Fight Club

"The first rule of fight club, is that you don't talk about fight club. The second rule of fight club is that you don't talk about fight club!"

Ah, what a film. It took me several years to understand the film in its entirety. When I first watched this I was somewhat perplexed and confused by it all. The storyline was linear until the very end, where it turned out all that we thought and imagined was a lie, or all is not what it seemed.

There seemed to be a spate of late 90's films trying to explain how the world is actually set up for us to exist. Only to exist. Not to succeed. And I don't think there are mysterious people fumbling around, pulling chords so that you don't actually make it, I just think it is the way it is because people try and hold onto power rather than give it away -- such is life. You would want to hold onto yours if you had it, wouldn't you?

And that is what this entire film is about, how wealth and power is consololidated at the top, and how people take that power back, how being part of something bigger than ourselves we can essentially "take back" the power.

Ultimately we see how this plays out, and taking back our power seems like a nice thing to do, it can only be done at the expense of others, and how are we willing to come to terms of the morality of such an endeavour, if at all. We see this as the main characters wrestle with the whole idea. It's a fantastic portrayal of practical over the ideological.

The film mixes in with it a few common tropes of the 90's. For example we were just starting to talk about mental health, rebellion was fast becoming a common theme amongst the youth mixed with an entirely new concept of underground clubs for men where all they do is fight, and the whole concept of is is just brotherhood, and not money.

It also brings into the ether the thought that men back then (and more so now) were losing their camradery. There used to be certain unwritten rules back in the 90's and beyond that men worked together, helped each other up, didn't do your friends the dirty. But we were becoming a richer society, and people were leaning on their fellow human less and less because we didn't need help anymore. Most people have enough resources at their disposal to survive okay on their own.

But it also throws into the question that resources are consolidating at the top, and whilst everyone is becoming richer, the people that have money already are becoming even more richer themselves -- and the film was essentially right because we see incredible wealth inequality now, the likes of what we haven't seen for at least 150+ years.

I recommend anyone that hasn't, to watch it, and keep an open mind. Because whilst the screenplay may be violent, and not very methodical, it also asks deeper questions aqbout morals, mental health, rebellion, and lonliness. A must watch!

Posted using CineTV