The Psychology Of Fight Club

Board One(insomnia)

• Side one
• “We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.”
• 9-5 grind, obsession with trendy living
• Side two
• Neither sleep nor wakefulness
• 24 hour fog
• Side three
• Doctor wont provide rx
• Sent to support groups to see others in real pain
• “feeling sorry for yourself plaza”
• Side Four
• Make yourself feel like a victim at prostate cancer support group
• get a great rush
• Cure your insomnia
• Meet Tyler Durden: pull a card
• Marla sees you as a phony, ruins the rush: find a new hobby
• Card: ” Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don’t do one.
  Woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?
  Narrator: You wouldn’t believe.
  Woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?
  Narrator: A major one.”
• Experience Trauma, create imaginary friend, advance to board two
• Go square: “pass go, do it again!”

Board Two(dissociative identity disorder)

• Side one
• Redemption through violence: get a rush
• Who is Tyler Durden?
• New Player Joins: Tyler Durden game piece placed at the same place
• Side two
• Apartment blown up, join Project Mayhem
• What’s your hand? Draw a card
• Card 1: Invisible hand of production. Capitalism moves towards the highest effiency for everyone.
• Card 2: Tyler Durden pours lye on your hand. Experience another trial by fire.
• Side three
• Tyler sleeps with Marla, get jealous.
• What direction are you headed, anyway?
• Card 1:Homogenous capitalism: all experience can be reduced to a price. Everything can be bought and sold.
• Card 2: Heterogeneous Capitalism: Some experiences are incompatible with normal buying and selling. Pick a sacred apple, buy/sell an orange.
• Side four
• Tyler kidnaps Marla, picks fight with you.
• Realize you’re holding the gun and shoot Tyler in the mouth
• Tyler disappears, you are hailed as Tyler
• Watch credit card buildings blow up, holding Marla’s hand
• “The first rule of fight club is: you don’t talk about fight club.”

Cultural Influence

• Gentlemen’s Fight Club
• Was founded in Menlo Park by tech workers in 2000
• Princeton University Fight Club
• Was founded in 2001, but broke the first rule of fight club by talking about it
• Luke Helder
• Planted pipe bombs in mailboxes across the U.S. trying to blow up a smiley face on the map
• 17 y.o. founder of Manhatten fight club
• Jailed for planting a bomb outside of capitalist standard-bearer Starbucks

Sources

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club
2. http://www.academia.edu/193320/Diagnosing_Chuck_Palahniuks_Fight_Club
3. http://videoeta.com/news/287