You know the rules:
Rule #1 – You don’t talk about getting them wet
Rule #2 – You don’t talk about feeding them after midnight…
Wait. Oh screw it… The guys talk about 1999’s cultural touchstone Fight Club on this week’s Film Seizure!
You know the rules:
Rule #1 – You don’t talk about getting them wet
Rule #2 – You don’t talk about feeding them after midnight…
Wait. Oh screw it… The guys talk about 1999’s cultural touchstone Fight Club on this week’s Film Seizure!
Film Seizure 
Glad you guys still liked it. It’s become fashionable to “see through Fight Club,” which tends to happen to certain movies deemed cool once they hit the 15 year point. I don’t doubt that some people genuinely see a bad message and dislike it, but I also think they are genuinely misreading it. It’s the kind of picture where if you just process it a little, you get the point. If you think about it a lot, you might think it’s subverting itself, but if you deal with it thoroughly, you’ll see that no, that really was the point, and its bases are covered.
“We don’t judge a philosophy by its abuses” applies to themes of a film, public issues, and a whole lot of other etceteras.
LikeLike
Thanks, Dave. Jason knows I can be easily incensed by trying to judge things of a different time by today’s perspective. While, yes, this is a movie that has a lot of elements that may be tough in today’s world, we do need to look at it from the perspective of its time. If we can’t then we can never learn from anything or be able to understand the world around us. In short, yes, I still love this movie. There are things that almost make me cringe but it’s because I hate to think how it might affect those who are a little less firm in their maturity and understanding of the themes of the movie.
LikeLike
We probably agree, though I may be less tolerant of knowable misreads. I side with this view:
“My feeling is that no filmmaker can be responsible for those unwilling or unable to view his film intelligently…”
– Roger Ebert on the documentary Mr. Death
It’s a specific application of “We don’t judge a philosophy by its abuses,” meaning that a movie remains responsible even if it can be misread and misused, so Fight Club is as in the clear despite boneheaded responses as is The Matrix, even though it almost became a new Scientology for some. We’re over-applying our concepts of Social Behindness. Not as many people and productions were nearly as backward as so many today say they were. Maybe it makes the Woke feel more validated, but it sure looks silly sometimes.
“Movies don’t make psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.”
– Billy Loomis, Scream
LikeLiked by 1 person