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Elizabeth Bush 4-28-03 American Society in Film Formal Paper Fight Club I have chosen to do my Formal paper on the movie Fight Club. Fight Club was directed by David Fincher and was released in 1999. This movie has countless dimensions to it, and it has been very interesting to have a chance to research these in more detail through out this class. American values, and attitudes are a huge part of this movie, or should I say the destruction of American values, and attitudes. I intend to discuss these values and attitudes and how the director, David Fincher, used interesting techniques to display them. One huge theme throughout this movie is an anti-society theme. Fight Club is a film based on a novel written by a recent University of Oregon graduate, Chuck Palanhuik (IMDB). The main character is a young man who is tired of his dead end, white collar, corporate job and the empty consumer culture that his generation has been doomed to inherit (IMDB). He, and his newly invented alter ego Tyler Durden, create a new club where young men come to relieve their frustrations by beating each other up. The ultimate purpose of the “Fight Club” is to try and destroy the importance that society places on working and material possessions. There are many scenes in this movie that discuss the problems with the attitude of the current society. One of my favorites, however, is a scene entitled “The Middle Children of History”, where Tyler Durden is holding a meeting in the basement of a local tavern. I have never taken the time to notice how similar the points Tyler makes about society are to society as we know it. That is why I think this scene tries to shape the viewer’s understanding of particular American values and attitudes. One of the first statements Tyler makes is, “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don’t need.” This is very apparent in this movie as well as modern society. Advertising is a huge industry in America.
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