Fight Club struck me as the movie to incorporate many themes of every day life that we neglect to discuss without probing. One overarching theme evident in the movie deals with oppression and perpetuity, the primary reasons for the start-up of fight clubs. We can compare this club of fighters to children acting up in search of attention. Those to join the club sought to channel their anger and  discontentment, at having their day-to-day concerns overlooked, as well monotony in every day life, into actions that would attract public interest and attention. Fight club attracted these people because it provided variance from their every day life. They dealt with their problems in a “secret club” and left them there, with their suppressed feelings towards social structure.

Another interpretation for fight club could be that these men merely sought companionship and camaraderie. For instance, Bob appeared to me a symbol of loneliness because he is introduced as a man who has lost everything. His children didn’t care for him; his career was compromised after being diagnosed with testicular cancer; his wife divorced him; and the first person he sought out at the testicular cancer meetings was the protagonist, whose sole reason for attending the meetings was to have his feelings acknowledged. Yet after his death, fight clubs across the US acknowledged him and his name as someone who sacrificed his life for standing up for the lower-class and castaways of society. His death was the protagonists first attempt at acknowledging that the members in fight club were real people, with real stories, that they should all care about. He acknowledged that he had lost one of his true friends.

Yet the loneliness analogy can be translated into lack of love. While I agree that the movie was in ways misogynistic, the protagonist tells us from the very beginning of the movie that none of the chaos would have occurred if it wasn’t for Marla. We see her in many scenes primarily as a symbol of lust in sex scenes, yet she is also the reason that our protagonist comes to realize his psychosis and errors. Marla, as I see it, is the reason our protagonist realizes he wasn’t alone in feeling disregarded by his boss and the rest of the world. She, like him, would attend the illness-related group therapy meetings in anticipation of death and hope of compassion from others without actually being ill. I believe his courage for standing up to his alter-ego, Tyler, was a result of his realizing that Marla was back in town and would not be safe if he did not own up to his makes and acknowledge his problems. Marla, our only female character, was the catalyst for resolution in the story.

With respect to masculinity, it can be argued that it materializes differently with corresponding social status. I think it is safe to say that if masculinity is the male display of power, people of higher status exercise their power through bureaucratic means as opposed to the violent displays of the disregarded and oppressed.  When the protagonist’s boss attempts to fire him, he does not initiate any physical confrontation. Instead, he calls security guards to exercise that power. As for all the members of the club, they embrace their masculinity through acts of violence, such as destroying landmarks, blowing up condos, kidnapping, and fighting.

These are all issues that are relevant in today’s society, and will likely remain relevant for the rest of time. Oppression, loneliness, love, and power are universal topics that most of man-kind can relate to in one way or another. It is part of a journey of self-discovery, but how we choose to deal with these issues are what will set us apart from the events of the movie. After all, they aren’t entirely far-fetched.