2. During the opening sequence, Edward gives the audience a tour of his
flat by stating which types of furniture he has purchased and why. The
obsession and addiction of Edward’s extremist views on furniture is
actually a social construct in modern society being shown in black and
white by the director. Consumerism is accepted by Edward at the start of
the film, however as his relationship with Tyler progresses, he begins to
support the rejection of enforced ideologies such as consumerism. This
rebellion lingering inside Edward is fight ignited when his whole flat gets
blown to pieces, destroying any grasp of the consumerism ways. The film
also shows constant themes of postmodernism to express the view that
everything is a copy of something else and nothing is original, no one is
individual, everything is constantly recycled and degraded which could
be seen as representative of society and the way it has degraded into
something meaningless and chaotic.
3. Fight club touches heavily on the theme of masculinity. The film highlights the issue that men are becoming
more and more feminized in modern society. This issue is first evident when Edward decides to visit various
support group for men who are suffering with cancer. This in itself is important to note, as the protagonist only
visits these support groups to cry and therefore avoid a sleepiness night, which highlights how depriving and
frustrated it is for men to be so degraded in modern society. In this scene we see Edward develop a strong bond
with cancer victim, Bob. When we first see Bob approach Edward, he describes him as “And that’s how I met
little mosey…. Knees together, those award steps” The desciption of Bob is very similar to a shy, girl rather than
a fully grown man. Additionally we see Bob with huge boobs which deffinitely goes against the norm image of a
man. This highlights that modern society has gone so far as to even changing the way a men is physically
presented. We also see both men crying, which again, challanges the steryotypical view of a man and instead
takes a very post moderist approuch to how men are currently viewed.
4. The scene where Edward first meets Tyler is ironic in so many ways. In a previous scene, Edward talks about how he
always wishes the plane he is on, would crash into flames. This conveys how sick he is of his own life and uses the
transportation of a plane to provide him with a higher chance of death. The irony of Edward initially meeting Tyler
on a plane foreshadows how his personality and image will soon die and be replaced by the highly looked upon,
Tyler Durden.
Tyler’s character resembles the postmodernist approach to the world. This is noticed when he questions Edward
about why planes provide oxygen, to which Edward responds ”to breathe” which is the typical persons response.
However Tyler disagrees and provides an answer that looked beyond finding a rational response and instead states
that its to make people high so that dying doesn't’t seem so scary. The absurd but logical response is then backed up
by the facial expressions of the cartoon drawings of people on the flight safety leaflet.
5. Tyler Durden's house is an important message in the movie. It contrasts heavily with Edward Norton’s flat, which is
furnished with sets of various assets. Tyler’s house is massive and only contains basic needs such as a mattress and
a shower and a table. The contrast highlights how Tyler is a character that Edward wishes he could be. The basic
nature of the house shows Tyler trying to reject aspects of authority, consumerism and order which is seen as a
social norm in society. Tyler takes on a nihilistic view of the world and portrays this through the house. The house
is dirty, old and broken which is similar to how Edward’s character feels on this inside highlighting how living in the
way society thinks is normal is in fact destroying the foundations of ones self. Tyler’s strong philosophy is an
escape into Edward finding a life where he can control himself. Additionally the house is where Tyler makes soap
from human fat, he is recycling other people’s waste and then techniquely sells it back to them. The constant
theme of postmodernism is shown in the film to express how since nothing is original, everything will eventually
degrade and decay into something worthless, in relation to society it would mean the loss of order and reason,
which Tyler is therefore, trying to achieve.
