm…this thread seems to be going in circles… **Canthearya** , Norton’s character was not named Jack. The voice overs throughout the movie where he states **“I am Jack’s (insert bodily organ here)”** are in reference to a reader’s digest article he was reading a month after he arrived at Tyler’s house, where someone made stories told from a bodily organ’s perspective…In the script that **Eggo** submitted, Norton’s character was named Jack so the crew would have something to refer to him by. This was stated in an interview with Edward Norton. Also stated in that interview was Norton saying that his character’s name was not revealed in the movie. What is confusing is that in the article (a actual old Reader’s Digest article), the name used in the bodily organ stories is **Joe**. In the movie, it was changed to Jack. To answer your question, Brad Pitt’s character is named **Tyler Durden**. _The rest of this post is for anyone that wants to use the script **Eggo** submitted to prove anything._ In the script that **Eggo** submitted, there are lines that were later removed from the actual film before it was released. Go to the script at [http://geocities.com/scifiscripts/scripts/fight\_club.txt](http://geocities.com/scifiscripts/scripts/fight_club.txt) and do a ‘find word’ for “abortion”…you’ll get Marla’s line, **“I wanna have your abortion”**. If you check the DVD’s deleted scenes, this scene was deleted from the movie. There are various other inconsistencies with this script, so it shouldn’t be used to prove any real points, unless they correspond with the final movie. > [@](#): > > …And what was Tyler Durden’s name in the movie? **Mojo** …could you re-word the question? Who are you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/63 "2000-06-15T02:40:56Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘find > word’ for “abortion”…you’ll get Marla’s line, “I wanna have your abortion”. If you check the DVD’s > deleted scenes, this scene was deleted from the movie. I heard this was because the MPAA wouldn’t give a “R” rating unless some of the lines were changed. So they changed that line to something like “I haven’t been fucked that way since grade school.” They let that pass The MPAA is usually a pain in the ass, but they were particulary bad last year. Rememeber the whole “Eyes Wide Shut” controversy? It was at about the same time IIRC ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/64 "2000-06-15T03:09:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Mojo…could you re-word the question? Who are you referring to? To quote Thing 1 from earlier in this thread, “It was a joke! Without smilies nobody can get humor around here!” I was just trying to make things more confusing than they already were. BTW, I’ve spliced this thread and have inserted several images into it, most notably a large phallus. ---
**Author:** ![kemijo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@kemijo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kemijo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/65 "2000-06-15T03:21:22Z")
Phew! That’s originally what I thought. You’ve succeeded. Of course it isn’t really all that far-fetched, judging by the way this thread has been going. ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/66 "2000-06-15T03:30:48Z")
\*\* Canthearya, \*\* you’re such a sweetie! Yes, actually it did help, as has reading these two pages of dialogue about the names. I’m taking the advice of an earlier poster to watch the movie again. I’ll sit on the floor this time, maybe it will help!! ---
**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/67 "2000-06-15T03:44:03Z")
I’ve been watching this one for a while now, and I think it’s time I elucidated. Edward Norton’s character is named Tyler Durden. This is simple, if you just let go of what you were thinking and open your mind for a minute. Let’s look at the facts: 1. Marla calls Ed Norton’s character “Tyler” 2. In the make believe world of Fight Club, there is no Brad Pitt. Ask yourself: “If I invented an alter ego with a different name, and pretended to be him whenever I needed to, would people react strangely to me?” Of course! That’s just it. People go along with Norton’s character’s split personality because it is only a split personality in his head. People in the movie see only one person: Tyler Durden. When Tyler goes traveling, and Norton returns to the places Tyler has been everyone addresses him as Tyler because that is his name. You must bear in mind that anything Pitt does in the movie is done by Norton in the Fight Club world. I have spent forever trying to reduce this to the easiest to understand terms, but this is a hard concept to type out and still remain coherent. If you still don’t get it think about this: Fight Club is the story of a man finding himself. Norton finds Durden, he finds himself. Norton is Durden. Norton’s name might as well be Durden. Oh, forget it… ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/68 "2000-06-15T03:53:56Z")
hey argyle, go read the stuff about danny devito. i will say it again. edward norton is playing half of the human just as brad pitt is. the human could be portrayed by danny devito. of course you never see this in the movie, because you see the whole movie from one half’s point of view. edward norton. unfortunately for those who can’t grasp the concept of an actor playing an unnamed role, edward norton’s character name is not revealed. his name is not tyler durden. that character has an unrevealed name. how can you not get that? is the quote from **edward norton** himself not good enough for you? edward norton IS NOT (why the hell don’t you get this???) playing the tyler durden character. he is playing someone else! yes, of course people in the movie call him tyler! his character occupies the same body. don’t you get it? the character he is playing is a character within a human that also contains the tyler durden character. ok. THE DIRECTOR doesn’t know the character’s name, but you do. i get it. ---
**Author:** ![Dystopos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@Dystopos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dystopos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/69 "2000-06-15T03:54:08Z")
I think it’s simpler than that even, and maybe even easier to explain. In the movie production, the role played by Edward Norton is unnamed. In the world portrayed in the movie, there is a human being somewhere whose parents… Mr. & Mrs. Durden, if you will, named him “Tyler” As we watch the movie, we first only get to know part of Tyler, the unnamed part that is defined by a hopeless and inauthentic life. There is also a personality, which introduces himself as “Tyler Durden” that has been carrying on an arguably more authentic life, producing soaps and smiling a lot. Insofar as these personalities have claim to a name, that name is Tyler. Insofar as they are dramatic elements, only Pitt’s role is named. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/70 "2000-06-15T03:59:54Z")
did you guys completely miss **kemijo** ’s post or something? his quote is from the movie. THE MOVIE. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/71 "2000-06-15T04:01:49Z")
congratulations, **Dystopos**. that makes perfect sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/72 "2000-06-15T04:30:44Z")
what i see as the argument to end it all: “naturally you’re still wrestling with it, so sometimes you’re still you. little by little, you’re just letting yourself become tyler durden.” -tyler durden, to norton’s character. BECOME. the key word is BECOME. this shows that the norton character IS NOT named tyler durden. this shows that the human IS NOT named tyler durden. when we see the human as the norton character, he is played by edward norton. when we see him as tyler durden, he is played by brad pitt. THE END. i don’t understand how you can say anymore. the norton quote, and then this. give it up, already. ---
**Author:** ![kemijo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@kemijo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kemijo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/73 "2000-06-15T04:36:32Z")
I figured it would be plain as day by now, but apparently not. > [@](#): > > Marla calls Ed Norton’s character “Tyler” The part of the movie _immediately after_ this part is the part that proves it wrong. Norton’s character is _obviously surprised_ when Marla calls him Tyler. _Right after_ that, he asks Tyler, **"Why does everyone think I’m you?"** If you have the movie, watch this part again. I’m _positive_ that you’ll understand then. > [@](#): > > If I invented an alter ego with a **different name** , and pretended to be him whenever I needed to… Exactly. A different name. A name _different_ from his actual name, which is not revealed, according to the DVD itself. If I am wrong about this, than so is Edward Norton, in his interview. Your proof is interpreted. Mine is from the movie. > [@](#): > > Norton is Durden. Yes!! > [@](#): > > Norton’s name might as well be Durden. No, no, _no_. Norton’s character is NOT really named Tyler Durden. Of course everyone thinks he is, because he would have introduced himself as Tyler Durden while he is in his fantasy personality, but that’s not his real name. His _fantasy name_ is Tyler Durden. His _birth name_ is **not** revealed, according to the **movie itself**. Anyone disputing this either hasn’t read this thread in it’s entirety (all the answers are here), or needs to see the movie again, particularily the 4 commentaries, and the interview with Edward Norton. I’m new, but I’m right, darnit. ---
**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/74 "2000-06-15T05:25:10Z")
You’re all right! Nobody bats an eye at calling Norton Tyler Durden because everyone who knows about Durden (Marla, Fight Clubbers, etc.) was introduced to him as Durden, not as his real (undisclosed) name. Man, I feel so dumb now. Just one question. How does Norton get plane tickets that say Tyler Durden on them? Does he have a Durden ID or something? Does he simply create a “phantom” like Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption? Perhaps I’m just reading too much into the screenwriter’s creative license. ---
**Author:** ![kemijo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@kemijo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kemijo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/75 "2000-06-15T06:24:29Z")
Yay! I can finally sleep. I get wrapped up in these sorts of things, you know. I suppose most people here do. What convinced you? Did you watch the movie again? Oh, and as far as the tickets, I think you are right when you mention the screenwriters creative license…i guess he just told the people at the airport that his name was Tyler Durden (I’ve created a macro for that damn name). I dunno if ID is involved, it is after all a movie. What say you, **Eggo**? Any comments, whether they be rebuttal or a change of opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/76 "2000-06-15T15:04:02Z")
Maybe I need to read the book for the definitive answer, but I think that the Tyler Durden persona was invented by the narrarator later on in life. Remember when Norton is travelling to various cities and he’s talking to two members of Fight Club who don’t know who he is? They say that Tyler Durden only sleeps one hour a night (aside from the issues of who Tyler Durden really is, we find out this is true) and that he was “born in a mental institution” which I took to be true as well. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/77 "2000-06-15T15:08:10Z")
And he has facial reconstructive surgery every 3 years. This could mean that having another personality like Tyler Derden is nothing new to Norton…Derden is just the latest incarnation of his other personality. Or maybe I am reading too much into it. But if Derden was born in a “mental institution” then it stands to reason that Norton was there before for something. ---
**Author:** ![kemijo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@kemijo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kemijo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/78 "2000-06-15T17:16:05Z")
Hmm…I may need to see it again, but as far as I’m concerned, many of those statements made by the members of Project Mayhem are merely legends and rumors going around. The name Tyler Durden is obviously famous to the individuals in Project Mayhem or any Fight Clubs, but many of them have never met him, so rumors are going around to make him seem larger than life, possibly alluding to some truths as well (like the one hour of sleep thing). But this would mean that the ideas that he has facial surgery or was born in a mental institution may not have any truth to them at all. I see it the same as the rumors that were going around about William Wallace in Braveheart. They said something to the effect of being taller than a normal human (seven feet tall, I think), and being better looking than an average human, with one of the Scots not believing the real Wallace was standing in front of him because he is “prettier than this man” claiming to be Wallace. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/79 "2000-06-15T17:55:50Z")
Well, we know that the “one hour of sleep per night” thing is about right. And considering the nature of Tyler Durden (multiple personality), being “born” in a mental institution sounds about right as well. Throughout the movie, it seems that the members of Fight Club have more insight into Tyler Durden than “Jack” does. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973/80 "2000-06-15T20:27:42Z")
I heard that Tyler Durden (a/k/a Edward Norton) could shoot fireballs from his eyes, and lightening bolts from his arse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fight-club-warning-spoiler/21973.md?page=5)