The Philosophies of Fight Club Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden Edward Norton as the Narrorator Helena Bohem Carter as Marla Singer Based of the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk A nameless first person narrator Edward Norton attends support groups in attempt to subdue his emotional state and relieve his insomniac state. When he meets Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), another fake attendee of support groups, his life seems to become a little more bearable. However when he associates himself with Tyler (Brad Pitt) he is dragged into an underground fight club and soap making scheme. To- gether the two men spiral out of control and engage in compet- itive rivalry for love and power. When the narrator is exposed to the hidden agenda of Tyler’s fight club, he must accept the awful truth that Tyler may not be who he says he is. (http://www. imdb.com/title/tt0137523/plot- summary) “Things you own, end up owning you” Materialism The nameless narrator is stuck in a life where he simply buys “things” to make him happy, coffee tables, nice rugs, a TV, etc. When Tyler comes in he brings this idea that it’s not the stuff that you buy that makes you happy or free. It’s all about going back to square one, basic survival instincts. Reclaiming your manhood from what multimedia has told men to be like, having nice cars and houses, being success- ful, etc. and starting a fight. This is where the idea of starting a fight club comes in. “You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. ” Self Destruction This idea is a philosophical idea called Nihilism which is this idea of disre- garding every form of the social norm. Tyler believes that conforming to the day to day life everyone else lives is soul sucking. You lose yourself to job, money, proces- sions. Self-destruction is what sets you free, free from what others think about you, free from being enslaved to your job or money. Quit thinking you’ll be something and let go. “We are the people you rely on. DO NOT F**K WITH US.” Anarchy Much like materialism the philosophy Tyler holds is that the world around us has shaped who we are, making us think we can make something of ourselves if we have the right things, please the right people, and work the right jobs. Antiestab- lishment and Anarchy is the only way out. Not only having the view of “f**k the social norm.” but also fighting against it. Creating chaos among the consumerist world. “ It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’ve free to do anything” Letting Go Throughout the movie Tyler Durden is taking the narrator through a roller- coaster of events and ideas that bring him to a breaking point. He realizes that he can’t control what happens in his life and can’t fix everything in his life. He needs to simply let go. Allow life to happen, moments of euphoria, anger, pain, and suffering. Without any of that we can’t become enlightened. The philosophies of Fight Club are pulled together from all sorts of different views such as Christianity, nihilism, Buddhism, Pla- to’s allegory of the cave, etc. But the way that they are woven into the story line and character development is what makes Fight Club one of the best movies of all time and also a movie that makes you really think about your life and how much you relate to the narrator who is obsessed with a consumer lifestyle. It makes you think what it would take to become enlightened. .