Before the cult 1999 film began streaming in China, censors drastically changed the ending so that the anarchist narrator is caught and punished for his crimes.
Every detail of the movie is about glorifying masculinity or disparaging femininity.
Superficially. But the narrative gradually shifts from bemoaning the emasculation of modern men into the toxic self-destructive nature of excess masculinity. These scene where Jack/Tyler breaks a man's face because it is too pretty is intentionally horrifying. The scene where he morns his friend's death - killed doing hyped-up petty vandalism - only to watch the anguish he feels permuted into senseless rage is supposed to throw up a big warning sign. His inability to connect with Marla Singer on anything more than a once-removed fuckboy relationship via Tyler is supposed to illustrate a pointless and self-inflicted loss.
Hell, the end of the story involves him putting a gun to his own head rather than endure the Tyler identity any longer.
The revolution in fight club is not a communist revolution; it is a machismo fascist revolution.
The revolution is a murky blend of the two. Emasculation is a function of modern capitalism. The flensing of individuals down to terrified asexual worker drones perpetuates the business cycle. Rediscovering one's agency, one's courage, and one's collective spirit becomes a precursor to rebellion.
But the superficial focus on cultural pastiche both undermines real revolutionary works and prevents solidarity between people (specifically men and women, in this instance). The casual disregard for the value of individual human well-being in pursuit of a social movement hollows out the moral core of the movement. That's what makes the story fascist. And that's something the author freely criticizes.
Superficially. But the narrative gradually shifts from bemoaning the emasculation of modern men into the toxic self-destructive nature of excess masculinity. These scene where Jack/Tyler breaks a man's face because it is too pretty is intentionally horrifying. The scene where he morns his friend's death - killed doing hyped-up petty vandalism - only to watch the anguish he feels permuted into senseless rage is supposed to throw up a big warning sign. His inability to connect with Marla Singer on anything more than a once-removed fuckboy relationship via Tyler is supposed to illustrate a pointless and self-inflicted loss.
Hell, the end of the story involves him putting a gun to his own head rather than endure the Tyler identity any longer.
The revolution is a murky blend of the two. Emasculation is a function of modern capitalism. The flensing of individuals down to terrified asexual worker drones perpetuates the business cycle. Rediscovering one's agency, one's courage, and one's collective spirit becomes a precursor to rebellion.
But the superficial focus on cultural pastiche both undermines real revolutionary works and prevents solidarity between people (specifically men and women, in this instance). The casual disregard for the value of individual human well-being in pursuit of a social movement hollows out the moral core of the movement. That's what makes the story fascist. And that's something the author freely criticizes.