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Analysis of “Fight Club” Essay

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Analysis of “Fight Club”

For years David Fincher has directed some of the most stylish and creative thrillers in American movies. His works include: Aliens 3, Seven, The Game and Fight Club. Each of these films has been not only pleasing and fun to watch but each has commented on society, making the viewers think outside the normal and analyze their world. Fight Club is no exception, it is a multi-layered film with many subplots and themes, but primarily it is a surrealistic description of the status of the American male at the end of the 20th century. David Flincher’s movie, Fight Club, shows how consumerism has caused the emasculation of the modern male and tells a tale of liberation from a corporate controlled society.

In the
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The corporate ownership of the male extends to how much his life is worth. Ed Norton works in a claims department for a large car manufacture. His job is to decide what a manufacture does in case of a design flaw. Take for example, if a carburetor runs a risk of exploding after 100,000 miles; ED Norton’s job is to investigate the probability of this happening. Then take the number of vehicles on the road and multiply them it by the probable rate of failure and multiply the product again with average price of an out of court settlement. If the end result is less than the cost of a recall, there is no recall.

Brad Pitt makes a statement that illustrates the society the modern male is forced to live in, “We are a society of men raised by women.” The film shows the emasculation of the 20th century male, not only by our consumer-oriented society but also by feminine standards of civilization. The best example of this would be the support groups Ed Norton visits. In these support groups, men are told to gather power, strength and courage from each other not from themselves. At the end of the sessions men are told to hold each other and cry, things that are very non-stereotypical of men. The 20th century society does not want men to function independently and be able to be emotionally strong on their own, it does not want men to be men. Society wants to take the very ideals of being a man, independence, strength and courage and only allow for men to experience them
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