Full transcript
0:01Where was the best plot twist in movie
0:03history ? Gone Girl , Planet of the Apes ,
0:06The Usual Suspects , Psycho , or maybe
0:08Shutter Island ? I believe it's Fight
0:11Club , which has such a cool twist that
0:14even after 20 - plus years , no one really
0:16realizes what the twist actually was .
0:20Everyone is so consumed by the
0:21significance of Fight Club that only a
0:23few pay attention to the story itself .
0:26Everyone is so obsessed with
0:28philosophical questions that they don't
0:29even realize Tyler Durden and Marla
0:31Singer are imaginary . And that is just
0:34a part of a much deeper twist . A twist
0:37that turns the whole film upside down .
0:40A twist that everyone missed . And
0:48before we start , I want to address
0:49those who will write " actually " in the
0:51comments , those viewers who will
0:53immediately try to lecture me about the
0:55book or how they want to interpret the
0:57meaning of the film . I understand that
1:00the book was a reaction to the
1:01emasculation of men in Western culture ,
1:03and this theme in the film lies on the
1:05surface . But it also tells a completely
1:07different story than the book . I am
1:11going to show you the little things you
1:13missed to prove that you have been
1:15watching Fight Club wrong this whole
1:17time . Fight Club is about a man who is
1:29struggling to find meaning in the
1:31monotony of his everyday life and who
1:33starts attending support groups for the
1:35terminally ill to let off steam and get
1:37rid of his insomnia . One day , he meets
1:41a charismatic soap salesman who
1:42convinces him to reclaim his
1:44masculinity by rejecting the comforts
1:45and achievements of modern society .
1:49After his apartment mysteriously
1:51explodes , he embarks on a journey of
1:53self-discovery , founding a fight club ,
1:55becoming an urban terrorist , and
1:57encouraging other men to join him and
1:59realize what it means to be a man in
2:01modern society . He almost loses his
2:05sanity and , in the end , discovers that
2:08his best friend and role model , Tyler
2:10Durden , was just a figment of his
2:12imagination and , in fact , never even
2:15existed . It is about a man who has been
2:23diagnosed with testicular cancer . And
2:26in order to come to terms with the idea
2:27of their potential removal , his mind
2:29malfunctions and creates two
2:31conflicting figures : one male and one
2:32female . Tyler is the part of him that
2:35denies reality through
2:37hyper-masculinity . And Marla is the
2:40harbinger trying to bring acceptance of
2:43the impending loss of his testicles and
2:45a subsequent , far less masculine , way
2:47of life . And the twist is not that
2:50Tyler is imaginary . The twist is that
2:52Marla , Bob , the Fight Club , Project
2:54Mayhem , and even the house on Paper
2:57Street exist only in Jack's imagination
2:59. Oh , right , and I'll call him Jack
3:01because I don't want to keep calling
3:03him the Narrator . Even though his real
3:06name is Tyler Durden . Yes , that's right
3:09. Edward Norton's character's real name
3:12is Tyler Durden . Just think , when Ed
3:15Norton discovers that Brad Pitt is
3:17imaginary , we see plane tickets in the
3:19name of Tyler Durden . And you can't
3:22just walk up to the check-in desk with
3:24a ticket in just any name . You need an
3:27ID card to get a boarding pass . Also ,
3:29these tickets were issued to him by his
3:32work . So why would his employer give
3:34him tickets in some random person's
3:36name ? Even if he could pick any name ,
3:39he doesn't have an ID in that name .
3:42Jack's name is never mentioned , and he
3:44is listed everywhere as the narrator ,
3:47because everything happening on screen
3:49is a story told by him , which , and I
3:51will prove it , only happens in his head
3:53. Just remember the first words we hear
3:57from Jack .
3:58People are always asking me if I know
4:01Tyler Durden . 3 minutes .
4:03And suddenly I realized that all of
4:05this — the gun , the bomb , and the
4:07revolution — had something to do with a
4:09girl named Marla Singer .
4:12Both the first and second parts are
4:14lies , because the only person who asks
4:16him about Tyler is Bob , and Marla has
4:18nothing to do with the project . Before
4:22we are officially introduced to Tyler
4:24Durden , we can see single-frame flashes
4:26four times . These are clues that reveal
4:30the moments when Jack is actually
4:32imagining something . The first frame is
4:34at Jack's job , when he is talking about
4:36his insomnia . The second is after
4:38meeting Marla on the way out of a
4:40support group meeting . The third is
4:42right after meeting Bob . And the last
4:45one is in the doctor's office . Another
4:47visual cue indicating that everything
4:49happening is a figment of Jack's
4:51imagination is the slow zoom in on
4:53Jack's face centered in the frame . This
4:57technique is used often , when he
4:59imagines a plane crash , and when he
5:01looks at Tyler in the fight club . The
5:04same zoom occurs when Tyler calls back
5:06the payphone and even when Jack is
5:08talking to the doctor . We first see
5:11Tyler when Jack is talking to the
5:13doctor about his insomnia , and the
5:14doctor refuses to prescribe sleeping
5:16pills , suggesting instead that he go to
5:18a support group for the terminally ill
5:20to see people who are truly suffering .
5:24What's strange about this scene is that
5:25the doctor had no reason to deny him
5:27sleeping pills and suggest he go to a
5:29support group to stop complaining about
5:30insomnia instead . The reason the scene
5:33seems so strange is that , in reality ,
5:35Jack isn't complaining about insomnia .
5:37He is asking for pills to get rid of
5:39his anxiety about cancer . I will return
5:42to this later . In the meantime , Jack
5:44and Marla are one person . And that is
5:46why we see Xanax on her nightstand —
5:48the exact medicine Jack asked the
5:50doctor for . Jack suffers from what is
5:53called dissociative identity disorder ,
5:55or multiple personality disorder . And
5:57he also suffers from schizophrenia ,
5:59anxiety , and depression . But multiple
6:02personality disorder is the root cause
6:04of his hallucinations . Multiple
6:05personality disorder most often occurs
6:07against a background of severe trauma
6:09or prolonged anxiety . And even though
6:12Jack's life is generally garbage ,
6:14nothing in it could cause such trauma .
6:17The only real reason for his madness
6:19that we can assume is cancer . We aren't
6:22told the diagnosis directly , but cancer
6:24comes up too often in the narrative to
6:26mean nothing . And since the whole point
6:30of the movie is to show how Jack
6:32escapes reality , trying to create his
6:34own little world , it's easy to connect
6:36the dots and see what's actually
6:38happening .
6:40Well , a favor for a favor .
6:42There was no breast cancer among the
6:44men in my family .
6:45Yes , if I were to get cancer . Jack will
6:47die . Check out the Methodist church on
6:51a Tuesday evening . Look at the
6:53testicular cancer patients .
6:55This , by the way , explains why both
6:56Marla and Tyler smoke so much . They are
6:59both Jack's alter egos , created by him
7:01to help himself . And they smoke because
7:04he is constantly thinking about cancer .
7:13We see Tyler again right before meeting
7:16Bob , and Bob is just another character
7:18created by Jack to help himself cope .
7:21Notice how no one notices him , as if he
7:23doesn't actually exist at all . Bob is
7:26simply a collection of everything Jack
7:28has seen in his daily life .
7:31Bob used to be a bodybuilding champion .
7:33You know , there's a program that airs
7:36on TV at night . That was his idea . His
7:41old man was a fat guy . There are traces
7:44of burnt fat on the seat .
7:46But the most important proof that Bob
7:48was also invented is his death . Bob was
7:51shot in the head , and the guys from
7:53Project Mayhem brought him to the house
7:55on Paper Street . But how could they
7:57carry his body if they were being
7:59chased , and one of the guys was wounded
8:00in the leg and couldn't even walk
8:02without help ? I will also note that Bob
8:05and Tyler died the same way . Both
8:07people , who existed only in Jack's head
8:09, were killed by gunshots to the head .
8:12Fight clubs in different cities didn't
8:14know about each other's existence , and
8:16Project Mayhem existed only in the city
8:18where Jack lived . So why the hell were
8:21those guys chanting his name ?
8:23His name is Robert Paulson . His name is
8:27Robert Paulson .
8:28How did they even find out about his
8:30death ? And they found out about it
8:32because they also exist only in Jack's
8:34imagination . In this scene , Jack walks
8:36through an absolutely empty bar , and
8:38the next second , the bartender appears
8:40as if by magic . Where did he come from ?
8:42There is no door behind the counter ,
8:43and he wouldn't have been able to move
8:45quickly with a neck injury . This bar is
8:47definitely closed . The lights are off ,
8:50the chairs are up , there are no
8:51customers . Then why the hell is there
8:53so much staff inside ? Again , all the
8:56staff in this scene are just another
8:58hallucination of Jack , who is standing
9:00before an empty counter and chatting
9:02with thin air . Project Mayhem and the
9:06fight club are merely another product
9:08of Jack’s imagination , whose broken
9:10mind is so desperately trying to
9:12survive that he invents it all himself .
9:15And all these guys around are nothing
9:17more than products of Jack’s
9:19subconscious , stamping out more and
9:20more alternate personalities to support
9:22Tyler’s statements . It’s like the
9:25movie Inception , where the subconscious
9:27manifests as a multitude of people
9:29behaving in a way that protects a
9:30person’s mind from the unreality of
9:32what is happening . Just think about it ,
9:35why would this guy stand on the porch
9:36for 3 days , not even knowing how long
9:38the wait would last ? 3 days is a long
9:41enough time , and I don’t think they
9:43were quitting their jobs just to join
9:45Project Mayhem . I can’t say what they
9:49did for a living before , but at that
9:51time they had low-paying , crappy jobs
9:53that you can’t just disappear from
9:55for 3 days . The fact that all the
9:57office workers in the city are members
9:59of fight clubs also makes absolutely no
10:01sense . Even detectives participate in
10:04Project Mayhem , and they have far from
10:06meaningless , routine jobs . Let’s also
10:08remember how the fight club originated .
10:11Jack was fighting with an imaginary
10:12friend in a parking lot . A few guys saw
10:15them and wanted to join in . We see the
10:19fight with Tyler , but the characters
10:21themselves see a guy beating himself up
10:23. So what was it that interested those
10:25guys ? Why did they want to give it a
10:28try ? People see meaning in Tyler and
10:30follow him , but he isn’t real . So who
10:33could Jack himself have inspired and
10:35led ? Tyler is handsome , brutal , a rebel
10:38, and embodies Jack’s idea of how a
10:40real man should look and behave . But
10:43only Jack sees Tyler , which means
10:46people are following him . We all know
10:48that Jack imagines himself as a free
10:50fighter . So why would he invent an army
10:53of fighters to support this fantasy ?
10:55The whole point of creating Tyler is so
10:58Jack can escape from reality . The only
11:01way to elevate his significance is to
11:04invent people who will follow him . We
11:07first see Tyler in a flash-frame when
11:09Jack talks about his insomnia , and
11:10furthermore , the abundance of Starbucks
11:12coffee in this scene is striking . One
11:15might think it’s just subtle product
11:17placement or a visual commentary
11:19mocking consumer society . But in
11:22reality , the coffee is just a clue
11:24indicating that Marla is as unreal as
11:26Tyler . Jack doesn’t drink coffee
11:29himself , but Marla consumes it
11:30constantly and even says it’s one of
11:32the reasons to attend the support group
11:34. God , why do you do this ?
11:37It’s cheaper than a movie . And they
11:39give you coffee .
11:40If we consider coffee a commentary on
11:42consumerism or even just product
11:44placement , why does Marla drink regular
11:46coffee and not Starbucks ? What is the
11:49point of focusing on plain coffee ? She
11:52could easily have come to the support
11:54group meeting with a Starbucks cup , but
11:57she didn't . The significance of the
11:59coffee is to show us that Jack doesn't
12:02have insomnia ; he's just living two
12:04lives . And Marla drinks coffee for him ,
12:06so he can stay up all night . And after
12:09the support groups , he sleeps because
12:11he remains himself after work and isn't
12:13drinking coffee all night long in the
12:15persona of Marla . That's why his
12:17insomnia returns when Marla appears in
12:20his life . Yes , she is imagined , and he
12:23sees her from a third-person
12:24perspective , but in reality , Jack does
12:26everything that Marla does , just like
12:28in the case of Tyler and the fight club
12:31. When we find out that Tyler is
12:33imaginary , we are supposed to think
12:35that Jack actually worked all those
12:36jobs we were told about . But if he
12:40worked from 9 to 5 at his first job ,
12:41picked up odd jobs , and also sold soap ,
12:43he would have clearly noticed the boost
12:45in his bank account , which would have
12:47raised questions and revealed Tyler's
12:49unreality before the movie even began .
12:52So all those jobs are just as fictional
12:55as Tyler himself . We even see a man who
12:57looks like him in a promotional video
12:59for the hotel restaurant where Jack is
13:01staying . He is the one who gave him the
13:03idea for the Durden story . We are
13:06supposed to think that Jack lived at
13:08night as Tyler , but in reality , he
13:09lived at night as Marla . He first tried
13:12on the role of Tyler after meeting him
13:15on a plane . The next time we see a cut
13:18to Tyler is when Jack first tries to
13:20talk to Marla , who , while a product of
13:22Jack's imagination , is different from
13:24Bob and the other guys from the fight
13:26club , because he tries on her role just
13:29like he does with Tyler . We know of
13:32three ways Tyler and Jack interact .
13:35Sometimes Jack imagines him as a guy
13:37he's hanging out with , for example , at
13:39the house on Paper Street . In another
13:41case , he becomes Tyler without knowing
13:43it , like in the sequence of flying
13:45across the country to launch other
13:47fight clubs . And finally , he acts out
13:49Tyler while watching from the outside ,
13:51like in the scene where Tyler talks
13:53about Project Mayhem at the fight club .
13:56He interacts with Marla in the exact
13:58same way . Sometimes he thinks he's
14:00chatting with her , for example , on the
14:02phone or in the kitchen after Marla's
14:04sex scene with Tyler . Sometimes he acts
14:06her out himself without knowing it ,
14:07like in the hotel scene . And sometimes
14:10he becomes her and imagines that he is
14:11watching everything from the outside ,
14:13like at the support group . I anticipate
14:16the comments are already being flooded
14:18with claims that people in the support
14:20group actually react to Marla . But can
14:23we trust that argument , if on the bus
14:24we see a guy literally touch Tyler
14:26while walking past ? We never once see
14:29other people interacting with Marla .
14:31And even when she is in a crowd , no one
14:34addresses her directly . She wanders
14:36here and there like a ghost . She walks
14:38in heavy traffic , steals food from a
14:40van , and no one says a word to her .
14:43Even when she shows up to a men's
14:45support group with a cigarette in her
14:47mouth , nobody says anything to her .
14:49Marla is fictional , and Jack created
14:51her because she reflects his worldview
14:53in anticipation of losing his balls and
14:55his masculinity . Everyone remembers how
14:58Tyler made soap . He used fat stolen
15:00from a liposuction clinic . In the scene
15:02where they steal the fat , Jack and
15:04Tyler hide behind a bin labeled "
15:06infectious human waste . " When Jack
15:08takes Marla away to save her from an
15:10overdose , in the English version he
15:13yells to the paramedics that the woman
15:15living in that room is infectious human
15:17waste . She uses this term because it is
15:20known to Jack and Tyler . What are the
15:23chances that if Marla were a real
15:25person , she would use those exact words
15:27to describe herself ? Given that Jack
15:30and Tyler literally use infectious
15:32human waste to produce soap . Jack ,
15:35Tyler , and Marla are one and the same
15:37person . So , in essence , it is Jack
15:39walking down the hallway talking about
15:41Marla . And that is why Tyler puts on
15:43rubber gloves both when working with
15:45soap and when having sex with Marla .
15:47You all remember when Tyler said : "
15:50Self-improvement is masturbation , but
15:52self-destruction ... "
15:55You might have thought he was
15:56justifying the creation of the fight
15:58club or the destruction in the city ,
15:59but in reality , it is just proof that
16:01Marla is made up . There are several sex
16:04scenes between Tyler and Marla in the
16:06film , and they are always shot in a
16:08strange , slow-motion style . One could
16:11assume that is how Jack remembers what
16:13he did as Tyler , but he remembers
16:15everything else in a perfectly normal
16:17way . What is Jack usually doing during
16:19such scenes ? Reading books or
16:21exercising ? So if self-improvement is
16:24just masturbation , and Marla , Tyler ,
16:26and Jack are one person , then during
16:28the bed scenes , Jack is actually
16:30masturbating . That is why the bed
16:32scenes are shot that way . It is an
16:34interaction between his two alter egos ,
16:36meaning those are scenes of Jack having
16:38sex with himself . Remember that moment
16:41when Jack and Tyler walk out of the bar
16:43and Jack says he needs to find a hotel
16:44room ? Although we see him following
16:47Tyler to Paper Street , he actually went
16:49to a hotel , as no such street exists .
16:53By definition , Paper Street is a street
16:55that is only planned for future
16:56development . It exists only on paper ,
16:59but not in reality . When Jack meets
17:02Tyler on the plane , he is given a
17:04business card for " Paper Street Soap
17:07Company , " a company run by a man living
17:09on Paper Street . But Tyler isn't a real
17:12person and cannot live anywhere . And
17:14that business card only exists in
17:16Jack's imagination . So how could he
17:19have known about Paper Street if he had
17:21never been there before ? The house on
17:23Paper Street is also not a real place ,
17:25but merely Jack's sanctuary . Remember
17:28how at one meeting he was asked to
17:30imagine a safe cave and find his power
17:32animal , and Jack envisioned an ice cave
17:34and a talking penguin . That was his
17:37sanctuary before he invented the house
17:40on Paper Street . It is not a real place
17:42; in fact , Jack lived in the hotel
17:44where he thought Marla was staying . And
17:47yes , it is a hotel , not a rented
17:48apartment . There is a struggle between
17:51Tyler and Marla for Jack's mind . That
17:53is why Tyler tells him that a woman
17:55will not solve his problems . Will
17:58another woman help solve our problems ?
18:02He tries to convince Jack that
18:03hypermasculinity is the best way to
18:05deal with his problems . Marla ,
18:08meanwhile , is gradually invading Jack's
18:10mental sanctuary .
18:11First she insolently forced her way
18:12into my support groups , and now into my
18:14home .
18:14That is why Jack dislikes that Marla
18:17spends so much time on Paper Street .
18:19And that is also why Marla and Tyler
18:21can never be in the same room as Jack
18:22at the same time . He needs a separate
18:25space for each alter ego . And because
18:28they are fighting for his mind , he
18:29cannot interact with them
18:31simultaneously , as they would
18:32immediately expose each other's
18:34fictional nature . If Marla were real ,
18:36Jack could easily act like Tyler until
18:39she left . But she is imaginary , so
18:42their only interaction is sex during
18:45Jack's masturbation ; he doesn't suspect
18:48they are fake and must interact with
18:51them one by one to avoid realizing it .
18:55Doesn't it seem strange to you that
18:57Marla never calls Jack by his name ,
18:58even though we know she thinks his name
19:00is Tyler ? She never once says something
19:03like , " See you , Tyler , " or " Why are you
19:05torturing me , Tyler ? " She doesn't
19:07expose Tyler because Jack's mind
19:09doesn't want him exposed . So he doesn't
19:12notice she never addresses him directly
19:14until he is ready for the truth and
19:16asks her himself . The whole point is
19:19that if you accept even one of these
19:21theories , it automatically means you've
19:23bought into all of them . If Bob isn't
19:26real , then the guys from Project Mayhem
19:27aren't real either , because they
19:29interact constantly . If the house on
19:32Paper Street isn't real , then Bob ,
19:34Project Mayhem , and Marla aren't real
19:36either , because they are always at the
19:38house . Everything is intertwined , so
19:41even a simple detail like the phone at
19:43the Paper Street house indicates that
19:45the house and Marla don't really exist .
19:48When Jack calls Tyler for the first
19:49time , Tyler calls him back on a
19:51payphone that doesn't accept incoming
19:52calls . Now it's clear that no call ever
19:55happened , since Tyler is imaginary . But
19:58the phone that Jack used to call
19:59doesn't exist either . When Jack and
20:01Marla exchange numbers , he writes his
20:03on the back of a business card , and she
20:05writes hers on his hand . But after his
20:07apartment explodes , he finds her number
20:09on a small scrap of paper . I understand
20:12it was '99 , before all these cell
20:14phones , so writing on paper was the
20:15only way to save a number . But the
20:18handwriting looks feminine . And why
20:20would Jack write her number on a
20:21separate little piece of paper ? Besides
20:23, Marla lives in a hotel , not an
20:25apartment . So where would she get a
20:27personal landline number ? Marla is
20:29imaginary . Her phone is imaginary . And
20:31the phone in the house on Paper Street
20:33is also imaginary . Some of you might
20:36think that Jack was already living in
20:38the Paper Street house as Tyler before
20:39they met on the plane . That's why
20:42there's a working phone line in the
20:44house . But I highly doubt the phone
20:46company would run a line into a
20:48condemned house . Fight Club can easily
20:51be considered one of the best films
20:52ever made . And while many people found
20:55this film relevant before , today it is
20:57more relevant than ever . It's not
21:00really about men reclaiming their
21:02masculinity , but about how they lose it
21:04. At the end of the story , Jack is left
21:07without pants , without his symbol of
21:09masculinity . And earlier , we saw Marla
21:12steal jeans from the washer and sell
21:13them before grabbing Jack by the balls ,
21:15demonstrating her power . In that scene ,
21:18she shows how she is stripping him of
21:20his masculinity . And that is exactly
21:22why we see that Jack and Marla in the
21:24final scene are almost identical . Jack
21:28invented Bob , then Marla , then Tyler ,
21:30and then he killed Bob and Tyler to
21:33demonstrate the loss of masculinity ,
21:35choosing to remain with Marla as his
21:37primary personality . Tyler was meant to
21:41be the manifestation of brotherhood ,
21:43masculinity , and rebellion , but he is a
21:45poor example of these traits , since
21:47everything he does looks juvenile and
21:49immature . Tyler is the manifestation of
21:52a man-child throwing tantrums . A man
21:56who refuses to grow up , and instead of
21:58finding a worthy goal , he sweeps the
22:01pieces off the board because he doesn't
22:03like the rules . What is the use of him
22:06peeing into the soup and destroying
22:08private property ? Everything that Tyler
22:11and Jack do is counterproductive and
22:13emotionally immature . Men today have
22:16become immature and counterproductive ,
22:18and all the instincts and habits
22:19developed over hundreds of years have
22:21suddenly vanished . They feel
22:24domesticated and abandoned in modern
22:26society . But masculinity is the ability
22:29to channel frustration into becoming
22:32more productive and not giving in to
22:35one's hedonistic desires . In