# So, I finally saw Fight Club.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432 "2010-07-12T19:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/1 "2010-07-12T19:04:15Z")
I spoiled myself several years ago, so I was consciously looking for clues leading up to the big reveal. Still, very good movie, really enjoyed it. Afterwards, I read some of the threads here, so I think I got all the symbolism and themes. One question though - am I supposed to feel sorry for, or sympathize with the Narrator? Because I don’t. Poor Narrator, you have a crappy dead end job, your life sucks. Boo fucking hoo. You’re like 98% of us (which is kind of the point of the story, I get that). But, get over yourself. Look for a better job, try and find a decent person to spend you time with. Don’t like Ikea? Try Rooms to Go. I refuse to believe that no innocents were hurt or killed by Tyler’s actions at the end of the movie. The buildings may have been empty, but what about the streets. The Narrator is just a crazy terrorist who deserves to go to Gitmo. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/2 "2010-07-12T19:09:01Z")
In a way, yeah. By the end of the movie, the entire universe is so completely out of control, you look at the delusional multiple/recently single personality disordered guy with a hole through his face and a bunch of dead cultists around him and kinda feel sorry for him because he suddenly seems, well…normal. Normaler than Tyler anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/3 "2010-07-12T19:13:53Z")
Fight Club is a riotous satire against the kind of people who take Fight Club seriously. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/4 "2010-07-12T19:15:09Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > […]But, get over yourself. Look for a better job, try and find a decent person to spend you time with. […] The DVD release starts with a warning message, styled like a “thou shalt not copy DVDs” thing they usually include. Only this time, it says > [@](#): > > Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think every thing you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told to want? \*\*Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. \*\*Start a fight. Prove you’re alive. If you don’t claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler. The parts I’ve highlighted seem to be quite like the part of your message I’ve quoted. So even if you don’t sympathise with the narrator (and I don’t even know if you should), it seems that you agree with the movie’s general message. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/5 "2010-07-12T19:46:48Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I spoiled myself several years ago, so I was consciously looking for clues leading up to the big reveal. Still, very good movie, really enjoyed it. > > Afterwards, I read some of the threads here, so I think I got all the symbolism and themes. One question though - am I supposed to feel sorry for, or sympathize with the Narrator? Because I don’t. Poor Narrator, you have a crappy dead end job, your life sucks. Boo fucking hoo. You’re like 98% of us (which is kind of the point of the story, I get that). But, get over yourself. Look for a better job, try and find a decent person to spend you time with. Don’t like Ikea? Try Rooms to Go. I refuse to believe that no innocents were hurt or killed by Tyler’s actions at the end of the movie. The buildings may have been empty, but what about the streets. The Narrator is just a crazy terrorist who deserves to go to Gitmo. Well, it wasn’t like the Narrator didn’t have blood on his hands with his job. Basically, what he did was investigate accident scenes and crunch numbers so that his large corporate employer could monetarily justify paying damages to the people injured or killed by their faulty products over the higher cost of safety upgrades and recalls. I think his realization of that fact (along with his existential vacuum) is probably what tipped him over mentally. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/6 "2010-07-12T20:08:09Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Basically, what he did was investigate accident scenes and crunch numbers so that his large corporate employer could monetarily justify paying damages to the people injured or killed by their faulty products over the higher cost of safety upgrades and recalls. When all the news came out about Toyota covering up their faulty accelerator issues (for exactly the reasons in the movie) I couldn’t help but to think that that was the company the narrator was working for. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/7 "2010-07-12T21:29:23Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > When all the news came out about Toyota covering up their faulty accelerator issues (for exactly the reasons in the movie) I couldn’t help but to think that that was the company the narrator was working for. Actually, that story angle in **Fight Club** was based upon what happened with the [Ford Pinto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto#Fuel_Tank_Controversy) during the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/8 "2010-07-12T21:34:17Z")
I don’t think you’re supposed to feel sorry for the Narrator, and you’re definitely not supposed to think the Space Monkeys are cool, which is apparently what a lot of people got out of the film. It’s been awhile since I watched it, but iirc, the commentary is pretty entertaining. Edward Norton has a lot of Deep Thoughts on what the movie is about. (He’s occasionally interrupted in his musings by snark from Brad Pitt.) Now I want to rewatch the movie, but some asshole stole my entire DVD collection. I hate that person. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/9 "2010-07-12T22:27:46Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think you’re supposed to feel sorry for the Narrator, and you’re definitely not supposed to think the Space Monkeys are cool, which is apparently what a lot of people got out of the film. …I don’t recall any Space Monkeys. One interesting touch I noticed, though: One of the small subversive things Tyler/Narrator does is to clip out single frames of porn and splice them into non-porn movies. And there are, in fact, single frames of porn spliced into the movie. And **Kyla** , I hate to break it to you, but you stole your own DVD collection. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/10 "2010-07-12T23:09:52Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > Afterwards, I read some of the threads here, so I think I got all the symbolism and themes. One question though - am I supposed to feel sorry for, or sympathize with the Narrator? Because I don’t. Poor Narrator, you have a crappy dead end job, your life sucks. Boo fucking hoo. You’re like 98% of us (which is kind of the point of the story, I get that). But, get over yourself. Look for a better job, try and find a decent person to spend you time with. You aren’t supposed to feel sorry for the Narrator. You are supposed to relate to him. The Narrator is supposed to be representative of Generation X types - people in their 20s and 30s when the movie was released. Disconnected from society, unsure about their place in the world and their future, insecure. I’m not really sure of the point of the film. He creates this Tyler Durden persona who is basically everything he wants to be - good looking, confident, capable, does what he pleases. And of course Tyler takes that do as you please philosophy to it’s logical extreme. > [@](#): > > …I don’t recall any Space Monkeys. The shaved-head members of Project Mahem. “Like a monkey ready to be shot into space!” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/11 "2010-07-12T23:12:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And **Kyla** , I hate to break it to you, but you stole your own DVD collection. My mind is BLOWN. I never saw that twist coming! The Space Monkeys are the Project Mayhem dudes. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/12 "2010-07-13T00:23:27Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > My mind is BLOWN. I never saw that twist coming!.. Congratulations! You just had a near-life experience. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/13 "2010-07-13T01:31:44Z")
I still recall with revulsion that scene where the liposuction bag gets caught on the barbed wire and spills…blech. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/14 "2010-07-13T01:48:24Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’m not really sure of the point of the film. He creates this Tyler Durden persona who is basically everything he wants to be - good looking, confident, capable, does what he pleases. And of course Tyler takes that do as you please philosophy to it’s logical extreme. Tyler Durden is also a physical manifestation of his own self-hatred. All of the things Tyler tells people to do - live the life you’re dreaming of, stop buying in to corporate bullshit - are specifically the things the Narrator can’t do (his crappy job, his IKEA addiction…). Even when he starts doing all the things he wants to do, his inertia is so strong that he dissociates that part of himself. And once he realizes it was just him, he “kills” Tyler by shooting himself in the head. It is in fact a movie about a guy who can’t do anything to change his life. He is a completely pathetic character from start to end. I think he’s a sympathetic character only to the extent that he is the one ‘normal’ person in the movie; everyone he’s surrounded with is larger than life and he’s very withdrawn. That lets him become a lens for the audience. Oh and don’t get me wrong - I like this movie fine but I don’t think it’s actually that great or groundbreaking. A lot of the philosophy is very heavy-handed. There is also a major plot hole that I first read about here on the SDMB - seriously major, on the level of ‘unravels the entire story’: In the parking lot, the Narrator is just beating himself up. And we’re supposed to believe that someone would see a guy punching himself in the face in a parking lot and want to be a part of whatever he’s doing? Unless of course we choose to believe that Fight Club never actually happened. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/15 "2010-07-13T01:55:48Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > It’s been awhile since I watched it, but iirc, the commentary is pretty entertaining. Edward Norton has a lot of Deep Thoughts on what the movie is about. (He’s occasionally interrupted in his musings by snark from Brad Pitt.) I second this. Fight Club is one of the very few movies I’ve watched the whole thing with the commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/16 "2010-07-13T02:32:13Z")
Don’t feel sorry for the narrator…he’s actually the villain. The characters in the film who deserve sympathy are Marla and Meatloaf. After you watch it once, you feel sorry for Angel too. ps. I’m still waiting for a near-life experience. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/17 "2010-07-13T02:32:42Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I second this. Fight Club is one of the very few movies I’ve watched the whole thing with the commentary. Third - the track with the Author is great, as is the one with the screenwriter and director. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/18 "2010-07-13T03:57:26Z")
I’m one of those idiots who takes _Fight Club_ seriously. I can’t help myself. It’s so fucking amazing. I’m sorry that it was spoiled for you. Part of the fun for me was being surprised at the end and then watching it over again another dozen times and blowing my mind thinking “HOLY SHIT! In this scene there’s only one person standing there! Holy shit! From the POV of Bob, Tyler just came out, told him to get lost, then snuck back and told him to wait for a few days! Holy shit!” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/19 "2010-07-13T04:07:39Z")
“We have the exact same briefcase!” Aaaaaaahhh… ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432/20 "2010-07-13T04:10:29Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I spoiled myself several years ago, so I was consciously looking for clues leading up to the big reveal. Still, very good movie, really enjoyed it. > > Afterwards, I read some of the threads here, so I think I got all the symbolism and themes. One question though - am I supposed to feel sorry for, or sympathize with the Narrator? Because I don’t. Poor Narrator, you have a crappy dead end job, your life sucks. Boo fucking hoo. You’re like 98% of us (which is kind of the point of the story, I get that). But, get over yourself. Look for a better job, try and find a decent person to spend you time with. Don’t like Ikea? Try Rooms to Go. I refuse to believe that no innocents were hurt or killed by Tyler’s actions at the end of the movie. The buildings may have been empty, but what about the streets. The Narrator is just a crazy terrorist who deserves to go to Gitmo. Dude…it’s the First Rule of Fight Club. :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-saw-fight-club/546432.md?page=2)