Fight Club

I watched Fight Club for the first time recently and found a few interesting thoughts on modernity and men.

Modern men are lost because of consumerism, lack of meaningful challenge, and lack of purpose. They have infinite choice: things (gadgets and appliances), food (sugar and 30 minute delivery), and entertainment (social media, video games, and porn). Tyler Durden says, “the things that you own end up owning you.” Men are living lives without a sense of agency.

Fight Club is a journey of the narrator’s desire to overcome nihilism. Nietzsche said “God is dead” in 1882, referring to the decline in the West’s belief in God that would lead to a crisis in meaning. Without faith, children and one’s family gave men meaning. But with the decline or delay in marriage and children, men need to find meaning by themselves, which is hard.

When you are confused about what is real and what matters, it is important to return to the body. Your body is real. The quickest way to realize that, as Fight Club shows, is to fight someone. “After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down. You could deal with anything.”

You need to do painful, challenging things outside your comfort zone that involve your body. Your workout—a grueling run or a hard lift—should be the most physically challenging thing of the day possible. Then everything else gets easier.

Vanity, however, corrodes you. “I felt sorry for guys packed into gyms, trying to look like how Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger said they should.”

“When the fight was over, nothing was solved. But nothing mattered. We all were saved.” When your body is on the line, it puts everything else in perspective.

When you fight someone, you feel closer to him. You have more empathy for him and become better friends.

Fight Club became the reason to cut your hair short or trim your fingernails. A basic sense of order and routine is important.

When you experience physical danger for your life, nothing else matters. Tyler Durden said after threatening to kill Raymond, “Tomorrow will be the best day in Raymond’s life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I ever tasted.” “No fear, no distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide.”