Fight Club

I have long since held the belief that Fight Club is the most violent movie one will ever see that is not about violence. The entire movie encapsulates a proletariat revolution.

I do not have time to go into the implications of the two main plot driving forces (being the characters Tyler Durdin and the incessantly unnamed everyman that is played by Ed Norton) being in reality two sides of one schizophrenic person so for the purposes of this discussion let us entertain that they are entirely one man referred to as “the main character”.

If Carl Marx is right then a revolution of the proletariat is inevitable. This film gives us one vision of how it is possible. First and foremost, the re-valuation of cooperativeness. Considering the scene where the recruitment begins and the candidates begin showing up at the house. The main character first insists that all recruits dress the same, have the same haircut, sleep in identical personal spaces and share in the same physical chores of maintenance to fortify the integrity of the structure (the house) they all exist within. With constant vocal reminders in the form of daily announcements dictated to the recruits as they work the main character reinforces sameness among the participants with phrases like, “you are not a special or beautiful snowflake, you are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else.” The first half of the movie very patiently sets up the foundations of a communal, socialized machine.

The rebellion starts slowly and escalates as the members of these “clubs” engage in repeated acts of vandalism and terrorism each designed to separate the individual from the dominating social structure in power.

By way of power shifting let us consider the scene in which a government official (easily seen as a member of the Bourgeoisie) announces to the press that he will personally see to the eradication of these “underground boxing clubs” which in the movie, serve as the meetings for these rebels and the place where they receive new tasks referred to as “homework”. Shortly after his announcement the official excuses himself to use the bathroom where he is met by members of the exact group of radicals he wishes to disband. He is accosted by these men, the main character among them, and the magnitude of the underground revolution is revealed simultaneously to the official (representing the dominant social class) and the audience. “…you’re going to call off your rigorous investigation, you are going to publicly state there is no underground organization… the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances, we guard you while you sleep. Do not f*ck with us!” This scene is extremely significant because it shows the beginning of the shift in power.

The rebellion’s agenda culminates in a final act of socialist serving terrorism whereby a plot is hatched to destroy the building that house the national debt record thus removing the power of the dominator culture over the individual and reducing everyone to equals.