anyone watch fight club?

Question

did you think the movie was a little bit of a critique on organized religion? think about it. you have two men who started it. one was sort of a god while the other was more of a diciple. the leader gave out rules much like god gave to moses. his loyal followers obeyed the rules without question. some would even cite the rules verbatum whenever asked a question, without using answers of their own. the followers were also instructed to go out and actively recruit. the movie also addressed the issue of martyrdom. "in death a member of project mayhem has a name. his name is robert paulson." it was at this point that it became obvious that this cult had become bigger than the creators of it, much like christ and christianity. and in the end we realize that leader of fight club was actually just a figment of the original follower's imagination. deep stuff... what did you all think? did you like the movie?

hopefully, i didn't ruin the movie for any christians who actually liked it and didn't realize that was the point of the movie...

read it... good book... you should read survivor... another good one. hopefully they make it into a movie soon.

nah, bansai your interpretation sucks. mines better. stick to worshiping invisible men.

timaeus, but in the end fight club destroyed itself... what does that tell you about religion?

core, i think you mean spacemonkeys, not sheep...

if anything, it does open one's eyes to how religion/cults can twist a persons mind into believing anything. and when confronted with the possibility that some things might not be right with it, it does cause some to act out irrationally.

acid, seems some people can at least draw some parallel in what i've said. maybe you should watch it again...

Answer 1

Great question!

You make some interesting points. There definately are some similarities between the leaders of fight club and God/Prohet relationships we're familiar with. I'm not really sure if the author intended the similarity as a critique, or if Abrahamic religion is so deeply ingrained in western culture that he may have meant it to describe our culture as a whole- sheep like and easily swayed to causes "greater" than ourselves.

I loved the movie. I thought it was cast perfectly, the performances were brilliant, the cinematography was inspired, and the film maintained the quirky 'feel' of the book in a way that's almost impossible to describe. The changes that were made in the translation from book to movie did not detract from the work- minor changes were needed to take the story from print to picture, that's all. If you have not read the book, I highly recommend it.

Answer 2

It is not so much a critique of Christianity or organized religion, as much as it a piece of social commentary on what happens to men when the only spiritual and psychological options that are available to them culturally are feminized and therapeutic. The "fight club" is a metaphor for masculine energy forced underground, and without the proper guidance that was formally provided by religion and culture, it generates first, acts of mischief, then acts of profound violence. If anything, "Fight Club" is making the case for, rather against, some kind of religion. Christianity used to be very masculine in its ethos, and was therefore able to provide a way of directing primal masculine energies toward constructive purposes, but that ethos has been in decline. And it is a culture in which Christianity is in decline that is the setting for the novel. It's influence has been largely replaced by business and therapeutic concerns-- factors that lead to the alienation of the novel's protagonist. Also, the author is demonstrating, in his peculiar narrative form, the rise of fascist and totalitarian systems from the twentieth century-- not pre-modern religious systems like Christianity. The analogy is to Nazism, and its development, not to that of the Church.

Answer 3

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I think the analogy is closer to talking about cults than about religion. Also, as I recall, members of the club were expressly forbidden from talking about it, not instructed to recruit others. The "cult" grew despite the rules. I always felt the movie was more about masculinity in modern society, but this interpretation is a good one.

Answer 4

Fantastic movie...you have the right to read into it,whatever you will...

Norton was in another film entitled. "American History X"

This is the way that I see it...Norton,(the leader of the White Supremacist's is representative of Atheists and their evil leader (Stacy Keach) plays the part of Satan...who uses his unwitting henchmen to do his bidding against the nice Christians(portrayed as the persecuted black people)

My,we both have overactive imaginations.

Gotta go..."my invisible friend is calling me".

I was speaking tounge in cheek..in an extemporanious analysis...You on the other hand are serious?? Must go with Acid on this one.

Answer 5

I liked the book, and like the film, too. Chuck Palahniuk often has veiled (or blatant) religious commentary in his books. He tends to draw the parallel between God and one's own father, for instance. Certainly, it could be seen as a social allegory, if not a religious one.

Answer 6

Great simile. I'm impressed. I also love the movie but I took it with a smaller grain of salt. Actually, everyones debt erased would be a nice fantasies.

Answer 7

I like your analysis of it! Tis a great film! Detachment is another important aspect of the movie- of beliefs, ideas, security, housing, money... Much like how the original founders of religions of old were I guess..

Answer 8

You just broke the first rule of Fight Club

Answer 9

no that is completely not the point of the movie.