25 Years Later, I Finally Understand Fight Club

[@geekwithabible4477]

I still can’t believe we got Matrix and Fight Club in the same year.

[@CosmicPhilosopher]

1999 was an amazing year for cinema.

[@jonnyvelocity]

Magnolia, American Beauty, Eyes Wide Shut, to name a few.

[@DeutscherPatrick]

@@jonnyvelocitynot to forget Bringing out the Dead

[@timothyvonvictory7105]

​@@jonnyvelocityi was gonna say eyes wide shut too

[@matthewmcleaster]

It was the beginning of the awakening but they are stifling and confusing they truth.

[@areichental]

I had a 5 year fight club loneliness phase. Like Tyler, traveled a ton for work, literally waking up in dfw, leaving and Seattle. Was lonely and depressed af. Quit the job, invested more in friends, and went outside more and into climbing. Also, got a dog. Destruction doesn't solve everything but destroying a life that leaves you empty has possible upside.

[@Cheshirekat.]

this comment is important.

[@SilentStormParadox]

On the flip side you probably made a lot of money and experience from the first job that set you up for a better life after you downshifted. Sometimes we have to put in the time and sacrifice to get to that higher level later. Investing in our future.

[@clarksjoint768]

​@@SilentStormParadox without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing

[@areichental]

@my.names.robb.with.two.bs1 I mean, yeah the experiences business wise were very useful but it was more of learning and experiencing how it feels to chase incentives that don't help. A great condo is amazing Easily the best place on paper I've lived but I had no one to share it with (moved across country for said job). Lost a lot of the money I made on it figuring my shit out which took longer than maybe it should have nut that's just my journey I guess. That said tho, it does male it easier to double down now on a life I like a lot more vs wearing myself I to the ground running all over the world chasing my tail.

[@heavysystemsinc.]

You missed your chance to start a cult, though. Maybe next time.

[@lionheart4424]

Alternative title: Jared breaking the first rule of the fight club for 18 mins straight.

[@MightyPinecone]

And second rule

[@seandalziel7414]

​@@MightyPineconewhat's this fight club you're speaking about, chums?

[@KwesiBradford]

😂

[@drugsmcsnortington]

​@@seandalziel7414nothing officer

[@stylinghead]

The rule was meant be broken over and over again. Think fight club is a joker origin story. How else did he get all those followers?

[@dongeraci8599]

I saw Fight Club 5 times in the theater. I was 21 years old, had a good job, car, apartment and a "bright future". And I was suffering from crippling depression. Within a year I had sold all of my belongings and moved to South America. That was over 20 years ago, I've never looked back and have never been more content. Live life on your own terms, on your own decisions. Good or bad, you're in control. You don't need that new tv.

[@yarsivad000.5]

TV’s are much cheaper than 20 years ago. Just FYI. And just watch KZbin. 🫡😚

[@lionelinx7]

Top 5 places to live down there? I got family from brasil, 25 and wanna go back soon

[@lucywav]

u one of the realest mf alive

[@donny_doyle]

This is the response we all hope to read. #1. It's possible #2. You did it! Hope is alive! PS-We're dropping out to St Thomas in a couple years. ✌🏻✊🏻

[@Pinkfongfan24]

I did the same thing. We should connect. I’d love to hear your story ❤

[@viniciusbaroni3132]

I will understand this video 25 years later

[@TheDoomWizard]

We'll all be dead sry

[@viniciusbaroni3132]

@@TheDoomWizard 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@FictionHubZA]

@@TheDoomWizard Not. Me. I'm built different.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

​@@TheDoomWizard Are you already that old?

[@fgoindarkg]

And you'll realize this dumbass still knows nothing.

[@ocara50000]

you did it, brother, you have achieve philosopher's hair

[@LuisSierra42]

Jared has unlocked a new power up

[@LisaAnn777]

If someone doesn't have crazy hair then they aren't a true philosopher!

[@DJVARAO]

True 😂😂

[@kurtzFPV]

‘All of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone’ -Pascal 'Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.’ - Henri Nouwen

[@ParticleLarry]

Does sleep count?

[@3nertia]

Nah, all of our problems stem from this predatory economic system that we call "capitalism" these days but which has actually existed, unchanged, for at least a couple thousand years now ...

[@Ben_of_Milam_Music]

@@3nertia Right it has to be capitalism's fault. Because otherwise, that would mean we, as humans, are the ones at fault for the societies we live in and fixing it would be the responsibility of every individual making a conscious effort to aim higher and genuinely make a difference in the world. But nah, good thing it's all because of capitalism. I mean, who would want to do anything as difficult and meaningful as finally deciding to start turning things around?

[@3nertia]

@@Ben_of_Milam_Music Thank you for your misunderstanding. Capitalism encourages our worst, most predatory traits - greed, selfishness, and aggression. I can have all the good ideas and good will in the world but I can't do anything about it without *capital* ... idiot I was literally born into this system without a choice and so were you. This is the same predatory system we've had for at least a few millennia now but keep believing whatever your masters tell you! 😉 We've tried many times to change it but the predators in charge won't allow it - that's why the Wikipedia article on Rebellions and Revolutions is so bloody long ...

[@eventhori3on]

Its the rejection of Jesus Christ in our culture and the deification of false prophets! Celebs etc.

[@bob7975]

His job isn't meaningless, however. It's much worse than that. He is actively helping the company he works for cheat and destroy people.

[@JohnSmith-ds7oi]

This video thinks the problem is that individuals are “flawed” and our solutions to problems “suck”. Leftist true believer, thinks corporations are misguided with good intentions.

[@huangpopupcam]

The path to peace starts with observing your own mind.

[@hectorrodriguez9382]

But, where is my mind? (Sorry, I had to do it)

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

@@hectorrodriguez9382waaaay out in the water, see it swimin

[@HahaDamn]

It’s literally the opposite

[@johnnydarko8031]

@@hectorrodriguez9382😂

[@themultiverse5447]

Can I pay you to do my push ups for me?

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

*WITH YO FEET ON THE AIR AND YOUR HEAD ON THE GROOOUND*

[@marvinjones5000]

“Try this trick, spin it…”

[@Callingcascade]

​@@marvinjones5000yeah!

[@knockthebackdoorbeforeleaving]

sing it in your head

[@andrewfr7552]

This particular video feels just like old school wisecrack. Bravo Jared. I needed this.

[@LuisSierra42]

Jared is the true wisecrack

[@nick11crafter]

​@@LuisSierra42Maybe the real wisecrack was the Jared we found along the way

[@mrblack5145]

It's been a minute since I've caught up on Jared's content, but this 100% is the Wisecrack I miss.

[@LagrangePoint0]

I just got recommended this video randomly, I didn't know this was the guy from Wisecrack (which is in fact, a channel I haven't heard about in a long time). I used to watch their content from 2014 to 2017 more or less and then I completely lost interest and didn't watch them ever since. I wonder why he left the company.

[@LuisSierra42]

@@LagrangePoint0 He was burned out, he made a video about it in 2020

[@swartzkopf5695]

"Profound loss is a potent example of wasteful expenditure" I think this just rewired my brain. My happiest moments are always after moments of catastrophe. Where i finally give myself the excuse to just do things for the hell of it. Who'da thunk fightclub would give me the missing piece?

[@mackychloe]

The harder I cry the harder I laugh.

[@magiofthoth]

One must know great darkness to know great light when it arrives. ​@mackychloe Some people walk that edge of doing something to do it, we tend to see them as the dangerous rock climber, or the backyard racecar/dirt bike driver. Whimsymaxxing was how I discovered these air of being. Doing things for no reason. Be that 4 year old exploring the world again.

[@meiketorkelson4437]

American Beauty also had some similar themes of rejecting material collection and corperations. Launched the same year as Fight Club or Office Space. Obviously something in the air that year.

[@drkroman9]

Love that movie. Shame about the Spacey thing

[@RodCornholio]

The Matrix also around that time. My theory is subtle but powerful and the effects are happening to this day. I call it… _The Answer_ : The mid to late 90’s brought the start of the Information Age, with the World Wide Web becoming accessible to more and more. We’ll just call it “the internet” to keep it simple. And what did we do? We searched for answers…to everything. I remember using the search engine hotbot until Google became available. And Google has made a lot of money helping people find an answer. But it isn’t just AN answer we are looking for, it’s THE answer to something. We are looking for something _definite_ , assuring, definitive. But we all get this cognitive dissonant, unsatisfying feeling, that _we still don’t have The Answer_ . There’s millions of results. Thousands of opinions. Dubious sources. Bias. Lies. Deception. Misinformation. Confusion. Distortion. Spin. Conflicting results. Conflicting opinions. For the first time in history, we had both extraordinarily vast amounts of information, and the responsibility for finding the answer lay squarely on the shoulders of us, ultimately…an individual, a non expert in everything. We are overwhelmed and lost. And, for the first time in history, we could reflect on this very unique situation which had never occurred before: _A world without answers_ . At least, not from authorities (who can often be distrusted after digging up a little dirt on them, listed somewhere on the internet) as it had been for thousands of years. Political, religious, educational, media, celebrity etc. leaders no longer had a stranglehold on answers. And you could probably find a counter-answer to whatever they said anyways. So, those movies were _deeply honest_ , viscerally real in their artistic expression. What began as an _open ended_ , nuanced journey, developed into this highly binary, analytic, quest for answers. Everything has “star reviews” or some other rating _metric_ . This all-to-human need for precise, definitive answers has led to the _polarization of politics_ . Just look up Michael Malice and “National Divorce”. Yeah, it’s gotten _real serious_ . High amounts of vitriol. You think you have an answer, but really, you have what an algorithm feeds you. Even AI works that way (LLM type AI). It’s not giving you The Answer. It’s giving you _a predictive result_ based on training data and your input. So, here we are. Close to three decades. Three decades of wading through gazillion terabytes of data and we still have that sinking feeling that there’s something not right. We are still not comfortable with being uncomfortable.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

@@MrTL3wis *Fight Club* was for the Gen Xers. Edward Norton was 30, and I believe Brad Pitt was about 35. I was 29, so this movie _really_ spoke to me. I didn't do anything with the lessons learned (I'm pretty much the guy in the convenience store, but without Brad to put a gun to the back of my head giving me an ultimatum), but I still got the memo. Hell, what I love about *Fight Club* is that there are multiple things going on simultaneously, and it isn't necessarily about split personalities or toxic masculinity. *This is Anti Logic* has a really good video where his theory is that the entire film is taking place in Tyler's head.. which is appropriate, because the movie literally starts inside his head. His point of view is that Tyler is the one with testicular cancer, and that he is going under right before the operation. The movie is him under drugs, being prepped for testicle removal, fearing that his manhood will be diminished if he loses his balls (hence Marla). Those aren't buildings blowing up at the end, those are his testicles being removed, and Tyler making his peace with his fear of becoming a woman/not a man. The dick pic at the end isn't Tyler pranking the audience.. it's "in memory of my manhood".

[@MrTL3wis]

​@@TheRealNormanBates '73 model here, so I was what, 26? I honestly think _FIght Club_ was probably the most significant Gen X movie made. There weren't many which were worth anything. The Pre-Gen X movies describing Gen X got it all wrong. _Less Than Zero_ was a good movie, but it's rich, late Boomers. _Goonies_ is more of a Gen X movie. _Fight Club_, _The Matrix_ and _Office Space_ are probably my Gen X top 3. FWIW, if you're The Convenience Store guy, then I'm The Mechanic.

[@cindyo6298]

My other favorite movie along with Good Will Hunting

[@josephshriner2850]

Fight Club has always been a film that gets shat on for those who would emulate it. No one ever does a serious analysis of why people might want to. Its always dismissed in the same way as huge swaths of the population. Thank you for giving it a more serious analysis.

[@AndrewEdwardBailey]

Surely, someone must have used this movie as a focal point of their thesis for a PhD. People use all sorts of crap that makes Fight Club look Socrates level excellence. I'd like to read one.

[@knockthebackdoorbeforeleaving]

unrelated, but the same with nirvana. most bands have a fanbase that mostly understands it and the people who dont, get shat on. opposite for nirvana, just like in fight club, the majority never understand it, the minority who do, get shat on. that in of in itself is statistics and reality saying the average persons a sack of shit.

[@josephshriner2850]

@knockthebackdoorbeforeleaving I have a generally positive view of people. That said, they can still be ignorant of something they think they aren't. I didn't personally come to appreciate Nirvana until I was in my 30's. What's your take on them?

[@knockthebackdoorbeforeleaving]

@josephshriner2850 too introverted to say

[@user-wo9jj6ii6t]

I wish people would not use "left" and "right." The chaos in every human society always comes from the centralization of power and its subsequent abuse

[@MintyFreshTurds]

Thats a bingo.

[@thesurvivorssanctuary6561]

Nah, it's just evil. Evil is what makes everything shit. It's as simple as Altruism(white) vs SoF Egoism(black) It's just systems of self and societal governance. Evil begets failed societies, as it ALWAYS creates underclasses for the maintenance of an overclass's need to perceive themselves as "superior". It's psychology. The "centralization of power" is a misdirect. Good Kings > Evil Democracies (though the centralization of power makes it easier for evil opportunists to become evil kings needing to be slain). The worst thing about our world is the russian nesting doll of lies and misdirects that keep good people ignorant of evil things. Good is just utilitarian math; evil is just egoistic negging.

[@Cleaner-World]

It comes from those who support the church (the right), and those who support the commoners (the left) in the French parliament during the 18th century.

[@user-tm8jt2py3d]

even during the commentary Norton references reactionary left calling the film fascist. flat circle

[@eventhori3on]

@@Cleaner-World you obviously haven't paid attention to the left then the past century! they don't give a rats about the commoners! never have! nor do he right..! but that has nothing to do with the church! The church isn't left or right.. If you give yourself to God, no matter who you are or were you will be forgiven.

[@MalekElAhsen]

Jared thank you so much for sharing the music you use. today i found a song i wanted to listen to for 7 years. you rock!

[@asciishallreceive3871]

Fight club reminded me of the 1986 movie with Harrison Ford "The Mosquito Coast" where the father of the family is an eccentric anti-capitalist that had many compelling and charismatic ideals and when he dragged his family to the jungles of South America, we wonder if his ideas were wrong all along. It can be jarring to agree with a philosophy only to doubt and eventually be repulsed the people who have shown you that philosophy.

[@ehsanasareh7474]

Hi. I'm from iran, a country which it's people are literaly dying for the same things that the protagonist is trying to get rid of! Productivity, rationality and the most important outcome of capitalism; financial growth and mind numbing stability. I realy love this movie but it amazes me how much diffrent are the people of US vs my people

[@ehsanasareh7474]

@@catholicpog7183 that's what bothers me the most. The fact that we are fighting just to get disapointed and frustrated at a flawed system like you guys is what's most amusing and at the same time most terrifying for me.

[@gregtaylor9806]

I’m an American and I feel exactly the same. I guess the danger of having things too easy . People just lose touch with reality and lose their minds. It’s like they don’t understand, there is no system of economics where you get what you want and never have to work (if you don’t want to). It’s like they think goods and services just fall out of the sky. They don’t understand the thousands of profitable enterprises that sit within the supply chain of all essential goods. Upon which their lives and comfort depend. They haven’t thought through what they are recommending. I really don’t understand how they think the economy will work. As I said, they have entirely lost touch with reality.

[@gregtaylor9806]

@catholicpog7183 it’s really not 😂 There are problems, for sure, but our material condition are SOO superior to basically all times and places in human history. Do you know how silly what you said sounds? Broaden your perspective a bit brother.

[@bisqueybusiness2339]

@@gregtaylor9806 America is far from being a monolith. It's a rich country with some of the poorest people. Worst Gini coefficient in the world. The only real statistical truth beyond America's "advancement" is its economic cruelty. This year it's getting worse faster

[@AKdaJuiceGuy]

I met a couple of Iranian Christians who moved to the US for several years. They wound up moving back where religious persecution of Christians is a very real threat because "this nation is under the spell of a demonic lullaby."

[@Yogsoggeth]

His Name Was Robert Poulson

[@jonnyvelocity]

I am Jack's sense of nostalgia.

[@redpillsatori3020]

R.I.P. Meatloaf

[@PButts008]

Bob had bitch tits

[@mathiasbartl903]

I'll never forget those knockers.

[@360.Tapestry]

i repeat meme because

[@erichaynes5826]

French philosophers will eventually destroy the world

[@thesurvivorssanctuary6561]

Elitism, evil, and class based hubris are destroying the world.

[@valreck2986]

The world is already destroyed. The collapse will bring the vitality back that almost everyone is yearning for.

[@ronin7653]

😂

[@ronin7653]

why did u say that bro ??? 😂😂😂

[@nahuelmat]

Of course it's the French

[@orionstark]

There is an alternative. Cultivationism. The idea that we need to reorient our perceptions of success and prosperity to a bottom up perspective. Encourage people to be more connected to the land and self reliant. Concern ourselves with making better neighbors and worry less about making better things.

[@quintessenceSL]

I think the bigger picture is there is room for many alternatives as we question who and what modernity really serves. It's the omnivorous nature of capitalism (really, any -ism) that leaves no space for social experiments (I mean what is the purpose of serving the machine if not to acquire enough slack to finally be free of the machine). And in the quest for efficiency, we have squandered the proceeds in a most tragic way.

[@SilentStormParadox]

People already do this. Amish, homesteaders, people living off grid or tiny home owners. All it takes is a choice, not a revamping of the entire system. And much of what the above people enjoy from simple living comes from the advancement of tech in the modern world. Such as people using solar panels for off grid living. Or Amish using state if the art health tech to fight cancer and other diseases. It doesn't have to be either/or. It can be both. Figure out where you want to be and make it happen. No excuses except the ones you impose on self.

[@bisqueybusiness2339]

@@catholicpog7183 Well we need a scope question. Are we talking about what any one person can do or Obama?

[@orionstark]

@@SilentStormParadox Fiat currency will not allow for that. Capital will always flow towards those who seek to dehumanize humanity. Until we stop seeing people as consumers and start seeing them as parents and children, then we are doomed. We have to give up the illusion of growth through consumption. Which requires people to learn to save again. Which cannot happen when bureaucrats control the currency supply.

[@SilentStormParadox]

@@orionstark but what I said wasn't a hypothetical. It's literally what people do. I just watched a video on homesteading on Living Big in a Tiny Home channel. There's a whole swath of the internet dedicated to living as you said. But what I pointed out is that many things we enjoy even when we live simple came only from society advancing, and that's a good thing. We don't want an entire world living under the constraints of the 1700s. But it would be awesome for those of us who wish to live it, piggybacking off the modern tech that would make it measurably better.

[@SillyBillyOneHundreadMilly]

This really hits the nail on the head. All the other analysis lacked something and I think this fills it in. I would also add that, more accurately, it is the effects of living in a hyper industrialized society where efficiency is the God. What are big cities if not hyper efficient environments that stifle human spirit for the crime of being wasteful. Cities are essentially big factories where everyone has a hyper defined role that they must preform really well. Consumerism tricks us into thinking that maybe it's worth it. If I can build out my Ikea home and I can have a trophy wife and a nice car then maybe it's worth it. Think about what industrialization, this obsession with efficiency, has done to our society. We are judged on how efficient and productive we are. We aren't just trying to be efficient at work, we are also trying to be efficient with our home life, with our kids. We force them to be in bed by 9, wake up at 6, brush your teeth, eat your breakfast, go to school, get good grades, apply to college, get a good job. Our entire lives have been turned into a monotone conveyor belt.

[@SillyBillyOneHundreadMilly]

@@catholicpog7183 This is not specific to capitalism but to industrial societies. All of these problem existed in Soviet Union and Mao-ist China.

[@freddytackos]

bro I just want a place to live and food to eat

[@holyfool343]

I’ve seen many interpretations of Fight Club over the years, and this one is one of the better (and more succinct) ones. I remember the first few years after it came out, there many times overly zealous fans who took it as a manifesto to live as much like the members of Fight Club or Project Mayhem, missing the forest for the trees. The thing I’ve always loved about Fight Club is its inexhaustible interpretability and its cleverness, especially when it reminds the audience that it’s a movie (single frames of pornography spliced into it at the end and so on).

[@johninakilt]

In many ways, efficiency is good. It means less effort for more gain. The issue is where the gain is spent. Capitalism asks us to sacrifice the gains to it's corporate ends, authoritarian states (fascist or "communist") ask us to sacrifice our gains to the leader/state. I do find many communist ideals appealing, although I'm not aware of them being enacted in reality. Perhaps it's time for an Anarchist approach (not the media brand of chaos but the collective, community of humanity brand)?

[@CanadianEhHole]

> we are also trying to be efficient with our home life, with our kids. We force them to be in bed by 9, wake up at 6, brush your teeth, eat your breakfast, go to school, get good grades, apply to college, get a good job. Our entire lives have been turned into a monotone conveyor belt. Only part of your comment that's wrong. Routine is not the same as pure efficiency. Without routine, you lapse into bad habits and bad behaviors. Take afterschool programs for youth. The program and what's done is irrelevant, the relevant part is they aren't at home or on the streets, easy fodder for recruitment for gangs. As for the sleep cycle, your body and mind are much, much better off with a stable routine that relates to typical day and night. If you do this, you'll find you actually wake up effortlessly, no alarm, no caffeine, and at around 6 AM naturally. This isn't coincidence.

[@RodCornholio]

It’s the Internet (Information Age) that caused these movies to be so on point for the Zeitgeist of the time (and still does). - Loss of societal cohesion: Without widely accepted authoritative sources, it's harder for societies to form consensus on basic facts or shared narratives. - Cognitive overload: The sheer volume of information and choices can be overwhelming, leading some to seek simpler, more definitive answers even if they're less accurate. - Erosion of trust in institutions: As traditional authorities are challenged, it can lead to a general skepticism of all institutions, even credible ones. - Echo chambers and polarization: The ability to choose our information sources can lead to reinforcement of existing beliefs rather than exposure to diverse perspectives. - Difficulty in discerning quality: Without clear arbiters of truth, it can be challenging for individuals to determine the reliability of information.

[@blakepollock8074]

Excellent points, bumping for visibility

[@jarghhill3771]

God, do all these points resonate with me. Especially with the loss of societal cohesion and erosion of trust in institutions, I have my mom spewing out Q'anon propaganda to me from time to time. She gets all of her information from TikTok and Telegram because the mainstream media is not to be trusted lmao.

[@RodCornholio]

@@jarghhill3771 She’s right not to trust mainstream media, but wrong to trust a lot of TikTok creators or Q’Anon. The problem is not knowing how to separate the junk from the diamonds or which creators, if any, to believe. I’ve been on the Internet since the mid 90’s, KZbin since 2007. Seen thousands of videos, subscribed to many channels, etc. I can count on about 5 fingers, the creators who are objective as they can be, thoroughly research, and have integrity to truth.

[@RodCornholio]

​@@jarghhill3771 She’s right not to trust popular media, but wrong to trust a lot of TT creators or Q’…. The problem is not knowing how* to separate the “junk info.” from the “diamond info.” or which creators, if any, to believe. I’ve been on the Internet since the mid 90’s, KZbin since 2007. Seen thousands of videos, subscribed to many channels, etc. I can count on about 5 fingers, the creators who are as unbiased as they can be, who thoroughly research, and who have integrity to truth. * or having the time/resources

[@ArthursAtman]

very good analysis. I watch Fight Club once a year just to re-apprise myself of this angle or interpretation of life...not saying I'm like fully Project Mayhem, but simply wanted to say that I get this "universal problem". After being on hold on the phone with insurance companies for probably a year total of my life, the movie speaks to me

[@ArthursAtman]

also your point about Heraclitus and Parmenides just shot past me, but it is deep and needs to be explored. For instance, modern people don't know what the word 'illusion' means--it's just a deceptive appearance: so when they say "free will is an illusion"; "consciousness is an illusion", they don't actually know what they are saying. The stick does appear bent in the river--this is an illusion--but there is a goddamned stick there bro, however mistaken of it's exact location we happen to be!

[@andygproductions]

How I met Tyler was I went to a nude beach. This was the very end of summer, and I was asleep. Tyler was naked and sweating, gritty with sand, his hair wet and stringy, hanging in his face. Tyler had been around before we met. Tyler was pulling driftwood logs out of the surf and dragging them up the beach. In the wet sand, he’d already planted a half circle of logs so they stood a few inches apart and as tall as his eyes. There were four logs, and when I woke up, I watched Tyler pull a fifth log up the beach. Tyler dug a hole under one end of the log, then lifted the other end until the log slid into the hole and stood there at a slight angle. You wake up at the beach. We were the only people on the beach. With a stick, Tyler drew a straight line in the sand several feet away. Tyler went back to straighten the log by stamping sand around its base. I was the only person watching this. Tyler called over, “Do you know what time it is?” I always wear a watch, “Do you know what time it is?” I asked, where? “Right here,” Tyler said. “Right now.” It was 4:06 P.M. After a while, Tyler sat cross-legged in the shadow of the standing logs. Tyler sat for a few minutes, got up and took a swim, pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, and started to leave. I had to ask. I had to know what Tyler was doing while I was asleep. If I could wake up in a different place, at a different time, could I wake up as a different person? I asked if Tyler was an artist. Tyler shrugged and showed me how the five standing logs were wider at the base. Tyler showed me the line he’d drawn in the sand, and how he’d used the line to gauge the shadow cast by each log. Sometimes, you wake up and have to ask where you are. What Tyler had created was the shadow of a giant hand. Only now the fingers were Nosferatu-long and the thumb was too short, but he said how at exactly four-thirty the hand was perfect. The giant shadow hand was perfect for one minute, and for one perfect minute Tyler had sat in the palm of a perfection he’d created himself. You wake up, and you’re nowhere. One minute was enough Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection. You wake up, and that’s enough

[@TheRealNormanBates]

I'm guessing this is from the book?

[@Corpo_Recruiter]

I was 26 when Fight Club came out. I understand how different generations can interpret works of art differently, but at the time it was about the male loss of gender identity without anything to replace that identity. Gen-X men came of age at a time when we were told the role models presented by our fathers and grandfathers were no longer acceptable. We had no gender framework to replace the one we were raised with. This was especially difficult because almost all segments of society had/have no rite of passage from boyhood into manhood. Women, through their first mensuration, have a defined date in time in their lives they can look back at and say, "That's the day I became a "woman." The parts of the story that are now seen as examples of toxic masculinity are missing the context of the time. We had no way to express ourselves as men; we just knew that what we thought we should do; was no longer correct. The book, like many men of the time, hid these misguided expressions in basements - where they felt safe with expressing their insecurity - away from the eyes of polite society. Trying to secretly cross that invisible and undefined boy/man line. But nothing could answer the questions, "What does it mean to be a man today," and "What do I have to do to be considered a man?" The narrator's answer was to stop trying to be someone he wasn't, embrace a relationship that may not be transient, and listen to his power animal and just "slide." Just let things fall as they may, accept the unknown, and most importantly, just don't worry about trying to bend the future to him.

[@d3ltaohniner261]

Beautifully put, 100% agree with your assessment.

[@ChadVulpes]

I am 27 now, so this in turn speaks to me. Thank you for this context. In a way, I identify with it. It sounds like the abolishment of rigid gender rules lead to a lot of people(especially men) missing a frame to work with, and it's becoming a generational trauma. In a way I suffer from this, too, but I'm recovering on my individual scale. I see that many are not so lucky. Your insight is very valuable to me.

[@ofthenearfuture]

Fight Club was written as a warning, not as a guide...

[@adamdoes4757]

Exactly. I feel like he took 25 years to interpret it through a lens of toxic masculinity.

[@timothyvonvictory7105]

​@@adamdoes4757lol what??

[@draekaderezna]

Tyler is an excellent villain because all of his manipulation and grandeur is hidden under TRUTHS. But, just like the mano grifter sphere- Tyler preys upon the vulnerable to form his resistance. He reminds me of Butcher from The Boys, actually... A bit. Tyler. Not the narrator. They aint the same dude even if same brain cause that's how the DIDs works y'all

[@MintyFreshTurds]

@@ofthenearfuture I disagree, The first half of the movie when the men rediscover their primal purpose in life is the guide, the last half when they become a terrorist organization is the warning.

[@Hurricayne92]

@@MintyFreshTurds The thing is its all connected you cant acheive the the latter without 1st doing the former. Its the same thing as how Scientology starts people off with just a personality test, seems innocent enough until you realise its so they can trap you into a lifetime of servitude.

[@lucristianx]

To live is to suffer. To survive is to give meaning to your suffering.

[@drkroman9]

So true. Every day we are faced with this incalculable problem of how to get along, and we just choose to ignore it and push it off to the future.

[@publicrelations4143]

Somehow I thought the story of the tried assasination would be connected to Taxi Driver, which is also a great movie about the lonliness of modernity. Heidegger in the end was a bit random, his concept of unveiling the truth was so opaque, I didn´t know what to do with it when I read it, and I don´t know what to do with it in this context.

[@nevyn38]

The funniest scene for me is when he's talking to his doctor about his insomnia. The line (along the lines of) "You think you're suffering? Go to a support group. Then you'll see some suffering": Ultimately our protagonist is missing any sort of human connection. He travels a lot. He doesn't like the people he works with. He feels ... disconnected. It's not until he feels the warm embrace of Bob, man breasts in his face, is he able to let go (A fun parody of broken masculinity. Men being men together ultimately doing the least "manly" thing together). If that doctor had gone out for a beer with him, project mayhem probably wouldn't have been a thing. The ending always kind of irritated me. In the book, he finds himself in a psychiatric hospital. His plan hasn't succeeded. But he still finds the occasional person giving him that knowing nod. Enfranchised but ultimately disconnected people still roaming the world. The difference between a movie ending and a book ending....

[@thesurvivorssanctuary6561]

The book is a warning. The movie is a power fantasy.

[@goodmaro]

Didn't you get that the movie ended that way as well? They didn't show him in the psych ward, but you knew that's where it had to have been taking place. The movie is structured like _The Big Mouth_ , which opens with Jerry Lewis on the operating table explaining how he came to be there.

[@FictionHubZA]

Next time on America Ball Z.

[@nickabel8279]

Like Loki said. The secret is majority of ppl want to be ruled but tell themselves they to be kings

[@Tasteslikethecolor9]

This was incredible. Great work. Very well thought out, very interesting perspective.

[@basedbuddha777]

As the norse and germanic people’s say: “Immortality through Mortality.” Life through death.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

or as Bruce Lee put it: "If you want people to remember you, live a life worth remembering."

[@DæmonV86]

Damn good video, my man. Got me thinking about the themes in a different way. Now I'm realizing it's been 15 - 16 years since I've seen it, and longer since I've read the book. Time to revisit!

[@jemborg]

He ended up in a mental hospital in the book. Janitors would talk about freeing him (Tyler).

[@goodmaro]

I assumed approximately the same from the movie, where it's clear by the end that this is all taking place only in his head. The beginning is a shout-out to _The Big Mouth_ with Jerry Lewis on the operating table explaining how he got there.

[@hoosthere]

It's not taking place all in his head@@goodmaro

[@goodmaro]

@@hoosthere Then tell me how you can tell the parts that are taking place in his head from the parts that are not.

[@philippeamon7271]

@@goodmaro "Jack" chooses Marla (dismay/depression apathetic nihilism) over Tyler in the end, and together they watch the outcome of the toxic masculinity brought about by the castration. That doesn't make sense, if he'd been in the psych ward the whole time, making his mind up.

[@goodmaro]

@@philippeamon7271 Why doesn't it? Didn't you sense that, for those who hadn't gotten it yet, the movie makers had ramped up the absurdity by showing a bunch of big buildings in downtown Wilmington coming down in choreographed fashion? Didn't that scream at you, "This is fantasy!"? And that then those who hadn't gotten it up to that point were supposed to look back and try to see where the fantasy began?

[@michaelhawkes6492]

To be fair. Adrenaline and Endorphins is a good pain. Or in the words of a family member who served in one of those big "Great Wars" Tyler mentioned. "You are never more free than when your life depends on the next few seconds. The past doesnt matter, that mistake you made with a girl you liked 8 years ago doesnt matter, the future and grandchildren you might have had with that same girl 40 years from now doesnt matter. The next 3 seconds is all that matters. Its terrifying, and freeing"

[@thomasrose5072]

8:40-wrong, the house pure utility, not its rejection. Utility is the ends to a means. The house is the path of least resistance to the nature of struggle for shelter. The house on paper street is the least energy expended to achieve shelter.

[@d3ltaohniner261]

Bingo, agreed. I lived in a similar way for a time, not by choice, simply for pure utility of the bare minimum of shelter for survival. It wasn't enjoyable, I don't recommend it, and hope I never find myself in such situation again. But at the same time, it's interesting to know what you're capable of surviving when things get bad enough. Adversity breeds resilience.

[@Fever2113]

I absolutely adore this series Jared. Thank you!

[@booker9879]

As much as I love throwing hands..... sometimes they die Sometimes they don't come back I don't want to live with that I've been to war and seen people die To kill with my bare hands...I need a real good reason

[@s0rtaananym]

I love these discussions of modernity and the various proposals for combating its alienating effects. It can be downright bizarre what some intellectuals sugested.

[@assafmatityahu]

Choosing a philosopher named "Bataille" ("Fight" in french) to speak about "Fight Club" is a genius move and a consmic truth :-)

[@Super-xj3ei]

Bagarre = fight in french not Bataille . Bataille = battle in english.

[@assafmatityahu]

@@Super-xj3ei you are 100% right !!!!

[@vincentpresscod7531]

Didn't expect Jeff Lynne to make videos about Fight Club. What a legend.

[@bestintheworld4850]

Sir, the first rule of the Fight Club is that we do not speak about the Fight Club.

[@RoundSparrow]

That's why you make Mr. Robot, nobody speaks of Mr. Robot

[@blamous]

This was great Jared! One of my all time favorite films! Thanks for your work!

[@jareduxr]

The number one rule of fight club is that it’s a comedy. 90% of everyone misses this. The other rule is that it’s not about fighting. It’s not about bro culture. It’s about chaotic anarchy for the sake of freedom from expectations of others.

[@philippeamon7271]

..And testicular cancer. Tyler is "Jack"... but Marla is also "Jack"

[@kimmypfeiffer9130]

the end where he's standing with marla and they look exactly the same to me means he embraced his feminine side ie became a useless beta...

[@philippeamon7271]

@@kimmypfeiffer9130 He was a beta, either way. That's the only reason he got into his existential crisis from testicular cancer. His choice was between being a destructive, degenerate loser beta, who cowardly screams "I'm the alpha! Breed my degenerate worthless bebbies!, bitch", or indeed, make peace with his worthless insignificance, to keep others safe. If you ask me, he made the ONLY masculine choice.

[@knockthebackdoorbeforeleaving]

its a half comedy, its a critique that involves comedy. it is bro culture, it is about fighting. it uses fight club and men fighting for them to find an identity by becoming free and masculine, embracing it instead of living life practically locked into a box and chained up, emotionally and existentially. your point is half correct.

[@justindcook9]

The structure of this video is superb. The joy found at the other end of violence and profound loss is certainly a functional mechanism through which meaning, or at least contentment, can be realized, but the process to get there is impossible to control. I liken this mode of thought to the notions that there are discrete actions we can take to be whole, as if that is an achievable status. Likewise, cooperation and coordination are means of building social relations and systems that allow for violence to exist as a concept in relation to peace. In my mind and immediate reflection on this video it seems that meaning, or contentment, is likely the space of interchange between the violence (chaos) we engage with and the work we do to build peace (rationality). These two sides of the coin are intrinsically linked, but how we interact with each becomes our identity (at the individual and societal level).

[@antoinefdu]

I'm surprised Jared didn't draw any parallels with the Joker movie.

[@drone124]

I think Joker is more closely related to King of Comedy

[@thomaslyons441]

Or Taxi Driver, or Office Space, or Falling Down, or Law Abinding Citizen... frankly you could make a whole playlist of man done with modern society movies...

[@TerrorTerros]

Joker is def a modern take on 'the king of comedy' & 'taxi driver' I think the casting of De Nero acknowledged as much.

[@s0rtaananym]

@thomaslyons441 yeah that's pretty much a whole genre unto itself

[@nastiestNate]

🤡

[@Naxis00]

Insightful take on the movie. Going through the difference in the ending in the book and the movie might connect additional dots there

[@RonaldKragnes]

Funny. I just noticed, that in Fight Club, one thing that The Narrator hates about life is he believes everyone conforms, and are mindless robots going about doing society's wishes. However, he then creates his own society of mindless robots who do his bidding. Ironic, don't you think?

[@MiddlePath007]

No. It starts with people doing what they think they are supposed to do. Then, they are allowed to let out all that bottled frustration, and they let it out one fist after one pint of blood at a time. Then the volume turns down on all those social standards, and they do what they want. If the wanna be members of project mayhem, they are free to leave their jobs behind and join. If they wany to keep their jobs and earn money, they can. If they choose both, then so it is. So in the end, they follow their own rules

[@SlugSage]

Stop talking about Fight Club 😐

[@Polyfusia]

Excellent video. This film and the philosophies within it are very important.

[@derricknelson2591]

Its always a red head or a blonde does anybody else notice that

[@BillBaran]

Wow, you packed a lot in! nice work!

[@OoziHobo]

Jared about to change the way I see one of my favorite movies of all time. Let's do this.

[@freddytackos]

and?

[@denverharrington8768]

Thanks Jared, your work is endlessly on point!

[@cristianguanziroli3648]

his "digital footprint" was erased. twitch , reddit account and more.

[@RealBradMiller]

No it wasn't. Lol

[@Just_some_guy_1]

@@RealBradMiller Baa, says the sheep.

[@BROU-bb2uc]

Plus had 3 off shore accounts.

[@benoitballs1436]

He also graduated top of his class in the Navy Seals, and has been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, with over 300 confirmed kills. He is still alive and is steering hurricanes off course to cause additional chaos.

[@kcsnipes]

Matrix, Office Space and Fight Club are the 3 films that shapes my adult life the most as you added up in the air to this list a film i'd seen but tonight i shall rewatch, thanks!

[@marklar7551]

Okay space monkey, you next assignment is to listen to the soundtrack. Let's get more Chemical Brothers 👽🗿👽🗿👽

[@TravisBeckMusic]

Don’t forget Marla is a split of the narrator’s character as well. She’s the female equivalent to Tyler!

[@jay67937]

I enjoy the movie "Fight Club" but I love all the takes that people have on it. I am proud to say that I don't understand Fight Club.

[@CosmicPhilosopher]

Maybe it's okay to not "understand" it. By understanding it, you strictly define it and thereby diminish it. Sit with it as an enigma and ponder what it makes you think and how it makes you feel.

[@poolhalljunkie9]

That's one thing that's always aggravated me about writers. Every damn story has to have some hidden meaning. Why can't a story just be a story and be taken at face value for once. Not everything has a hidden definition and it's dangerous to think like that.

[@heiker1351]

​@@poolhalljunkie9It is way more dangerous to ignore hidden meanings and underlying motives. They usually punch you in the face. Better safe than sorry.

[@hoosthere]

​@@poolhalljunkie9yeah animal farm is just a story about talking animals

[@silentblackhole]

You just made a connection between some of my favourite films that I never knew existed.. *mind blown*

[@SilentStormParadox]

And now 25 years later I will understand Fight Club. Lay it on me.

[@Barney1051]

Excellent video, and first time I've heard Bataille referenced, excellent stuff

[@BoB-uy5ro]

Mythologically speaking, Erich Neumann suggests that the difference between a hero and all others who succumb to The Great Mother (embodied by a dragon) are those who have deliberate incest with her. Jared taps into this when explaining how the disenchanted men in Fight Club create their own conflict via fight club and thereby derive meaning. There’s something to this. The hero deliberately faces the dragon-in a way is heroically seeking a great conflict, willing to suffer and die. What unfolds in fight club and ultimately in modern society is our inability to target an authentic conflict-our inner dragon. Instead, we project conflict onto external things. Conflict will always exist and is a prerequisite of meaning. The trick is to correctly identify our authentic conflict, for there we’ll find our truest meaning-the treasure not easily attained that the dragon protects. This is why Fight Club’s manufacturing of conflict only offers a temporary fulfillment before devolving into a worse iteration of modernity. And we see this with religions like Christianity that offer a prescribed conflict which can sustain followers but as long as they are members of a church, they can only ever be followers. And as long as they are followers they are susceptible to losing their individuality to a tribe or mass. A true, authentic, and individual conflict sustains one for their whole life. As Camus wrote of Sysiphus’s predicament, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.”

[@BoB-uy5ro]

@@oongloose-moogloose-rl3dm Haha yeah, I wish it were so simple too. 💟

[@AlekseyVitebskiy]

I remember fight club and how to profound it helped for my crazy self. The thing about the movie that really surprised it was when a couple of years later I watched the move with like a generational military family. It's not that they were offended by it, they just didn't understand the premise. Whatever crap you talk about the military, but when it's done right, like it tends to be in USA, it does give you a very strong sense of purpose. For people who have never known this lack of purpose, the movie was just puzzling to them.

[@MajorCatas]

All the members of fight club were just different aspects of the Narrator, not just Tyler Durden, including HBC.

[@Szeptun]

I have similar understanding. "Marla" portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter is his feminie side, maybe even a trans identity he suppressed, but when he gets a testical cancer diagnosis that triggers his dissociative identity disorder to surface his subconscious mind into creating those personas by trying to cope.

[@hoosthere]

​@@Szeptunhe liked Marla she wasn't his imagination and he didn't have cancer You are making stuff up

[@philippeamon7271]

@@hoosthere Self-improvement is masturbation! - every time Tyler and Marla had sex, "Jack" was working out and reading self-help books Paper Street, is what we call it, when a street only exists on a city development plan, but never actually implemented.

[@hoosthere]

@@philippeamon7271 the first time he dreamt about it, and it's still his body he was away pissing on Blarney stone

[@seanoindaugherty308]

I've been waiting all my life for an analysis of this film through a Bataillean lense.

[@the_lotharingian]

The first rule of adult-chunibyo club is you don't read marcus Aurelius.

[@Fuksiia]

Loved your take, and love that movie too

[@MyYouTubeNameisTaken]

Life has gotten more strange than a plot of a Chuck Palahniuk book. Plot twist Hawktooah Girl was actually behind the Trump assassination attempt.

[@butterfliesandtape]

very enlightening, thanks, and subscribed!

[@skyhayward2436]

I think Marla is a third personality, that's why Tyler and Marla are never seen together

That step happens in The Boys.

[@atroposz]

Uh, I must be missing something. You see Marla with Tyler (Pitt) and the Narrator (Norton) all the time. What you dont ever see is the 3 of them together (the one morning she's at the Paper St house, Tyler will leave the room just before she walks in, or he'll be whispering lines to say to The Narrator on the phone with her).

@@atroposz do Marla and Tyler speak to each other?

[@danzadashit]

“I haven’t been fucked like that since grade school.” Running from the cops in the hallway, etc.

[@atroposz]

Well, they talk a few sentences, but I think the point the film is making with Tyler and Marla is he's using her. He's not interested in her a s a person, he doesnt want to interact with her outside of sex. That's why he basically rolls off her & opens the door to ask if The Narrator wants to give her a go. Because, in his eyes, she's not a person, she's a breathing blow-up doll. Not that The Narrator treats her much better, but he's (for most of the movie) actively trying to get rid of her. First because he's jealous of her being in "his" space (the meetings), then jealous of her taking up Tyler's time, then for her own safety because he's afraid of what he'll do to her. So he at least recognizes her as having some little value as a person, albeit one he dislikes and finds annoying.

[@ObviousBooks]

Brilliant analysis! The connection to Bataille is precise. So here's what we must now do: Interview David Fincher, Jim Uhls, Chuck Palahniuk* (et al) and simply ask them if they were influenced by Georges Bataille. If the answer is no then what we have in Fight Club is indeed a universal form, a myth, the story that must find tellers of itself - this excellent video essay being one, despite the deeply annoying Muzak boink-ploink-boinking away in the background. (*Palahniuk references Michel Foucault and Roland Barthes in a 2016 Huffpost interview, so we know that he is reading in certain waters.)

[@MrOtistetrax]

Raymond isn’t freed of anything by his encounter with Tyler. Rather than running off to join vet school, it’s far more likely he locked himself in his basement, shattered by terror.

[@goodmaro]

Right. That's what the joke is: that what the narrator believes is so severely at odds with reality and human nature. Cf. also the digression in _The Maltese Falcon_ about the man who had a sudden shock in his life that unsettled him for a time, and then settled down again but with a break from his past.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

that's another point: you don't see the outcome. He could have gone on to become a veterinarian.. or lock himself in his basement.. to eventually come out and become a veterinarian.... and then hate it, and become a truck driver. You don't know. That is one of the many things I love about the movie is that you bring yourself to the movie, and see what you want to see. You conclude what you want to based upon your own world view.

[@Mrspuma527]

This comment sums up the inanity of modern men and how weak society indoctrinates them to be. It’s almost as bad this content creator claiming Fascism was brought about by the rejection of modernity.

[@robBK]

This movie is about the effects on society that giving women the right to vote and the mass migration into the workforce has had on the average man. They become gatherers, relying on others' work to obtain what they need. This movie would have been much different if he belonged to a competitive sports league after work

[@DouglasZanini]

I remember absolutely loving fight club when I was around 17, and this was because I fit the bill so perfectly - I was young, angry, and only just realizing coming off highshool that I'd never amount to anything great like being a movie star or a sucessful CEO. Tyler spoke to me on so many levels, specially during those shots where he looked at the camera like he was breaking the 4th wall and speaking to me directly. Fast foward 20 years and the whole movie just rubs me wrong. I hate the immature depiction of men and how it generalizes and says thats all we've ever been. Like how it professes that we (men) in our purest form are just misguided sociopaths and that every form of organized society or progress utterly stifled us to the point we ceased to be "men". I specially dislike how it gives off the impression that given the freedom to do anything, first thing men will do is punch each other in the face to feel more "alive". Also how it seems to say that loneliness doesnt affect women at all, like they have everything provided, and that we are the providers. I don't know, I just have this impression that the whole move just comes off conceited and just the kind of things an angry 17 year old would say.

[@sonicpsycho13]

It's very much about a specific type of man. Those who feel alienated and disenfranchised. Tyler Durden is charismatic to a 17 year old boy, but to someone more mature, he just feels pathetic, like someone who's way too into the Roman Empire or Ancient Sparta (and I'm not taking about an actual historian).

[@DouglasZanini]

@@sonicpsycho13 Yeah, I get you. Like we're supposed to "reset civilization" and start a new one with people "raised by wolves" that sort of nonsense.

[@heiker1351]

The beauty of fightclub is that everybody understands it differently. Your opinion changed with age. It will continue to do so, I can promise you that. It ages like whine. Maybe one day you will find out that it is not about what you see today. It is not about men punching each other bloody but what it stands for. Feeling. Feeling pain. Feeling fear. Killing not ourselves but the numbness we inflict on ourselves to not feel the pain and fear this world makes us feel if we would let us feel it. This numbness, the oblivious sleeplessness is what kills us slowly. It is what prevents us from feeling the pain and fear that poisons our lives. We cannot heal if we suppress every feeling. Crying lets him sleep. But he does not know why he is crying. They fight until they bleed, but they don't cry. They don't know why they do it. They destroy stuff until somebody dies. They still don't know why. They still don't cry. The narrator literally kills himself to save himself and Marla, watching the financial world go to hell, and still he does not understand why he was doing all this. Fightclub is no answer. It only asks questions. It is a warning. It is a beacon of hope. It is everything you want it to be. Just like Tyler is everything his creator wants him to be. A fighter, a hero, a cult leader. He does not understand that Tyler is his saviour. He kills Tyler so he can live. He would have killed himself. With insomnia, blowing himself up together with his neat apartment, fighting random people until they beat him to death like it almost happened. He has an obvious death wish. I always ask myself why they casted Brad Pitt as Tyler. They must have known what will happen. Tyler is so charismatic that everybody constantly forgets that he is not real. It is only one person there. But his presence is so strong that even if you know the movie you forget. Try to watch the film while always reminding yourself that there is no Tyler. You will watch a different story. Find different answers. It is a cacophony, of images, messages, signs, words, emotions. But to me it is just a blank screen. Providing you with everything you need to project your own story onto this blank page. Painting your own picture. Finding out who you are, what you feel, what you desire. There is no hero, no leader, no cult. It is all a projection. This film is a mirror, reflecting your own image. The narrator works for a company that murders people in a horrible way. He participates in murder, day in, day out. He witnesses the crimes, he writes the reports. He sees the burned victims. That's what he cannot let himself feel. He cannot even cry. He tries to kill himself, inflicts pain on himself, he destroys the world around him, but he cannot cry. He would never stop if he would let himself know why he is crying. His job made a monster of him. We all do that. We all stopped crying. Feeling the pain. Feeling the fear. We are all numb. We can watch the news without feeling anything. Watch our world die without fear. We all should howl in pain. But we don't. We buy furniture. Watch tv. Beat each other up until we bleed. Burn ourselves with acid. Enduring the pain without a tear. With no hope that this will ever end. We need a Tyler to kick us hard. To wake us up. We are unable to do it ourselves. We need to snap, to go completely nuts to find the courage to stop destroing ourselves. Too afraid to die. Too afraid to cry. Too afraid to turn around and run for our lives. Civilization made us into cowards. 25 years and everybody talks about fightclub and Tyler Durden. Nobody talks about the murderous company the movie starts with. It has nothing to do with all this madness. We are all brainwashed. Heavily.

[@DouglasZanini]

@@heiker1351 All of that construcion is still based on a very specific view of men which has been debunked, we are not "stifled warriors", we're not "providers", we just have the XY chromosome. That's it. Fight Club didnt age like wine to me, it just turned to vinegar. It's just the feverish ramblings of every angry teen age boy ever, commited to screen. It's just everything they ever wanted to say out loud.. And it's based on a very specific view of the world. Society is not inherently good nor bad. It has the potential to be either good or bad, and it does get a lot wrong, but also a lot right. This movie poses problems but offers no solutions. These are complex issues, but the single minded way the movie tackles these problems are the main issue. It just views modern society as inherently bad, and then makes every argument on that premise. It says things are bad now, but in ancient society things were slightely less worse. It says all that on a very specific bias, that is of "men" who think they lost their place in society. It's a conceited view that says that men should have always have a prominet place in society by virtue of being men alone. You an view it as anti captalist, but anti captalism is as old as captalism itself. When captalism was introduced, so was all the criticism. And a lot of it is valid as captalism is very far from perfect. But thanks to it we're as free as we've ever been. And we don't need Tyler to tell us how we should live our lives, every person should find that out for themselves.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

"Also how it seems to say that loneliness doesnt affect women at all, like they have everything provided, and that we are the providers" um.. did you miss the woman with terminal cancer who was so desperate for affection she was openly talking about anal sex? And then the next meeting she was gone? Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening. She was going through her own story just as much as "Jack" was.

[@arduiscane]

This was intensely well thought through and executed.

[@ConservativesAreDummies-gk1hl]

Ya, people just aren't happy growing food and going to the beach. We are just crazy monkeys who can't sit still

[@bisqueybusiness2339]

i would be so happy growing food and going to the beach

[@bolo2393]

You are conflating "happy" with "fulfilled". Happy is a momentary reaction to stimulus, fulfilled is satisfaction with your efforts. If your life depends on you growing your own food, then the struggle of growing your food and succeeding will be fulfilling, and you might have a few happy moments along the way.

[@ConservativesAreDummies-gk1hl]

@@bolo2393 Uh, ok, what ever you say

[@matiasmazzo2938]

Thank you. I haven't seen the HT clip yet. Now I feel better.

[@alexxx4434]

What is WAR but a glorified waste of human lives?

[@ajanaya8055]

🤫

[@MintyFreshTurds]

The elites see it as population control and profit selling weapons.

[@Jstebb97]

Maybe for the loser. Victors write history and shape their truths.

[@MintyFreshTurds]

@@alexxx4434 Elites see it as weapon sales and population control.

[@noneed4me2n7]

Thanks for the deep dive, it got me thinking.

[@Hotshot2k4]

It's funny, I was just thinking about that whole "Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life." thing a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it will be! Or maybe he'll be deeply traumatized, become distrustful of others and feel unsafe in the most mundane of circumstances, always looking over his shoulder in case some psycho will appear and take away his agency again. I've had a stalker ex who accomplished a similar thing while believing she was doing me and the world some favor, so unlike the author, I speak from actual experience. Moreover, if Raymond wavered to such an extent in his goal of becoming a vet, the experience of being one might make his life significantly worse even if it does pay better than retail or customer service. The pay is much worse than being a doctor, but with such a variety of animals, the amount of knowledge and understanding you need to do the job is probably greater. Plus sometimes you'll have people coming in with their pets like "Oh so this is a totally fixable problem but it'll cost $400? Let's just put him down instead." Plus the student debt. Fun times.

[@goodmaro]

Or see the digression Hammet's Spade tells about in _The Maltese Falcon_ about the man who narrowly escaped random death, and his reaction.

[@tacticalmattfoley]

Excellent video.......Fight Club is an important movie for our generation. It over shadowed another good movie "Leaving Las Vegas" which was released a few years prior. In our current disaffected world, we sometimes forget about the "social escalator"......

[@rumpleforeskin9543]

Marla=Anima Tyler= shadow

[@djkori5521]

I always saw the ending as basically a acknowledgement of a hidden truth with the phrase

[@theironsheik6322]

Fight Club was written by a gay guy about a deeply closeted gay guy that develops a split personality due to being in the closet.

[@treborkroy5280]

You sound as ridiculous as the "Matrix is ReALlY a trans allegory."

[@ShantyIrishman]

Yes, thank you, I knew I wasn’t crazy!

[@mbii7667]

Bullshit

[@Arnsteel634]

Sounds like it has elements in common with the philosophy of Robert E Howard

[@NuMetalfan1996]

I relate to Fight Club because I’m exactly like The Narrator, I’m lost, I’m depressed, I’m cynical about this world, and Tyler Durden is who I WANT to be in life. Tyler Durden is society’s perfect man, he’s attractive, he’s assertive, he’s confident, he’s a leader, he’s the Alpha Male, etc etc. All men want to be like Tyler Durden and all women want to be with Tyler Durden. That’s society’s perfect man And that’s what us boys and men have to go through in society, and that’s why we see boys and men suffering with mental health issues like Thomas Crooks, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and Elliot Rodger just to name a few. It’s not that different at all to what girls and women go through as well in society, to want to look beautiful and to be sexy. We as a society have created the perfect Man and Woman and most people can’t live up to that, so depression, anger, jealousy, bitterness all set in us.

[@javm2825]

Please tell me that your post was satire. Tyler Durden is everything that is wrong in masculinity. He is the epitome of what people mean when they talk about toxic masculinity. He creates nothing cares for nothing, is nothing other than an avatar of chaos. “and all women want to be with Tyler Durden.” If you think this then it is clear you don’t know many women, or at least non with any self esteem.

[@taragnor]

I'd hardly call Tyler perfect. Honestly a lot of that sentiment is just because he's played by Brad Pitt. But lets look at it from another point of view. He lives in a slum with dirty water. He's got no money. Sure he's a leader, but he's no one of importance, he's king of the losers. It's not like he's James Bond and hooking up with all kinds of hot girls. He's hooked up with Marla who is basically damaged goods. Aside from looking like Brad Pitt, most people wouldn't want his life. If you look up to Tyler, it really just means you want to be Brad Pitt, not Tyler Durden.

[@NuMetalfan1996]

@@taragnor that’s why Brad Pitt played Tyler Durden though. As the director wanted Tyler Durden to be societies Alpha Male.

[@taragnor]

@@NuMetalfan1996 No argument when it comes to Brad Pitt. I think lots of people want to be Brad Pitt, or Leonardo Di Caprio, Tom Cruise, or any number of other Hollywood actors. Who wouldn't want to be attractive, charming, famous and rich? But look at Tyler as an actual character and not just the actor, his life is pretty much crap and if you ran into a dude like that in real life you'd probably think he was a loser. Maybe somebody you're scared of because you think he's nuts, but I don't think many people are going to look at him and wish they were him. Take away the Hollywood make-up, the dude has been showering with dirty water, probably smells like crap. Would be covered in bruises, have missing teeth and probably a boxer's nose from all the fighting. Dirty worn out clothes, because he doesn't have money and can't afford much. No personal hair stylist and make up artist for Tyler. Most wouldn't see him as some kind of alpha male superhero. Women especially won't be impressed to learn he's broke and lives in a run down slum with dirty water.

[@mundanestuff]

To say that kid had no social media footprint or agenda is misinformation, he had a clear history.

[@orionred2489]

enlighten us. (the democratic PAC donation was another person with the same name)

[@gavensedgwick6516]

​@@orionred2489 that's also misinfo, bud. Look it up

[@davidkeyser1698]

@@jamad-y7m He had an account on Gab.

[@LagrangePoint0]

He even donated to a far left organization.

[@nathannelson794]

I would hardly call ActBlue "far left". They help establishment dems, which is pretty center. He donated 15 bucks when he was 17. When he turned 18, he registered republican.

[@konstantinosntelirabakas7340]

this is really good! you're pretty amazing

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

Tyler isn't the only one; Marla is an alter, too

[@LagrangePoint0]

Really?

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

@@LagrangePoint0 It's a very strong theory. 'Fight Club: the twist that no one noticed', if you're interested.

[@LagrangePoint0]

@@Yarblocosifilitico Thanks, I'll check it out.

[@Formosa1]

I’m still looking for that clever table shaped like a yin-yang.

[@MrLardmonkey]

"Because with modernity like capitalism there is no alternative." --- I find it funny that, Jared can't imagine anything outside of capitalism.🤣

[@cmbaz1140]

Its the best we have...anything else we know ends up destroying society culture and people...

[@Djoarhet001]

@@cmbaz1140 Capitalism isn't exactly great either. And I would say, besides totalitarianism, we haven't really tried much else.

[@Rouqester]

Like what ​@@Djoarhet001

[@azbacnikorange]

It's not, but thanks for contributing nothing to the conversation

[@rosscoe8674]

@@cmbaz1140 Drink less Kool-Aid brother.

[@001101011010]

We are searching for perfection where it’s non existent.

[@arbhall7572]

When you see a man on the street interview. Where they are talking about a local kid snapping. And the guy on the street says "We saw them getting bullied" and they are not trembling in fear, or looking around nervously. Or like here they are smiling? What that actually means is. They are interviewing one of the bullies. You are looking at the reason, that kid snapped.

[@DetectiveTrupo203]

Lmao what are you talking about? Why would they be trembling in fear or looking around nervously? You're doing some heavy projecting here. You don't understand psychology or body language even 1% as much as you think you do.

[@xboneyt485]

​@@DetectiveTrupo203exactly, a very weird response. He was already dead at the time of that interview. What would he be trembling for? His ghost getting ready to haunt him!? 😂

[@heiker1351]

Nobody understands what you are talking about. Nobody sees that. You can't make them. They get confused. They seem to try to understand and you can watch the needle jump. Dissecting details. Trying to recall the timeline. Picking everything apart until there are only scattered pieces left. Avoiding to get what you say. It's your fault that they don't get it. It's the kid's fault that it snapped. Nobody else is to blame. They are all innocent. Only one gun. They did not fire it. End of story.

[@Max25670]

It's not that these interviewees are the bullies. It's just sad reality of how no one cared about this lonely kid for superficial reasons. None of this would have happened if he had friends.

[@heiker1351]

@@Max25670 It is a problem of our culture that we are trained to excuse everything. It does not matter if they are the bullies. Their behaviour, words and body language show beyond doubt that they are very aware of what this kid went through. The knowing looks. The smirks. They still laugh about him, in front of a camera. They feel safe. Maybe they bullied him, too. Maybe they watched and smirked and increased the heat, backing up the side of the bullies. Maybe they just watched, wanting to hide from this cruelty. But from their behaviour I doubt the latter. They think they are alphas. They desperately don't want to be the victim. They very carefully avoid any victim behaviour, becoming allies to the bullies. Flying monkeys. It is this dynamic that leads to kids snapping. If everybody shows you, day in day out, that you are all alone outside of your social group, the pressure mounts. It's frightening. Once it was called detribalization and was practically a sentence to a slow death alone in the wilderness. People need people for all kinds of reasons. This behaviour is very agressive ghosting on a very real level. They show the victim that it is just that and nothing else: a victim. It triggers primal fears. And nowadays a behaviour like that becomes our new normal. There is no school, no company and no comment section without bullies. When I was a kid this was rare where I come from. And it was punished. People did not look away. They lend a hand. There was still competition, but there were always people with enough empathy to at least talk to a victim. Show them at least some respect. If not everybody participates in one role or another, the pressure is way lower. Being treated as a loser is one thing. The role of a victim is another level. Fightclub is a real tribe, they see each other. They have real contact. They respect each other. Until it becomes a cult. Until there is a leader, abusing his power. The story of every effing kingdom, empire, corporation, whatever. Give people power... The ones that want power the most are the ones least suited to have it. That's why they so urgently need it and do everything to get it. We forgot that long ago. My theory is that it is an evolutionary adaptation to overpopulation. Get rid of the weak, throw them out, there is not enough for everyone. Civilization is just a thin facade. We managed to trigger our collective survival instincts. Things are heating up. The fighting for survival has started. And we confuse survival of the fittest with the most ruthless. We are trained to think that. But the ruthless don't build. They don't grow. They make everybody else weak, because in reality they are weak. They always choose the weakest victim and they gang up. Unfair. This whole culture is unfair. We do the same tribes did when there were too many mouths to feed. Get rid of the unwanted. The trouble makers. No need to endure bad behaviour, they can go if they don't want to play by the rules. But today the trouble makers rule the world. The bullies. The cruelest. The ruthless. They make the rules in their favour. They decide who has to go. And everybody is afraid of them. Everybody just watches, praying that he is not the next victim. There is always a next victim. They love playing this game. They feel powerful when they win. They won this game. The victim is gone. The bullies are excused. They did not pull the trigger. They just triggered the victim, again and again. There is no rule against that.

[@IndustriousVermin]

I'm sure we'll learn more about Crooks' motivations sometime after November 5

[@kurtlindner]

Best content on KZbin, hands down.

[@guymaninu]

I was 16 yrs old when Fight Club was released. It was and has been an entertaining historical film documentary with fictional characters, of course. But besides some mild fictions for story purposes- this is a true story and it clearly continues to this day, here and now.

[@DG-oc2uw]

It's not just Tyler. Marla doesn't exist either.

And most if not all of the army.