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Tyler Durden’s Words of Wisdom
Posted on July 13th, 2009 8 comments
Chuck Palahniuk’s book, Fight Club, and the movie adapted from it have developed quite a following since their respective releases in 1996 and 1999. I only recently saw the movie for the first time, but I’m certain I will not be forgetting it anytime soon. The coarse, violent, and gloomy story limits Fight Club’s appeal to the masses, but it’s essential to the message it portrays. At it’s core, I believe it’s a tale about stepping out of our comfort zones of half-conscious existences and superficial pursuits and living for something bigger and more meaningful. Rather than sugar-coating this in a feel-good story, Fight Club acknowledges how difficult, painful, and even frightening this can be.
With that, here are some of my favorite Tyler Durden thoughts from the movie (I’ll try to avoid any spoilers for those of you who haven’t seen it):
1.) “You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f’n khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.”
American consumerism has long had us searching for happiness, identity, and meaning in more money, bigger houses, and more stuff. I highly doubt anyone has succeeded in doing so, yet it remains typically American to try.
2.) “God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”
One of the best scenes from the movie…
3.) “No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide.”
I love the little thought experiment where we ask ourselves if something will matter 5, 15, or even 100 years down the road. In order to do something truly remarkable, we have to let go of trivial matters and focus on where we can actually make a lasting impact.
We have no shortage of convenient distractions to drown out our longing to do amazing things and remain safely within our shell .
4.) “This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”
This could be interpreted as a cynical phrase, but I don’t see it that way. Rather, it reminds us of the finite nature of our existence here on earth. The time is going to pass no matter what you do, whether you’re playing video games, watching TV, working towards more material “success”, or busting your ass to do something worthwhile.
5.) “Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel’s life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted.”
Taken out of context, this doesn’t mean much. If you’ve seen the movie though, you probably remember this scene. While Durden’s method of instigating Mr. Hessel to follow his dreams is a bit over the top, this is in essence what we collectively need. We need someone to get in our face, shake us up a bit, and convince us to quit settling for mediocrity and do something more.
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Fight Club certainly isn’t inspirational in an uplifting kind of way like a cliché-ridden sports movie, but I think it offers a deeper sense of motivation that lingers long after the closing credits are done rolling. If you haven’t seen it, do so.
7 responses to “Tyler Durden’s Words of Wisdom”
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Great article. Fight Club is my favorite movie of all time. All of these quotes are great and there is a lot of truth in Durden’s words.
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shultice July 27th, 2009 at 17:00
Thanks for stopping by JC! I too rank it among my faves, but I get the feeling like there’s still a lot of depth I have yet to discover. I think that gives me an excuse to watch it again soon.
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Despite vanquishing an amalgamation of critical annihilation and commercial neglect after its initial release, “Fight Club” has since established an intrinsic precedence amongst many a spurious aesthete via scuttlebutt indoctrination. Teetering amid the brazenly obdurate and the disgustingly hypocritical, “Fight Club” has inadvertently prognosticated the protean disposition that has come to exemplify the contemporary recusant.
As a leftist-libertarian (aka libertarian-socialist) and anarcho-syndicalist sympathizer I have no problem with the notion of anti-capitalism or anti-consumerism. In fact, it’s the foundation of my entire political philosophy. My disproval of Fight Club however, is in its method of revealing such ideas. They have chosen to reveal their anti-consumerist mindset through laughably tactless dialogue and hypocritical violence, thereby negating their entire message. If this is what it takes for the average American dolt to realize that they’re not their jobs (how profound) then so be it. But please, try and increase you’re conceptualizing of this premise by picking up a book or watching a documentary that has the same qualms, but excludes the insidious violence and blatant misogyny.
If it truly is the anti-consumerist message that you’re drawn to, than I recommend reading the works of Bernard Stiegler, Mikhail Bakunin, Le Duan, Peter Kropotkin, and Noam Chomsky. If you prefer something visual, I suggest the documentaries “The Corporation” and “Surplus”. If it’s the films view on personality and the self that interests you than I suggest the infinitely superior “Persona” from Ingmar Bergman.
If your approval is rooted in none of these things, and it is in fact, the celebration of stylistic filmmaking and bone-crushing violence that turns you on, then by all means, keep watching “Fight Club”.
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shultice August 2nd, 2009 at 14:48
Joe,
I can see how one could label the violence and the mayhem as hypocritical. However, I don’t have a problem with it because the violence is only a medium for the message; it’s not part of the message itself. And of course, Hollywood movies need a medium that will get them a widespread release and put butts in the seats. Palahniuk’s novel (which I admittedly still need to read) provided that medium, even if the movie strayed in ways from the written tale.
I’ll admit that it troubles me somewhat that people (I’m thinking high-school jock types) will watch this movie and not think deep enough to realize this isn’t a movie about fighting. But I hope these viewers are in the slim minority.
However, I do think that the medium used serves a valid purpose in that it attaches pain and negative emotions to the anti-consumerist message. It’s not a sugar-coated tale that causes people to leave feeling inspired, only to forget about it completely in less than a week. The fact that FC receives so much attention on the net (10 years later) illustrates that fact.
I enjoy watching documentaries (Even before you mentioned it, I had ‘The Corporation’ written down to rent sometime), but a top-notch documentary will struggle to receive as many viewers as a typical Hollywood release starring Brad Pitt. Same goes for books. Thoreau may have a clearer, more straightforward message than FC, but how many in the general public even know who he was (let alone have read any of him)? Fight Club offered a new route to question rampant materialism.
As for your sarcastic remark about the “you are not your job” line- yes that is definitely not a profound idea. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t need reiterated though. Nothing in this movie is profound, but the message reached many minds for the very first time.
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Acebone August 13th, 2009 at 18:10
To Joe:
After vanquishing an amalgamation of apparent eloquence and spurious intellectualism on the part of your diatribe, I feel compelled to utter the following non-profound observation:
If you do not talk the language of the people, you’ll never get a dialogue with the people.
I get so cheesed off when intellectuals talk that way in public – coz what’s the point, besides trying to convey that you’re brilliant? The point CANNOT be to get a message across, and if it is – you are doing it wrong. So it is NOT clever, it’s vain or misguided but not clever.
Rant over… Carry on….
I too find that Fight Club is a great flick (haven’t read the book). And it is GREAT at using language (spoken, body-, visual etc…) to convey a message you do not get that often in mainstream film.
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I simply love this story, because it works on so many levels. I find it one the most important pieces in mordern art. It beautifully potraits the split that has occured in the minds of “post” modern consciousness. Torn between order and chaos, male and female values…
People who think that this story has anything to do with violence are blinded by the obvious and neglecting what is to be learned out of fear of getting to know the Tyler we all carry within.
The fact that a pretty boy actor (who does a hell of job) Brad Pitt plays Tyler, takes the irony beyond what I think was initially intended for this movie, making it a master piece.
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@Joe, comparing Fight-Club-the-film to the authors you mention is unfair, since it is adapted from a book that is significantly more clear and uncompromising. not only that, a novel. does chomsky write fiction? in any case, it seems like you’re so hung up about your agenda that you can’t appreciate art that doesn’t fit it perfectly. what about the beatles? miles davis? van gogh? stephen colbert? eddie izzard? banksy?
when i want to read a dissertation, i read a dissertation. when i want to read an essay, i read one. when i want to read a novel, i do so. i watched fight club when i wanted to watch a movie. then i read the book because i wanted to. it’s pretty deep for a story, in my opinion.
you’re entitled to your opinion, but if you’re going to despise something because the people you hate like it, consider how much you ought to hate water, air, the beatles, fairs, ice cream, and puppies.
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JC July 24th, 2009 at 14:39