Fight Club is a polysemic film so not one approach alone could explain the film. I think the crisis of masculinity helps to explain the first third of the film with the self-help groups, and the Freudian approach helps with the second third with fight club. Although both approaches help explain aspects throughout the entire film.
The scene in which the Narrator is at the self-help group for testicular cancer, I believe, offers a great amount of insight into the crisis of masculinity; which was a big deal during this time (1999). This scene is set in a basketball court, a place often associated with masculinity and competition, but in this case it's as if all the men have given up and are in a sports hall talking about their feelings which is a very stereotypical feminine thing to do. Bob from the support group is the epitome of the crisis of masculinity, he had lost his testicles to cancer and due to hormone imbalance he grew breasts. Bob is essentially a woman, the ultimate cry of loss of masculinity. This implies that the crisis of masculinity is a big part of society during the 90s and the time of Fight Club. The irony of this scene only highlights the crisis happening, a group of men in a basketball court without balls, both basketballs and their testicles. They're in a male dominated environment without one of the things that makes them men and instead are crying about their feelings and their family. Also the scene when the Narrator and Tyler have left the bar after the Narrator's condo blew up and he needed a place to stay; Tyler tells him to "cut the foreplay" which also applies to the cris happening with them men during this time because, once again, foreplay is thought of to be a feminine way of beating around the bush to get what they want, thus portraying the Narrator as feminine through his use of 'foreplay' as Tyler puts it. The Narrator is definitely portrayed as the most feminine, other than Bob, especially when it comes to jealousy, towards Angel Face in particular. The scene when Tyler splits the group up shows the Narrator's jealousy really well, he says "I am Jack's inflamed sense of rejection" as Tyler pays more attention to Angel Face than him and his feelings are written on his face. To wear your feelings on your sleeve isn't seen as masculine, so for the Narrator to be so open and obvious about his feelings isn't helping the crisis happening surrounding masculinity. As well as the crisis of masculinity being obvious about the fragility of masculinity, there's the homosexual undertone to the whole film. The concept of fight club seems to be a euphemism for being gay, like in Kenneth Anger's Fireworks the men are all being aggressive towards each other while trying to disguise their sexual orientation. The rules Tyler gives in fight club also hint towards a cover up of sexuality; the rules being not to talk about fight club, like you wouldn't openly talk about a homosexual relationship if you were unsure of your sexuality, only one fight at a time, two to a fight, and to take off shirts, shoes and belts, all point towards a euphemism of sexuality as it all results to shirtless men wrestling each other to the ground. Also when Tyler and the Narrator are walking down the street there is a focus on the male body through the adverts, there is the Gucci advert with the male underwear model on which in any other film would perhaps have been a female underwear model but due to the context of Fight Club and the crisis of masculinity being a running theme throughout the use of a male model highlights the crisis and questioning.
The scene in which the Narrator is at the self-help group for testicular cancer, I believe, offers a great amount of insight into the crisis of masculinity; which was a big deal during this time (1999). This scene is set in a basketball court, a place often associated with masculinity and competition, but in this case it's as if all the men have given up and are in a sports hall talking about their feelings which is a very stereotypical feminine thing to do. Bob from the support group is the epitome of the crisis of masculinity, he had lost his testicles to cancer and due to hormone imbalance he grew breasts. Bob is essentially a woman, the ultimate cry of loss of masculinity. This implies that the crisis of masculinity is a big part of society during the 90s and the time of Fight Club. The irony of this scene only highlights the crisis happening, a group of men in a basketball court without balls, both basketballs and their testicles. They're in a male dominated environment without one of the things that makes them men and instead are crying about their feelings and their family. Also the scene when the Narrator and Tyler have left the bar after the Narrator's condo blew up and he needed a place to stay; Tyler tells him to "cut the foreplay" which also applies to the cris happening with them men during this time because, once again, foreplay is thought of to be a feminine way of beating around the bush to get what they want, thus portraying the Narrator as feminine through his use of 'foreplay' as Tyler puts it. The Narrator is definitely portrayed as the most feminine, other than Bob, especially when it comes to jealousy, towards Angel Face in particular. The scene when Tyler splits the group up shows the Narrator's jealousy really well, he says "I am Jack's inflamed sense of rejection" as Tyler pays more attention to Angel Face than him and his feelings are written on his face. To wear your feelings on your sleeve isn't seen as masculine, so for the Narrator to be so open and obvious about his feelings isn't helping the crisis happening surrounding masculinity. As well as the crisis of masculinity being obvious about the fragility of masculinity, there's the homosexual undertone to the whole film. The concept of fight club seems to be a euphemism for being gay, like in Kenneth Anger's Fireworks the men are all being aggressive towards each other while trying to disguise their sexual orientation. The rules Tyler gives in fight club also hint towards a cover up of sexuality; the rules being not to talk about fight club, like you wouldn't openly talk about a homosexual relationship if you were unsure of your sexuality, only one fight at a time, two to a fight, and to take off shirts, shoes and belts, all point towards a euphemism of sexuality as it all results to shirtless men wrestling each other to the ground. Also when Tyler and the Narrator are walking down the street there is a focus on the male body through the adverts, there is the Gucci advert with the male underwear model on which in any other film would perhaps have been a female underwear model but due to the context of Fight Club and the crisis of masculinity being a running theme throughout the use of a male model highlights the crisis and questioning.
The crisis of masculinity, I believe, helps to explain the events of the film and why the characters, majority of them being male, act the way they do and say the things they say; but the Freudian approach to this film, in my opinion, explains the relationship between the Narrator, Tyler and Marla Singer. The title sequence all happens in the Narrator's head. Which straight away implies just that, the whole film is in his head and that none of it is actually real. This idea relates to the Freudian approach of trying to understand Fight Club, the idea that Freud had involved the human psyche having more than one aspect, that all develop at different stages in our lives. To relate Freud's theory to the characters of fight club Tyler would be the id, who we want to be, Tyler even says "I look like you want to look" which is a blatant sign that Tyler could be a part of the Narrator. A scene that explains the Freudian relationship between the Narrator and Tyler is the scene when the pair leave Lou's bar through the back before Tyler gets the Narrator to punch him. At the start of this scene both characters are stood outside of the bar but in between them is a split in the door putting a clear divide between them, which could represent the split in the Narrator's personality that makes Tyler real. The scene when the guy asks if he could be next to fight while out the back of the bar and the Narrator turns to Tyler for an answer the depth of field changes and Tyler the one who is in focus, this displays who is in control of the situation, so when the Narrator is in focus he is the one in control of the himself and the situation but when Tyler in focus he has taken full control; this usually happens when things get a bit more intense, at points where the id would want to make an appearance making things a little less serious, like during fight club during the rules it's Tyler that is mainly in focus or taking control of the scene because as a whole fight club is a rather childish idea as it is just a place to fight with other people to make them feel secure in their own masculinity and sexuality, so this would be a perfect time for the id to take control. Marla could be a representation of the superego, as she is the one who tries to balance the Narrator and his thoughts about Tyler. When Project Mayhem is about to go down Marla turns up at the house looking for Tyler but the Narrator shouts at her about Tyler not being there and she leaves knowing that as the superego she can no longer balance out the thoughts provoked by the childish behaviour of the id/Tyler. The superego is meant to control the id's childish impulses, so in this theory Marla is meant to control Tyler's impulses, which is why it's Marla and Tyler that have sex rather than Marla and the Narrator as it would be Tyler – as the id - that has the sexual impulses, due to selfish nature of the id and the need of self-satisfaction and being driven by the need of pleasure, which Tyler/id gains from sex with Marla/superego.
To conclude, due to Fight Club being a polysemic film both the crisis of masculinity and the Freudian approach allow a deeper understanding of the film and the happenings of the film. The crisis of masculinity explains why the Narrator went to the self-help groups, why fight club came about, and how fight club helps hide the questioning of sexuality. Yet the Freudian approach towards this film allows a deeper understanding to the relationships between the Narrator, Tyler and Marla and how they all integrate and work with and against each other.
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