It is an American Fight
Mar 20 '00 (Updated Mar 22 '00)
Have you ever noticed the simularities between these two films? Put together by a single word...
As time goes on, words become harder and harder to define. In fact many words have lost their meaning. Some words have been defined, wrongly, others have been used in a new light. One such word is nihilism (to sum up a definition of the word, you are so filled with philosphy and social standards that you begin to reject all forms of it). Nihilism is seen and defined within the context of the two best films of 1999; Fight Club and American Beauty. Because of these acclaimed films, we can see how the concept of a nihilistic approach to everyday life, is highly feasible. A nihilistic approach can be attempted in many facets of life, thus furthermore skewing it's own definition.
Not only do both films deal with nihilistic perceptions, they both strongly resemble one another in structure and order. In director David Fincher's Fight Club, the film begins with a monotone narrative, as dreary as the life that Jack (our protagonist) lives. Jack has been spoon-fed everything the world tells him is necessary to be "happy". He has a high paying job, a well-furnished apartment, nice clothes, and car. Yet Jack is far from happy. The truth is that deep down Jack is dying and there is nothing he alone can do about it. He doesn't sleep, he doesn't eat, in fact Jack is just an empty machine going through the motions. Why should Jack continue to accept everything he has been told his entire life about what he needs to be happy, when it actuality it is killing him.
Not until he meets his own catalyst, a man by the name of Tyler Durden, does he realize what is wrong in his life.
Tyler slowly develops Jack into a nihilist. He secretly controls and contorts his thoughts and his feelings until he rejects everything he has ever been told that is necessary to a successful and happy life. In the case of Jack, his nihilist mind is not rejecting all philosophy, just the accepted beliefs on how to live. He is rejecting pop-culture. "You are not your job. You are not the money in your bank account. You are not the car you drive. You are not how much money is in your wallet. You are not your %#$*@!& khakis. You are the all-singing, all-dancing #$%* of the world." Jack with the guidance of Tyler rejects all these things, and begins his transformation into a nihilist. After meeting Tyler, Jack quits his job, rejects the importance of appearance, realizes his possessions only make him emptier, and does not remorse a moment when his apartment explodes. The numbness he began with has shifted gears. Instead of having no emotions towards the success he has had, or the life he lives, Jack now loathes all of it. His emotional numbness now turns to anger, which can only be funneled within "Fight Club", a secret meeting where confused men became pit fighters. It didn't matter who you were in fight club, it was about men like you who have stopped caring. It is intriguing as to how nihilism brings life to the characters within Fight Club. Jack begins to sleep for the first time in years. He quits his repressing job with a severance that will support him for years. Towards the end Tyler begins taking his nihilistic views on pop-culture a bit too far. This brings a realization to Jack. Although nihilism has opened his eyes to a better life, he realizes without rejecting all views of society there is the possibility of taking your life even farther. Jack sees new hope after living a nihilistic life.
In Sam Mendes' directorial debut (Academy Award favorite), American Beauty is shockingly like Fight Club in structure and it's views towards nihilism. Once again despite what the dictionary may imply about nihilism, it is not someone who has given up hope, instead they have been reborn and wish to conform their own ideas. The protagonist is Lester, a man reaching a midlife crisis in his suburban life. Lester has a gorgeous house, an attractive wife and daughter, and a good job, yet finds although he has already achieved what is expected in life, that it wasn't worth the effort. Despite his efforts his wife cheats, his daughter ignores him, and his business is "downsizing". Once again the narrator and protagonist of this nihilistic film is numb to the emotions in his world.
That is until he meets his specific catalyst towards nihilism.
A friend of his daughter, a girl named Angela. Although a ridiculous amount of years younger, Lester begins obsessing over the young beauty. "I feel like I've been in a coma the past 20 years. And I'm just now waking up!" It opens his eyes to the $%^& that the world has fed to him. He begins to reject what everyone tells him is expected. When asked to fill out a job description so that the company can evaluate his importance, Lester writes; "My job requires mostly masking my contempt for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a day, retiring to the men's room so I can jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn't so closely resemble Hell." Obviously this gets Lester fired, but at the dinner table he laughs in joy as his mother and daughter look on in shock. Due to his new nihilistic look on life the fact that his family is outraged by his lay off, enthralls Lester even more. Not listening to what life expects gives Lester the opportunity to decide what is important to him.
The believability of how powerful a new life nihilism has given Lester is enhanced by the brilliant performance of Kevin Spacey. Lester does a total 180 he becomes motivated to work out, gets a job at a fast food chain, and begins buying pot from his next door neighbor. He lives life to it's fullest and thanks to nihilism he has no regrets. But much like Jack in Fight Club despite his enjoyment, he begins to isolate himself. It isn't until he is given a chance to have the object he has obsessed over, does he realize how ridiculous he has become. He apologizes and smiles the biggest smile he has ever had. Lester has new philosophies and a greater understanding of life. Because nihilism erased out what society expected of him, Lester eventually came to worry only about what he expected out of himself, and his realization came just in time.
Interestingly enough both of these films bring a positive outlook on nihilism. The films deal with lives that have reached their peak too soon, and characters who are given the motivation by different catalyst to do something about it. Nihilism represents hope in these films. What if you weren't happy with the standards set for you, and you had the ability to take the opportunity to ignore them all, until you were able to set your own? Nihilism is a way to think for yourself, and if you stick with it long enough you will find a lot of philosophies already set make sense. And that is where Jack and Lester succeed within the context of their own worlds.
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Member: Justin (The Juice)
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