The cult-classic movie, Fight Club (1999), was nominated for Best Effects-Sound Effects Editing at the 2000 Oscars and won 11 awards from its release in 1999 to 2001. The movie was based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk and adapted for the screen by Jim Uhls. Fight Club was directed by David Fincher, best known for his work on psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, earning him 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. The film's cult following is the main reason behind its high ranking on the IMDb Top 250 Films list, placing it at 11th place (just one above Forrest Gump… really?).
The movie stars Edward Norton as the Narrator (he adopts several aliases while attending the support groups, and we never find out his real name). Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter are supporting characters, Tyler and Marla, respectively. The movie was shot entirely in California on sets built at the studio in Century City. Production designer Alex McDowell constructed more than 70 sets, and the overall production included 300 scenes and 200 locations. Fight Club follows the story of the Narrator, an insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker who form an underground fight club that evolves into much more. The members of Fight Club join in the hopes of reaching peace with themselves and the world around them. How is Fight Club an allegory for enlightenment?
At first glance, viewers may not realize that Fight Club is quite Buddhist. The film is about reaching enlightenment, finding it within, and learning that you cannot know something until you have experienced it yourself. Unlike Buddha, Fight Club believes that the road to enlightenment begins with a punch to the face. The members solve all their problems with violence. Tyler Durden is born from Narrator's lifetime of forced repression of his violent tendencies. The repression comes from society's encouragement that men in power are gentlemanly and civil, while others (waiters, cabbies, mechanics, etc.) desire to be more violent. These feelings the members fight all bubble up until they explode in a steaming pot of blood and bruises.
Fight Club is an allegory for enlightenment in seven different ways. First, the protagonist is never named. Narrator, played by Norton, gives himself fake names: Cornelius, Rupert, Travis, Joe, and Jack. But the audience never knows his real name. We see the events unfold from his perspective, and everything around him is labeled, except for himself and the members of Project Mayhem. It's only at the movie's end does Narrator reveals another fake name of his: Tyler Durden. It's interesting how one of the only named characters in the film turned out to be an illusion. Makes you think if Marla Singer (another character who's named) was an illusion too.
Secondly, insomnia was seen as being in a state of neither awake nor asleep. Narrator's description rings the concept of non-duality. In a sense, if we lose the label of awake or asleep, we are all neither awake nor asleep. In fact, when Narrator is "asleep," he's actually "awake" as Tyler Durden. Thirdly, the most iconic line in the film: "do not talk about Fight Club." Its philosophy is similar to the philosophy of enlightenment in that it is fruitless and unnecessary to pursue others to the path you are on; rather, they will seek out the path on their own when they are ready. Fourth is the chemical burn scene. Tyler kisses Narrator's hand and then sprays chemicals that corrode the skin. Durden teaches him to be aware of himself in the present moment and not run away from it. The truth in the situation was that the pain only grew when Narrator tried to escape to his cave and his power animal. Tyler told him to stay in the moment and embrace the pain, which calms him down.
Fifth is the scene on the road when Tyler and Narrator let go of the wheel. Tyler, Narrator, and two members of Fight Club are in a car provided by another member. Tyler and Narrator get into an argument about Project Mayhem when Tyler decides to teach him a lesson. He drives on the wrong side of the road, threatening to move into a truck to get an answer from Narrator. Finally, Tyler lets go of the wheel. The car crashes into a parked car and falls into a ditch, but they all survive. This is an obvious analogy to give up and stop trying to control your life, letting it run its course and accept the consequences. Sixth, there were never two of them, but only one. The movie's reveal is when Narrator realizes that he and Tyler are the same person. This is parallel to the realization of the illusion of two in spiritual awakening. Narrator was convinced that Tyler was real that he failed to see the hints that he never was, just as how we are convinced of the existence of our own ego, we fail to see that it is an illusion.
Finally, the last line Narrator says to Tyler is, "my eyes are open." The analogy is clear as day. Narrator shoots himself in the mouth, which kills Tyler, his ego. He does this to open his eyes and end the illusion of his ego. Then, Marla gets dragged in, and they watch the bank skyscrapers crashing down, symbolizing his reality. As the reality collapses around them, he holds Marla's hand and watches the world burn and is at peace at last. At first glance, no one would have seen the undertones of Buddhism and enlightenment, but it makes sense. The men in the movie are so lost in themselves after society threw them out that they feel the only way to achieve enlightenment in their position is through acts of violence and domestic terrorism. Personally, I don't see how Fight Club is a better movie than Forrest Gump. But it is a great movie nonetheless.
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