The Alternate Personality in Fight Club, a Movie by David Fincher

As a member of my generation, I’ve heard the phrase “The first rule of fight club is, don’t talk about fight club”. That quote is about the only thing I knew about the movie “Fight Club”, other than the fact that it starred Brad Pitt. Naturally, when starting the film, I was expecting two hours of of guys fist fighting in secret, probably ending with them running from law enforcement or getting in an argument with their families about it. In reality, it’s about a man who feels unfulfilled and unhappy, completely changing his life. However, in order to do this, Tyler (our protagonist) has to create an alternate personality. He imagines a man that he meets on a plane and then imagines moving in with him and becoming his best friend. Tyler finally has his breakthrough when he realizes that they are one person, and that he’s been blacking out and doing things as his alternate personality. I was not prepared for the depth that “Fight Club” had to offer. By the time it was over I got the message; people are more important than things.

This may seem like an odd theme for a movie that sounds like it’s just about beating people up. However, Tyler’s journey shows his transformation from a barely-awake robot, to a confident, happy leader. This is accomplished by Tyler losing everything. In the beginning of the film, the camera focuses mainly on things. When Tyler attends support groups, we get shots of mugs and change baskets. If he’s in a hotel, we see his mini shampoo and conditioner and a toothpick. When viewing his home, we take in of all of his furniture. Tyler even talks about how he’s so proud of all the things in his apartment that he’s purchased. He admits to looking through catalogs and thinking “What type of dining set defines me as a person?”. His life is full of stuff, but not people.

Up until the alter ego develops, he only talks about three people; his boss, Bob, and Marla. Tyler seems indifferent about his boss, as people often are, so this is not a surprise. What is more shocking is his attitude toward Bob. Bob has testicular cancer and attends a support group. He weeps as he hugs Tyler, but Tyler seems fairly indifferent toward him. All he says about Bob is that he has “bitch tits”, he cries a lot, and he loves Tyler because he thinks he has cancer. This lack of sympathy or sadness is very off for someone dealing with another human who is dying. It helps to show that Tyler does not care about people. He goes more into depth about his furniture than Bob. Of all the people in Tyler’s life, he probably talks to Marla the most. I don’t believe he cares about Marla, rather he wants her to get away from his support groups. He worries only about himself, so when he and Marla work out a deal, he doesn’t make any effort to see her again until after meeting the Tyler in his head. He likes things, and he likes himself. it is very clear that he could not care less about the other people he encounters, especially those he encounters briefly. He even refers to the people he sits next to on planes as “single-serving friends”. Tyler has no emotions regarding people. Because of this, he is not happy. He’s just shuffling through life, often not able to sleep. Then, his brain makes a change and invents “Tyler 2.0”.

As Tyler learns to care more about others, he cares less about his things. He lives in a run down house and stops dressing nicely for work, but he listens to imaginary-friend-Tyler when he spits out one liners like “The things you own end up owning you”. The culmination of this attitude, is the explosive ending. Under the instruction of “New Tyler” the fight club army blows up all the credit card company headquarters. They want to make it so debt is forgotten and everyone is equal. This is the ultimate sign that shows that stuff; money and worldly possessions, does not matter. They evacuated everyone from the buildings, and felt that their actions were completely justified. They made sure not to hurt people, just make them equal by blowing up possessions.

I think that the editing plays a huge part in enforcing this theme. Though I don’t know that I would’ve noticed it before taking this course, the subliminal message is enough to really implant the lesson in your brain. Like I said, in the beginning of the film we have a ton of shots which zoom in on things. There are many more inanimate objects emphasised here then there generally are when you’re watching a movie. There’s one scene where Tyler is talking about how he has “Succumbed to the IKEA nesting instinct” where it shows all the furniture in his apartment and it’s price. This 360 shot makes his place look more like a catalog than someone’s home.

There’s also a scene, right after Tyler’s apartment gets blown up, that shows what the police think happened to cause the explosion. This is shown by what looks like an extremely close tracking shot. The camera moves across the floor, over the oven, and behind the fridge, zooming in to show a description of what Tyler is describing. This shot is not usual in a realistic movie- it almost looks like a video game. I think this gives a great hint to the fact that this movie is not what is seems, and it helps reinforce Tyler’s early views that his stuff is most important.

One of the other things that jumps out in almost every scene, is the darkness. until Tyler meets Tyler, just about every single shot is full of shadows and unnaturally dark rooms. I believe this represents Tyler’s emotions. He’s unhappy and he feels stuck, so he sees his entire life as dreary. The support groups, his apartment, even the streets are always dark. Once he meets Tyler, everything gets lighter. The airport he’s standing in, the lobby of his building, and the run down house he shares with Tyler all appear bright. They seem much more normal and much happier. I believe this should be attributed to Tyler’s increased happiness after meeting his alter ego.

The one editing technique that I thought was weird before I finished the movie, but genius after I knew the whole story, was the flashing image of new Tyler in the beginning scenes. Tyler will be going through his regular day, in his office or at the doctors. Then, for a split second, there’s a man’s figure in the corner of the screen. The image is gone if you even blink, but it causes rack focus so the audience gets the hint that something’s going to happen. If you watch the film a second time, it hits you that that flashing image is Tyler’s alternate personality, developing and preparing to come out. I think this is one of the most brilliant forms of editing I’ve ever seen, simply because it’s such a big clue without giving anything away to people who don’t know the plot. I love movies that offer you new information every time you watch them, and I think this was an excellent way to do it.

This movie didn’t really deviate from the norm as far as a setting. Though I was only three years old when it came out in 1999, I feel that it was an accurate depiction as far as technology that was invented, clothing that was in style, and what the city would’ve looked like. The only thing that is really off is Tyler’s house. It’s a very broken down, messy, wood shack that he inhabits, which makes sense when you realize that there’s only one Tyler so he’s most likely just squatting there. The house is gross and cluttered, a huge contrast from his old apartment. Again, this ties back into the lesson of things not being important. Tyler says “It used to be that when I came home depressed, I just cleaned my condo”. I think this says a lot, because it’s clear he’s not cleaning this new house. He’s not depressed anymore, he is happy because he has people in his life. He doesn’t care that his books aren’t stacked neatly and his ceiling is leaking because he knows there are more important things.

I believe that Fight Club was released at exactly the right time. Obviously, things were changing in 1999. Technology was developing and we were entering a new century. Everyone started focusing more and more on careers. We saw more mothers entering the workplace instead of staying home with their kids and more families becoming unable to support themselves. We were obsessed with money and belongings. This film was an inspiring reminder of what was important. In a lot of films, the goal is to be “successful”. This isn’t necessarily a bad goal, it just depends on how you define success. At this time, being successful meant having a good job and a lot of money. Tyler’s new life reminded everyone that people will bring happiness, money will not.

In addition, right before the turn of the century, there were a lot of people freaking out about the new year. This “Y2K Panic” was caused by citizens afraid that when it became 2000, computers wouldn’t be able to calculate the new date and they would crash. There was worry that all technology would be wiped out- the biggest fear being that banks could lose all their information, and there would be no record of who has money and who does not. This fear of bank failure became real in Fight Club, when the “army” blows up all banks. Though it seems ridiculous to us now, people were really fearful about this impending disaster. Having a similar fear made this film much more relatable, and probably had a lot to do with it being the number one movie the weekend it opened.

I rented this movie expecting fist fights, car chases, and guys with macho man complexes. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that instead, I got a mind-bending film that makes you question a lot of things in your life, but also remember what’s really important to you. It wasn’t mindless violence, it was a mildly disturbing but unbelievably real representation of what people today have become. This film made everyone sit up and pay attention. The unusual editing grabs you the first time you watch it, then makes you smack yourself and say “How did I not catch that?” when you rewatch it. The dialogue was deeper than any other movie I can remember seeing that actually starred A-list actors. The timing of the movie’s release did wonders by relating to an entire community of people’s fears, and the catchy one liners were sure to be repeated. This film is inspiring and intelligent, and it has become one of my favorites. So, unless you want imaginary Brad Pitt to steal your girl and blow up your apartment, remember; live your life cherishing people, not possessions.

Cite this page