I have found fight club to be an intriguing film to discuss in terms of critical approaches, although it has also allowed me to come to a conclusion that not just one form of critical analysis can be used to explore each sequence.
For instance the opening credits of the film suggest a level of psychoanalysis will be needed to understand the film, this is due to the CGI effects from within the brain. The camera follows the nerves within a persons (who is later revealed to be the narrator) head, with sparking synapses; suggesting that the film will uncover some form of mental dysfunction. However this is not explored again until the latter part of the film.
Instead the initial establishing sequences from the suggest a less psychoanalytical approach is needed and something such as the crisis of masculinity can be used to explain these. The men in the film have become overpowered by consumerism, trading in their masculinity for a more feminine generalisation. This is all presented during one scene within the narrators apartment, there is a pan across the room showcasing his furniture alongside their catalogue descriptions. Jack then explains how he has become a “slave to the ikea nesting instinct” showing just how much dependency his character and males within society have become on consumer products usually associated with female behaviour. During this scene the narrator also tells us, whilst on the toilet, that where he used to read pornography now he reads furniture catalogues. The pornography represents a masculine trait of sexual desire the fact that the narrator seems to have lost this in replace of furniture magazines is again a clear link to the loss of masculinity within society. However it is possible that this could be linked to Freud’s psychoanalytical theory of the self, and how the narrator feels the need to suppress his sexual desire (the ID) in order to fit in within society. Without knowledge of the crisis of masculinity it would have been difficult to pinpoint a reason behind Fincher’s choice of mise en scene and dialogue, understanding this has enabled me to delve much deeper into the potential meanings of the text, and potentially debate it as being polysemic.
As the film progresses the crisis of
masculinity ceases to become a problem, or perhaps is just overridden by
further critical approaches which can be discussed. I have found it very useful
applying Freudian theory to particular scenes once Tyler Durden has been
introduced and believe it to have stemmed from the crisis of masculinity. The
mise en scene of the house is used as a visual metaphor for the narrators
brain, linking towards the sparking synapses in the opening credits. The mise
en scene of the house is dull and dreary, it lacks consumerised nature of his
old apartment and only contains the bare minimum. “It's only after we've lost
everything that we're free to do anything” is a quote from Tyler Durden
which proves an ideology of the film: once Jack has lost the consumerism from
his normal life as shown through his apartment he is able to become “free”
presented in the minimalist mise en scene of Tyler’s house.
However, this “freedom” comes at a cost, following
Freud’s theory Tyler represent the ID, the unconscious desires. Once Jack has
lost his apartment on consumer products Tyler is introduced, he takes over Jack’s
life, and his brain. We can see this in the house whilst Tyler and Marla are
having sex. Jack is working out, he is letting his ID fulfil his desires in the
floor above him and literally in the back of his mind. Whilst we hear Marla’s
diegetic orgasms the ceiling falls down next to Jack, the house is falling
apart and so is his brain. Without a psychoanalytical approach to this scene or
potentially any of the others featuring Tyler Durden it becomes very difficult
to appreciate what he represents and his affect on the narrator.
Due to the polysemic nature of the text it
is difficult to apply one critical approach to the entire film and so is necessary
to consider these within particular sequences. The film only superficially
covers each idea is explores, including others not I have not discussed such as
Marxism and Post Modernism, and so it is useful to understand more than one
approach when exploring the film. This has been a criticism of the film; that
it lacks substance within the critiques it makes on society, however through my
analysis I have personally come to the conclusion that this is Fincher’s way of
explaining to his audience how the American society of the time is filled with
such an extensive amount of problems.
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