A Review of he Wildly Popular 1999 Film, Fight Club

A Quick Summary

The wildly popular 1999 film, Fight Club, is one who’s plot is the result of and driven by the mental illness of the unnamed protagonist/narrator. The film begins with the protagonist leading a decidedly average life, one he subconsciously finds unfulfilling and restrictive. His subliminal anguish leaves him with a debilitating case of insomnia. In an unsuccessful attempt to self-medicate, he succumbs to rampant consumerism, constantly purchasing superfluous furnishings for his apartment, but to no avail. Eventually, the protagonist meets Tyler Durden (later revealed to be his own alternate identity) and the two quickly become friends when Tyler takes him in following an explosion in his apartment that destroys everything he owns (which is later found to have been orchestrated by Tyler).

The two, needing a release from the monotony of everyday life, form the “Fight Club” as an outlet for their pent up aggression. As their friendship progresses, Tyler begins molding the narrator to his ideals, which include disconformity, anti-materialism, and radical indifference, many of which the narrator finds extreme but amiable. Conflict soon emerges between them, however, as Tyler begins a sexual relationship with Marla Singer, a woman with whom the narrator shares a contentious relationship, and gives the protagonist explicit instructions to never discuss him, Tyler, with her. Tensions continue to grow as Tyler begins taking the ideals of the Fight Club to the streets with “Project Mayhem,” despite the narrator’s protests. The duo’s struggles come to a head with Tyler’s sudden disappearance amidst a time of apparent turmoil for Project Mayhem and the protagonist, prompting his search for Tyler.

In his search, the narrator travels to a number of major cities internationally that he discovered Tyler has also been to and finds each with its own local chapter of Fight Club and Project Mayhem, the members of which refer to him as “Mr. Durden.” Beginning to suspect the truth, he calls Marla, who confirms his suspicions that he and Tyler are the same person. Tyler then appears to the protagonist and reveals that they are disassociated personalities, and that he, Tyler, manifests when the protagonist believes himself to be asleep.

Despite this revelation, the narrator finds himself unable to resist Tyler and his henchmen, having been given orders to subdue him, should he attempt to foil their plans. Tyler himself captures the narrator (depicted by a scene in which he is shown through security cameras to be throwing himself around) and ties him up at gunpoint. Tyler tries to convince the protagonist to accept the events in motion by saying “I’ll bring us through this. As always. I’ll carry you – kicking and screaming – and in the end you’ll thank me.” The protagonist refuses, however, and, realizing that since he is Tyler, the gun in Tyler’s hand is actually in his own, uses it to shoot himself in the cheek, which kills Tyler.

Hypothesizing Accuracy

The psychological disorder exhibited (or chiefly exhibited) by the protagonist is obviously Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Based on my prior knowledge before doing any in-depth research on the topic, the portrayal of the disease seems accurate in as far as the basest symptoms of the disorder are concerned. This essentially includes the manifestation of an alternate identity who exists in order to assist the primary one with coping with their situation. Where the finer details of the disorder, such as causation, interaction of personalities, and time of manifestation, are concerned, however, the movie’s representation seems as though it likely falls flat. For instance, it seems unlikely that one could cure themselves of DID by shooting themselves in the jaw.

How it Measures Up

According to DSM-5, there are five diagnostic criteria for DID:

1. Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession. The disruption in identity involves marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning. These signs and symptoms may be observed by others or reported by the individual.
2. Recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events that are inconsistent with ordinary forgetting.
3. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
4. The disturbance is not a normal part of broadly accepted cultural or religious practice. Note: In children, the symptoms are not better explained by imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.
5. The symptoms are not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or another medical condition (e.g., complex partial seizures). (Brand, Loewenstein, & Lanius, 2014)

Fight Club’s representation of DID complies with criteria A-C for the actual disorder, but not criteria E, and conflicts slightly with D. Concerning criteria E: In the movie, the protagonist suffers from an extreme case of insomnia, which is suggested to be the origin of his disorder, thus offering another medical condition to which his symptoms could feasibly be attributed to. As for criteria D: While nothing about the narrator’s symptoms are “broadly accepted” as normal, the film draws a parallel between his symptoms and what is considered normal when Tyler says “People do it every day, they talk to themselves… they see themselves as they’d like to be, they don’t have the courage you have, to just run with it.” While, again, the narrator’s symptoms are not considered normal, lesser versions of it, such as envisioning one’s self as one would like to be are. This quote attributes the exaggeration of his symptoms from the norm to his “courage” to be able to take it further. Despite the disconnect with criteria D and E, the movie’s representation measures up to actual symptoms of the disorder very well. The narrator displays two distinct personality states, has no recollection of events (even major ones) that transpired while manifesting his alternate personality, and his symptoms lose him his job and impair his relationship with Marla.

There another key aspect of DID that the movie could possibly portray correctly as well, and that is how it originates. There are multiple theories as to what causes the disorder, and the film’s portrayal arguably agrees with at least one of them. The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy states “The main cause of DID is believed to be severe and prolonged trauma experienced during childhood, including emotional, physical or sexual abuse.” As, to the audience’s knowledge, the protagonist underwent no childhood abuse, the film does not agree with this theory. In the textbook Exploring Psychology, however, David G. Myers lists DID symptoms as possibly being “defenses against the anxiety caused by the eruption of unacceptable impulses; a wanton second personality enables the discharge of forbidden impulses,” or “behaviors reinforced by anxiety reduction.” The film agrees with either of these theories. For example, Tyler’s purpose as the protagonist’s “wanton second personality” capable of “discharging forbidden impulses” is summed up in the quote “All the ways you wish you could be, that’s me. I look like you wanna look, I **** like you wanna ****, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.” Likewise, as the protagonist subconsciously loathes his life due to its monotony, which is sure to induce at least some level of anxiety, breaking that chain of monotony with DID, thus improving his satisfaction with his life, would likely reduce the that anxiety.

Another statement concerning DID made in Myer’s textbook is “Typically, the original personality denies any awareness of the other(s).” Whether or not this statement is in compliance with the movie’s portrayal of the disorder, however, is open to debatable depending on how one interprets the statement. In the film, the narrator is aware of Tyler, but is unaware that he is his own alternate identity. This raises the question: in what sense is it typical for a DID sufferer to be unaware of their alternate identities? The narrator’s hallucinations of Tyler, however, do seem more characteristic of symptoms of Schizophrenia. It is also interesting to note, however, that, while the narrator may or may not have been “aware” of Tyler, Tyler was certainly aware of the narrator, as is evident in the last mentioned quote from the film and does not contradict the statement from Myer, as Tyler is not the original personality.

Conclusion

In more instances than not, the movie compares surprisingly well with actual details of the disorder, thus not supporting my hypothesis that the finer details of the disorder wouldn’t match. That all being said, however, it is important to note that DID is a highly controversial disorder. It is recognized only in North America (Colvin, 2015) and is regarded certain other countries as “a wacky American fad” (Myer, 2011), inciting much criticism from skeptics. As such, one must accept that all “factual” details of the disorder provided possess the chance of being skewed or wrong altogether, either helping or hindering Fight Club’s portrayal of DID as it relates to the actual disorder.

References

• Gabbard, G. (2014). Dissociative Identity Disorder. In Gabbard’s Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (5th ed., pp. 439-458). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
• Colvin, T. (2015, November 1). Psychological Disorders. Lecture presented at Psych 105: Intro to Psych in Psych 101, Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA.
• Fincher, D. (Director). (1999). Fight Club [Motion picture on DVD]. United States & Germany: 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
• Myers, D. (2011). Psychological Disorders. In Exploring Psychology (8th ed., pp. 468-470). Holland, Michigan: Worth.
• Pais, S. (2015). Dissociative Identity Disorder. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.aamft.org/imis 15/AAMFT/Content/Consumer_Updates/Dissociative Identity_Disorder.aspx

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