The film Fight Club, which is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, presents an evaluation of modern consumerist culture and social values. To a great extent, this movie urges people to regard goods as necessities rather than those things that define an individual or indicate his/her status in the society.
One of the major characters, Tyler Durden acts as a conveyer of the authorsâ views on contemporary culture. It is possible to say that this person advocates the values of a hunter-gather society which tends to be simpler and more egalitarian, at least from economic point of view.
There are several examples that illustrate this argument. First, we can refer to the conversation between Tyler and the narrator. Tyler expresses the idea that modern people view themselves primarily as âconsumersâ whose sole purpose is acquisition of property. He even accuses the narrator of being too focused on material values overlooking the fact that the protagonist lost virtually all his possessions.
More importantly, he emphasizes the point that the majority of these goods are not essential for the survival of a person. More likely, they are used to underline high prestige of an individual. Such worldview is unacceptable for him. His ideas bear close resemblance to a hunter-gather society.
Its members acquire goods such as food or clothing only to feed their families or sustain themselves. In such social and economic environment the main purpose of labor is survival or subsistence but not profit or prestige. People, who live in such communities, do not derive pleasure from mere possession of property or goods.
This lack of highly sophisticated needs or desires greatly appeals to Tyler and, in part, to the narrator. Additionally, acquisition of property can be the underlying cause of inequality in the society. This is another reason why Tyler cannot accept consumerism. Hunter-gatherer community becomes his ideal mostly because it is more egalitarian. However, he overlooks the drawbacks of such social system.
Another example, which shows Tylerâs rejection of consumer culture, is the destruction of other peoples property. For instance, the members of Project Mayhem burn computers, smash vehicles, and even bomb the office of some unidentified company or corporation. This sabotage originates from their rejection of consumerism. In this way they attempt to demonstrate that property is not critical for the survival of a human being.
The people are guided by Tylerâs philosophy which relies on the premise that acquisition of property cannot be the only driver of human behavior. Again, we can say that this ideology stems from hunter-gather society. Finally, the members of Project Mayhem bomb the buildings of credit card companies in effort to erase debt records.
These bombings can be explained by their desire to recreate primitive or hunter-gather society in modern America. Nonetheless, the main characters of this film, especially Tyler, forget that other people may disagree with their views on contemporary culture or their willingness to transform the world through violence.
Fight Club is a rich social commentary on various social, economic, and political issues. This movie is aimed at showing the shortcomings of contemporary capitalism and consumerism.
Yet, its characters fail to find solutions to the problems of society; instead they try to return to primitive culture with its simplicity and alleged egalitarianism. Tyler does not care to explain the reasons why modern world moves toward consumer culture and this is the main limitation of his worldview.
Works Cited
Fincher David (dir). Fight Club. 20th Century Fox. DVD.