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Monday, October 25, 2004
mischief, mayhem, soap...
 mischief
There's more to like on this flick than what meets the eye. I am not talking about the morbid slugfest, i'm talking about David Fincher's cutting-edge-music-video inspired visuals in which aside from it the movie tackles our generation's most pressing issues; urban mischief, increasing paranoia, unending search for ones self-worth and identity and the possibilities it'll lead to. These issues were presented through Tyler Durden's (Brad Pitt) ideologies in the form of "Tylerisms". Some of 'em are like a kick in the shin while some have gone overboard. Let's start with this...
"Our generation does not have a great depression, no great war. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives."
Quite true especially to young professionals working in big business districts. Too much coffee, too much smoke, too much monotony, too much hours awake which are piling up, getting heavier everyday until it reaches a point wherein it crushes them into pieces (funny how we work our ass off and race up the ladder then end up in such misery). This is exactly what our main character's (Edward Norton) dilemma is. Good thing he never did a "Veronica", he decided not to die which is quite surprising since men have greater risk of committing suicide than women, maybe it was due to the support groups. A pathetic move actually since he pretended to be sick just to have peace of mind, knowing that there's still a lot out there who's more in "pain", so he hopped from testicular cancer group to brain dementia then tuberculosis (whatta loser!). These sessions became his outlet, a means of escape from the drudgeries of his life. According to him every evening he dies and every evening he is born, ressurected. Unfortunately, this didn't last long because of Marla Singers (Helena Bonham Carter), another jaded tourist who's also doing the same stint. It's hard to fake it in the world of make believe if another faker is around, so they say and there's really nothing he can do except for killing her but he never did so he is back in the dumps.
"The things you own end up owning you, it's only after you have lost everything that you are free to do anything."
This one's kinda "in your face". We live according to the deadlines of our bills, we're often deprived of doing some things due to budget constraints because most of the budget or even all of 'em goes down the credit card drain (geezz, feels like i'm talking to myself). Since Jack, our main character (yeah, he has a name which was almost never mentioned in the movie) is back in the dumps, what better way to perk him up is...impulsive buying (yeah, solve a problem with another). His place is like a showroom of an IKEA catalogue, he got everything any bachelor could have in a pad. As his credit card bills keep mounting, so does the gas from his burner which filled up his pad and eventually blew up everything one night when he was on a business trip. He was left with nothing but Tyler Durden's number, so he dialed it and this is where the fun begins.
mayhem
"There is a hierarchy of men, the urban males occupy the base of it while the retrosexuals take dominion over them."
Tyler and Jack laughed when they saw a billboard of a Calvin Klien model, dismissing him as a far cry from what a real man should be (as if they're far from looking like poster boys themselves...a good irony actually). This "Tylerism" shows that the metropolitan has a way of deteriorating the masculine fiber, reducing men into clueless, paranoid and dependent wussies instead of being self-assured, focused, daring and aggresive. So they sort of make a "got balls?" campaign to all men out there which eventually launched Fight Club. Secret meetings started brewing within the semi-lit basements of the city jampacked with sweaty, hard-hitting men ready to beat the pulp out of the other. Check out their rules...
1st RULE: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB. (got it!)
2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB. (dammit! i said i got it!)
3rd RULE: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the fight is over. (but if somebody says kill him! then the fight is on)
4th RULE: Only two guys to a fight. (so when's the royal rumble?)
5th RULE: One fight at a time. (i said when's the royal rumble?)
6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes. (except for bitch tits)
7th RULE: Fights will go on as long as they have to. (even if ur balls are crushed)
8th RULE: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB, you HAVE to fight. (after you sing or dance) Perhaps, some of you can't stand watching blood spurting, ribs cracking or gums bleeding, well, Mr. Fincher used this for nothing, it's an important part of the film since it is an allegory (repeat, an allegory, not the main point of the flick...so please don't do this at home ok) of this ideology. A way to release all tensions that your enslaved with, a way of taking control of yourself and the things around you and a way of strengthening that masculine fiber (and the best way to do it is to go back to man's barabaric instinct huh? nice!!! sounds like a psycho boot camp to me).
"We are God's middle children, with no special place in history and no special attention. Unless we get God's attention we have no hope of damnation or redemption."
and to get his attention they came up with some sort of a buddhist/nazist project , they call it "Project Mayhem". The name reflects nothing but destruction and destruction it is for they herded a lot of young men, trained them to make bombs to blow up major credit card buildings (whatta Gordian solution in todays credit card problems!). This is where the film takes off towards its major twist which others find unecessary since according to them the film would do good without it. Well, I like it the way it is because the twist adds depth to it, it empahizes the complications of Jack's psyche as well as the possibilities that lead him into in his search for his identity.
soap
I bet Jack still has a lot of options, a lot of soaps to choose from that would rinse off his urban mischiefs apart from Tyler's. Jack was easily beguiled by Tyler since he's undeniably a great salesman but he can still think of some other things like what i did after watching the flick. Since his flat got burned and was left with nothing why not pull the thread and go to India. He can live a life of utmost piety and simplicity, a humble lifestyle that would give him inner peace and happiness, it will then be called project mercy of the charity club. He can also hook up with some French peeps and start a getaway in Bangkok or Malaysia then look for a certain utopia or put up a business there and call it project resort and spa of the beach club or he doesn't need to go that far, he can just stay in his place and join the burgoening reality tv show craze. He can choose from Big brother, Survivor or the Amazing race. It'll be a hell lot of fun seeing Jack, Tyler and Marla in Big Brother or a Jack-Tyler/ Jack-Marla/ Tyler-Marla tandem in the Amazing race hehehe... but whatever it is (i could almost hear Tyler say...nice try dude!), guess he would still choose the soap that works great even on bloodstains.
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