what are we consumers lifestyle
obsession there are a few motion
pictures that becomes zeitgeist films and
fewer that capture contextual worries as
vividly or a satirically as Fight Club
although it comes in as the 11 highest
rated movie of all time on IMDB, the
critical consensus remains split
specifically on how the film portrays is
thematic message of masculinity in
crisis linking this to the rise of mass
media consumption at the turn of the
century specifically the film's titular
Fight Club symbolizes men destroying
their socially champion ideals and
masculinity combating the emasculation
celebrated by consumer culture. So just
how purposeful is Fincher's stylisation?
How important is the medium when
considering the message? And all-in-one,
does Fight Club endorsed clarified
representations of masculine archetypes
negatively impacting possible
constructions of male gender identity
gender identity is a product to the
interplay between social relationships
and is expressed through socially
constructed patterns of behavior
presenting an opportunity to critique
how mass media items can influence
notions of masculinity the narrator is a
subject to view into this world and is
the epitome of the emasculated now who
was model his gender identity of a
consumerist model that happiness equals
possessions catalogs and wonder what
kind of dining set defines me as a
person and over the course of the film
becomes obsessed with achieving an
anarchic toxic sense of hyper
masculinity found in the character of
Tyler as the opposition character tyler
provides the heightened image of what
the narrator grows to idealize he is
outspoken against capitalist culture and
attempts to disillusion members of fire
club from the harmful representations of
masculinity within advertising his
self-identity is taken to the extreme -
to the point of his moral judgment being
almost entirely clouded by his ego
I'm wondering if another woman is really
the answer we named zeglen highlights
how mediated representations of gender
identities within the media can impact
an individual's social identity
more specifically he posits that
supposed guy movies invite male viewers
to synthesize their own positive
qualities with the idealized traits of
on-screen male characters these
unattainable standards of masculinity
distort most perception of themselves
leading to a viewer character
incongruity that affects our aspects of
gender identity are performed through
habitual behaviors now what are we to
make a Fight Club is it ironically
propelling negative images of
masculinity by attempting to dissect
them he identifies 11 character
attributes as positive on-screen traits
of male characters winning emotional
control risk-taking violence dominance
Playboy
self-reliance power of women disdain for
homosexuals pursuit of status and
primary of work now superficially we
could deduce that because Tyler displays
these positive qualities the film is
condoning his actions but Howie's
actions framed for the audience what
does Oakland's model really tell us
apart from the base instinct actions the
characters may according to a donee in
main the forms of objective and symbolic
social reality found in media
advertising helps to shape individual
and collective consciousness the
promotion of attractive physical
masculinity alongside consumers
paradigms of wealth equaling happiness
result in many individuals propelling a
one-dimensional subjective reality based
of false gender expectations this is
what's Oakland's explanation of your
character incongruity is founded upon
the film's thin line between reality
representation underpin with the
demented vision of social reality
propelled by media outlets it's no
mistake that Fight Club portrays mass
corporations as the villain communicated
through the juxtaposition of identical
work cubicles and the narrator's hollow
expression an extreme closer for the
Starbucks logo within this scene
ironically comments on how corporate
business models trapped the narrator in
a loop of exploitation everything that
copying to the copying of the company
this is taken a step further
utilizing postmodern techniques in a
self referential dialog Fincher
recognizes the film's potential to
negatively influence masculinity as a
mass media item and because of this he
breaks the filmic illusion by
intercutting frames of Tyler throughout
the movie in the industry we call them
cigarette burn in doing so the audience
is constantly reminded of the
construction of the medium where being
positioned through sound visuals and the
film's Emilia representation as a result
the film highlights the mental
discernment that must be weaponized when
consuming mass media and idealized
social realities
according to multi film should be
interpreted as withholding hidden
meanings that reflect the concerns the
culture emerges from audience members
must become pensive spectators who
critically interpret content through
images and codes rather than possessive
spectators who appropriately experience
the content at face value in this regard
sonken's framework fails to recognize
the message conveyed within the medium
its
it focuses well she mulch from the
behavior of the characters for their an
understanding of how these babies are
framed the film ultimately portrays the
narrator as projecting both the
paradigms of consumerism and hyper
masculinity suggesting that we must
construct her gender identity using
discernment on the media sources we
consume a minority of male audience
members who adopt a possessive spectator
mindset could potentially become content
dependent misinterpreting the thematic
message that Fincher is trying to convey
and identify with tireless dangerous
gender views however critical male
audience members who are pensive
spectators or have seen the film
numerous times may experience a
stabilization of gender identity wherein
they're recognized Finch's subversive
comment on masculinity and economic
happiness and in doing so they witness a
cognitive change they become enlightened
by the film's message instead of
appropriating content into their own
gender identity additionally some male
audience members could also face
identity reinforcement where individuals
interpret the film's content in
accordance to their ingrained social
beliefs
so in conclusion No Fight Club does not
endorse glorified representations of
masculine archetypes and by extension
possible constructions of male gender
identity are not majorly influenced by
the film's confronting media content
it's important to draw a distinction
between what the film says and what one
of the characters says despite
limitations of media effect studies the
film should reaffirm establishments of
gender identity and paint hyper
masculinity in a threatening light
through David Fincher's visual framing
and social commentary
additionally seconds frame work
seemingly ignores the most crucial
aspect of interpreting film the
filmmaking the symbols codes and framing
the medium is the message and Fincher
presents disturbing behavior in order to
comment on destructive gender roles and
manufactured social realities
