Mark Ramey and Mark Ramey
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906733551
- eISBN:
- 9781800342040
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906733551.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines why David Fincher's Fight Club (1999) is considered a cult film. Fight Club is a cult film because it is subversive, quotable, iconographic, generically challenging, about ...
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This chapter examines why David Fincher's Fight Club (1999) is considered a cult film. Fight Club is a cult film because it is subversive, quotable, iconographic, generically challenging, about marginal characters, complex in terms of its narrative, intertextual, gory and violent; because it transgresses social laws and norms; creates a community of fans and finally, because it was an economic failure on its release. The strong first-person voice of Chuck Palahniuk's source novel is intentionally preserved in Jim Uhl's screen adaptation. The use of a second-person address, which, along with other techniques, breaks the fourth wall, further helps engage the audience in the story of everyman ‘Jack’. The film was mis-sold as a product for the male youth market. Instead, it is a generational film, with particular appeal to the Generation X experience, the generation sired by the ‘baby-boomers’. Indeed, Fight Club's cinematic legacy can be traced back to baby-boomer films. A new generation's quest for meaning and purpose is the unifying factor.Less
This chapter examines why David Fincher's Fight Club (1999) is considered a cult film. Fight Club is a cult film because it is subversive, quotable, iconographic, generically challenging, about marginal characters, complex in terms of its narrative, intertextual, gory and violent; because it transgresses social laws and norms; creates a community of fans and finally, because it was an economic failure on its release. The strong first-person voice of Chuck Palahniuk's source novel is intentionally preserved in Jim Uhl's screen adaptation. The use of a second-person address, which, along with other techniques, breaks the fourth wall, further helps engage the audience in the story of everyman ‘Jack’. The film was mis-sold as a product for the male youth market. Instead, it is a generational film, with particular appeal to the Generation X experience, the generation sired by the ‘baby-boomers’. Indeed, Fight Club's cinematic legacy can be traced back to baby-boomer films. A new generation's quest for meaning and purpose is the unifying factor.
Mark Ramey
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906733551
- eISBN:
- 9781800342040
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906733551.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Fight Club is, on one level, pop-culture phenomena and on another, a deeply philosophical and satirical exploration of modern life. David Fincher's 1999 film (and Chuck Palahniuk's source novel) has ...
More
Fight Club is, on one level, pop-culture phenomena and on another, a deeply philosophical and satirical exploration of modern life. David Fincher's 1999 film (and Chuck Palahniuk's source novel) has had a huge impact on audiences worldwide leading to spoofs, homage, merchandising and numerous Internet fan sites. On initial release the film was met with wide hostility from critics who either failed to appreciate its satirical intent or believed the film failed to deliver on its satirical promise. Early in its DVD afterlife, however, a wider audience began to appreciate the film's significance and radical message. Although attracted by the film's playfulness and star wattage, however, many students struggle with its theoretical notions such as capitalism, materialism, anarchy and so on. This is one film, which therefore merits a thoughtful and provocative analysis but also an accessible one, and this book provides just that.Less
Fight Club is, on one level, pop-culture phenomena and on another, a deeply philosophical and satirical exploration of modern life. David Fincher's 1999 film (and Chuck Palahniuk's source novel) has had a huge impact on audiences worldwide leading to spoofs, homage, merchandising and numerous Internet fan sites. On initial release the film was met with wide hostility from critics who either failed to appreciate its satirical intent or believed the film failed to deliver on its satirical promise. Early in its DVD afterlife, however, a wider audience began to appreciate the film's significance and radical message. Although attracted by the film's playfulness and star wattage, however, many students struggle with its theoretical notions such as capitalism, materialism, anarchy and so on. This is one film, which therefore merits a thoughtful and provocative analysis but also an accessible one, and this book provides just that.
Kathryn Hume
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450013
- eISBN:
- 9780801462870
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450013.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
A frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine ...
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A frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, and Don DeLillo's Underworld seem determined to upset, disgust, or annoy their readers—or to disorient them by shunning traditional plot patterns and character development. This book calls such works “aggressive fiction.” Why would authors risk alienating their readers—and why should readers persevere? Looking beyond the theory-based justifications that critics often provide for such fiction, this book offers a common-sense guide for the average reader who wants to better understand and appreciate books that might otherwise seem difficult to enjoy. The book considers roughly forty works of recent American fiction, including books by William Burroughs, Kathy Acker, Chuck Palahniuk, and Cormac McCarthy. It gathers “attacks” on the reader into categories based on narrative structure and content. Writers of some aggressive fictions may wish to frustrate easy interpretation or criticism. Others may try to induce certain responses in readers. Extreme content deployed as a tactic for distancing and alienating can actually produce a contradictory effect: for readers who learn to relax and go with the flow, the result may well be exhilaration rather than revulsion.Less
A frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, and Don DeLillo's Underworld seem determined to upset, disgust, or annoy their readers—or to disorient them by shunning traditional plot patterns and character development. This book calls such works “aggressive fiction.” Why would authors risk alienating their readers—and why should readers persevere? Looking beyond the theory-based justifications that critics often provide for such fiction, this book offers a common-sense guide for the average reader who wants to better understand and appreciate books that might otherwise seem difficult to enjoy. The book considers roughly forty works of recent American fiction, including books by William Burroughs, Kathy Acker, Chuck Palahniuk, and Cormac McCarthy. It gathers “attacks” on the reader into categories based on narrative structure and content. Writers of some aggressive fictions may wish to frustrate easy interpretation or criticism. Others may try to induce certain responses in readers. Extreme content deployed as a tactic for distancing and alienating can actually produce a contradictory effect: for readers who learn to relax and go with the flow, the result may well be exhilaration rather than revulsion.
