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Not long ago I re-watched Fight Club. Use to really like the movie, but my last viewing kind of soured me on it a bit, or least the Durden character. Why? Because Durden is borderline pedophilic and gross. He splices porn into kids movies and releases bodily fluids into people's food. This is some sick shit. If it wasn't for those two things, he'd be an anti-hero worthy of more respect and/or sympathy.
But is any anti-hero worthy of respect and sympathy? I don't know. Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver maybe. He saved a young girl from prostitution presumably. Was socially awkward and had trouble dealing with rejection, but was usually respectful. Tried to kill a politician though.
EDIT:
I was thinking a more sympathetic anti-hero in this genre might be William Foster in Falling Down. Just about everyone he killed was trying to kill him or harm him. But I'd probably place him on the same tier as Travis Bickle still.
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xena
unfortunately people view his character at face value and dont go into what his character actually is: the embodiment of the masculinity of the narrator including all of the awful things that come with pure masculinity. hes disgusting and raunchy and at the same time awfully charismatic, which naturally attracts younger adults/teenagers to idolize(im not sure that's the right word, but i'll use it) his character.
VIERA_FTS
hes not real tho
but hes still disgusting and vile as he is
by 1S44C!! | 💭🏝️ | not accepting frq's anymore!!; ; Report
i mean i guess
by VIERA_FTS; ; Report
razzia ⚔️
similar to taxi driver, isnt fight club supposed to be a sort of study on masculinity and male loneliness? characters feel disconnected from their peers and turn to shady activity in order to cope. i think it is on purpose that fincher lets durden somewhat appeal to the audience in order to examine consumerist culture and the shallow nature of the attraction. hes the alter ego of the narrator, and he embodies masculinity, violence, and anarchy. what you said about his flaws- these are done to show his toxicity. youre not supposed to admire any of these characters. also, tyler isnt really introduced to be an admirable person, and from the beginning he seems slightly nefarious.
i cant really emphasise enough that tyler isnt really designed to be a good person. an interesting character, yes. but as a person? hes pretty terrible. but i havent watched the film in a very long time, so my interpretation is probably slightly off.
also hes kind of a fascist.. did that not rub you the wrong way????
by razzia ⚔️; ; Report
I was analyzing how Durden could be a more sympathetic and compelling character.
Someone else mentioned he was a fascist, but I don't think he really fits the definition of fascism unless you adopt a very broad definition of it.
by Rezreset; ; Report
༺⛧𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔏𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔰⛧༻
You're already supposed to dislike Durden. Did the fascistic cultist behaviour not cross you bad also? I'm just confused. From my first watch I thought it was clear he was a villain
On scale of 1 to 10 how bad of a villain would you say he is? Is he Palpatine level? Is he like the villain in No Country for Old men? Is he like Hit!er?
by Rezreset; ; Report
Definitely worse than the guy in No Country for Old Men but he's no Palpatine. He's a crazed fascy cultist who wants to destroy the world, certainly he is evil
by ༺⛧𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔏𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔰⛧༻; ; Report
Ah I see. When you say 'fascy' what do you mean?
by Rezreset; ; Report
A shortening of fascist. The structure and aesthetics of the group he forms has many elements of fascist militias like the proud boys and others
by ༺⛧𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔏𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔰⛧༻; ; Report
Hm, curious take. Fascism is a state and corporate dictatorship. That seemed to be something Durden was very opposed to. He seemed to want a post-apocalyptic world without that. There's a scene where he talks about the future he sees. It goes like this: "In the world I see, you're stalking elk through the Grand Canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison in the empty car-pool lane of some abandoned superhighway".
There's also tons of other anti-corporate rhetoric throughout the film.
by Rezreset; ; Report
I moreso mean in the modern crypto-fascist way, rather than a more Hitlarian fascism. The nihilism, nonsensical goals, the decentralism of his cult, the hypermasculine ideals is what I was thinking of when I used the word fascist
by ༺⛧𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔏𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔰⛧༻; ; Report
CHAIN
you're not supposed to like durden. that's the entire point.
Really, that's the entire point of the movie? Ok.
by Rezreset; ; Report
of his character. calm down.
by CHAIN; ; Report
Honestly, you seem to have a very shallow understanding of the movie. No offense.
by Rezreset; ; Report
no, i don't. you are not supposed to like tyler durden as a person. as a character, yes, he's very interesting. but as a person, you're not supposed to look at him and think, "wow, what a good role model. he's a great guy and a good friend". you're supposed to think he's trash. honestly it just seems like you misunderstood me at first so you got snarky and now you don't want to step off.
by CHAIN; ; Report
and if you're basing my entire understanding of the movie as a whole ONLY on what i think about tyler durden... hm... don't know what to say about that except you're reaching. we haven't discussed the movie other than tyler durden's character, and we've hardly even touched on that. i don't think there's any need for you to act like a filmbro about it, lol. typical fight club fan, though.
by CHAIN; ; Report
Eh, there's actually entire online cults and philosophies around praising Durden. He was a charismatic and stylish character, though a psychotic one, with the flaws I mentioned. As such, your statements contradict reality. Not sure how much of a fan I really am. It's a good movie, but I probably wouldn't place in my top 10.
by Rezreset; ; Report
just because weirdo incel bros DO worship him doesn't mean that's the point of his character... i don't know what you're trying to get at with that little factoid. he's charismatic and likable on the surface because that's his contrast with "the narrator", who is reserved and awkward. tyler durden is what "the narrator" wishes he could be, because he's tired of being a pushover. he'd rather be a complete douche than the way he is, but he can't let himself be that, which is why he created durden. also, if it's durden doing all this horrible shit, "the narrator" doesn't (in his mind) have to take responsibility. he KNOWS durden is a dirtbag. he admires and hates him. that's basically the long and short of it. if someone watches the movie and genuinely likes durden as a person, that says something about them.
by CHAIN; ; Report
All of that is in the movie, but there's other themes in the movie as well, like financial ones. There's actually a financial/news site - though I can't remember the name, that uses Durden's likeness in their forum posts. So the idea it's all 'incel bros' is rather disingenuous. I'm guessing you're some kind of extreme leftist type and that's the real motive for your comment here. Were you scorned during Dana Scully's Kirk expose? She has a list with all the screenshot evidence. If you lost your account under a different username, I can look you up.
Other than that, idk. It seems like you might have a cockroach burrowing in your brain
somewhere. Also sensing some slight man-hating lesbian vibes, but I could be
mistaken.
by Rezreset; ; Report
? what are you even talking about, man?
by CHAIN; ; Report
oh! and! while i'm flattered that i give off those vibes, i am actually a man loving, man fucking faggot.
by CHAIN; ; Report
i fw you
by SoTan; ; Report
by Rezreset; ; Report
:)
by CHAIN; ; Report
y'all gonna kiss or what
by kikiDAfreaki; ; Report
*blush*
by CHAIN; ; Report
I like your brain
by ghsr; ; Report