How useful has a particular critical approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film? (30)

Concepts of critical understanding have been an important feature within my initial understanding of David Fincher's Fight Club. Coming to terms with the crisis of masculinity has enabled my knowledge of this film to explore not only the technical aspects but also relating these to conceptual ideologies which were around during the 90's. Representing societies reaction to constant technological development around in the 90's, Fight Club starts by exploring the idea of excessive consumerism which followed this.
Throughout the 1990's societies opinions on males were focused around the basic concept of the crisis of masculinity which focused purely on the idea that men were beginning to loose the dominance they were commonly associated with. Men were loosing the features which defined them as men; or the features which society has began to believe as what should define them as men. Fight Club is seen to use this approach to explore the idea of men defying this ideology by creating a "fight club" to "bring back their masculinity."
However, through analysis of the scenes from the fight club itself, aspects could be seen to be leading a more homosexual subtext in comparison to the initial thought of highlighting male testosterone. The  room in which fight club takes place is a dingy pub basement, in which the men are shown under low key lighting fighting with each other half naked. These simple features within the construction of the scene resemble that of Experimental Kenneth Anger film Fireworks, a film which was known as the basis of queer cinema. These references to queer cinema also come in further on in the film during the scene which The Narrator is fighting with Angel Face, during this fight specific shots are used to reference Fireworks. These shots in particular are upside down close ups of Angel Face's head and shoulders with low key lighting