Posted by Lion
In this ongoing segment, Lion will make a case for a certain film being "the best movie of all time." This is a direct rip-off of Videogum's "The Hunt for the Worst Movie of All Time," which features both better/funnier writing and more readers. Each movie will be given a fair shot at glory. There WILL be spoilers. If you have any recommendations, please post in the comments. Most movies will be what are generally considered "critically-acclaimed."
People over-generalize Fight Club as being too "macho," basically a film for men to satisfy their primitive dream of beating every other man's ass. But it is truly jam-packed with social commentary that will boggle your mind if you take the time to sit down and think about it.
We are a society driven by consumerism. Every day, our minds are packed with advertising ploys and our eyes are glued to televisions and computers. Very rarely do we stop and think about what it means to be truly alive. Fight Club uses this idea as a central theme.
Due to pure laziness on my part, I will copy and paste the pivotal plot points from Wikipedia (if you have seen Fight Club, then skip right over this part):
"After a flight home from a business trip, the narrator finds his apartment destroyed by an explosion. He calls Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt)a soap salesman whom he befriended on the flight, and they meet at a bar. A conversation about consumerism leads to Tyler inviting the narrator to stay at his place; afterward, he requests the narrator to hit him. The two engage in a fistfight outside the bar, with the narrator subsequently moving into Tyler's dilapidated house. They have further fights outside the bar, and these attract a crowd of men. The fighting moves to the bar's basement, where the men form a fight club."
"Marla overdoses on pills and telephones the narrator for help; he ignores her, but Tyler answers the call and saves her. Tyler and Marla become sexually involved, and Tyler warns the narrator never to talk to Marla about him. More fight clubs form across the country, and they become the anti-materialist and anti-corporate organization called "Project Mayhem", under Tyler's leadership. The narrator complains to Tyler that he wants to be more involved in the organization, but Tyler suddenly disappears. When a member of Project Mayhem dies, the narrator tries to shut down the project, and follows evidence of Tyler's national travels to track him down. In one city, a project member greets the narrator as Tyler Durden. The narrator calls Marla from his hotel room and discovers that Marla also believes him to be Tyler. He suddenly sees Tyler Durden in his room, and Tyler explains that they are dissociated personalities in the same body. Tyler controls the narrator's body when the narrator is asleep."
"The narrator blacks out after the conversation. When he wakes, he discovers from his telephone log that Tyler made calls during his blackout. He uncovers Tyler's plans to erase debt by destroying buildings that contain credit card companies' records. The narrator tries to contact the police but finds that the officers are members of the project. He attempts to disarm explosives in a building, but Tyler subdues him and moves to a safe building to watch the destruction. The narrator, held by Tyler at gunpoint, realizes that in sharing the same body with Tyler, he himself is actually holding the gun. He fires it into his mouth, shooting through the cheek without killing himself. Tyler collapses with an exit wound to the back of his head, and the narrator stops mentally projecting him. Afterward, Project Mayhem members bring a kidnapped Marla to him, believing him to be Tyler, and leave them alone. The explosives detonate, collapsing the buildings, and the narrator and Marla watch the scene, holding hands."
One thing that strikes me about this film is its ability to appeal to such a variety of people:
- Your typical "bro"
- Fight Club appeals to "bros" for the obvious reason of violence. If there is anything "bros" like most, its seeing Brad Pitt getting beat to a pulp by a mobster and laughing his ass off in the process. It's straight up bad-ass, and "bros" love their asses bad. (?) I am grateful that the film directors decided to abstain from putting Brad Pitt in Affliction gear (this may have caused soiled underpants to plague the douche bag population of Mayfield High School.)
- Your typical "film lover"
- Notice I said FILM, and not movie. People in this category are cinema elitists. I would put myself, and most of my friends, in this category. We love to pretend we know everything about the film industry. In fact, we just read IMDB too much and brag about knowing that Christian Bale was just over 100 lbs. in The Machinist. I classify film lovers as seeing the movie industry for what it truly is: a superbly effective communication medium for themes and art. Fight Club fits in this category as well. Its jam packed with themes (coming of age, anti-consumerism, mundane everyday life), a plot twist to end all plot twists, and of course: Edward Norton! Everybody loves Edward Norton!
- Women
- Women may get slightly aroused watching Fight Club. There should be two descriptions on the back of a Fight Club DVD case: one for men, one for women. The women's would read: "Brad Pitt kicks ass with his shirt off. Penises are also subliminally flashed on the screen: twice!" The men's would read: "Hey fatty! Watch Fight Club and experience two forms of inner dialogue, both of which point to feelings of despair and worthlessness: 'Man, I am a consumerist pig.' and 'Damn, I need to do some sit ups or something.' "
So where does Fight Club stand in the "best movie of all time" race? It has to rank fairly high. If I asked someone to name the best movie of all time, and someone said "Fight Club", I wouldn't react the same way as I would if they had said "Ernest Goes to Camp." It's an understandable and supportable choice. It's primitive in its appearance but deep in its themes. It appeals to our need for violence (us Americans LOVE our violence) and our need to look in the mirror and examine our lives. Maybe I won't watch as much TV. Maybe I should enjoy life in its simplest forms. Maybe I should do some sit ups. (Nah.)
Not to mention: Fight Club has one of the single greatest quotes in the history of filmmaking/writing:
"Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." -Tyler Durden
Next time on The Hunt for the Best Movie of All Time: Pulp Fiction.
As always, feel free to argue or recommend other films in the comments below.
