Fight Club & Society

David Fincher’s Fight Club centers on an emasculated and dissatisfied automobile recall specialist whose desire for purpose and meaning in an environment devoid of it causes him to develop Dissociative Identity Disorder. His interactions with and idolization of his other personality, Tyler Durden, drive him into a life of rebellion and austerity, rejecting the ideals of a society that has failed him. He secludes himself within the larger personality, until he realizes the danger of Tyler’s impractical and idealistic rhetoric. The narrator’s Dissociative Identity Disorder serves to personify what the film asserts has been removed from society: a masculine, driven, and independent man. While these traits at first appear to offer an escape and a vehicle for change, soon the narrator realizes the danger of detachment from everything and that, perhaps, some things are worth caring for, ultimately enabling him to eliminate Tyler. The depiction of Dissociative Identity Disorder in Fight Club serves to hyperbolize the effects of a degrading and despairing environment by personifying the extreme urges that arise.  

Tyler Durden, the alter of the unnamed narrator, is the embodiment of what the narrator believes he lacks and what the film asserts has been stripped from society. This is stated explicitly in the film with Tyler telling the narrator, “I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I'm free in all the ways that you are not.” (Fincher 1999). Left unnamed for the entire movie, the narrator’s identity has been replaced by what he consumes, so Tyler emerges to remedy his discontentment. Tyler fills the void that the narrator has. The film does not reveal that Tyler is not a person but an alter of the narrator’s until late in the movie, using his Dissociative Identity Disorder as a plot twist, further showing how the film utilizes it as a plot device. 

Tyler is presented as a personality rather than a real person to assert that a version of Tyler exists within every man whether he realizes it or not. Choosing to put Tyler within the narrator rather than outside of him shows how the film asserts that a Tyler exists within all men while also never existing independently. Tyler’s rhetoric at first seems freeing, but upon closer examination is revealed to be harmful and unsustainable. The narrator sees this after Tyler’s Project Mayhem kills Bob, perhaps the closest thing to a friend the narrator had. Finally free from Tyler’s spell, he slowly separates himself from Tyler while trying to stop his plans of domestic terrorism. Once the narrator sees Tyler’s flaws, however, he is able to regain his own sense of purpose and clarity. However, he still holds on to parts of Tyler’s rhetoric as he still physically fights Tyler and loses. It is not until he sees Marla that he is able to take control and shoot himself in the head, effectively killing Tyler. By seeing Marla, he realizes what he truly needs is not austerity or apathy, but human connection, someone to care about. This ultimate rejection of Tyler’s ideals allows him to get rid of him completely, as he no longer needs Tyler for a sense of purpose. He is fulfilled, or at least regains hope, and so has no need for an identity to find purpose for him. While narrator’s treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder is impractical and unrealistic, the sentiment behind it holds true. Other personalities fill in the gaps of what a person feels they lack, and Tyler exemplified that perfectly. However, as soon as the narrator realizes that he does not need those attributes, he is able to eliminate Tyler completely. This portrayal still obviously strays from treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder, as there is no definitive cure. 

While the film’s portrayal is not entirely inaccurate, it still does not provide a good representation of Dissociative Identity Disorder because of its role in the film. The narrator’s Dissociative Identity Disorder deviates somewhat from the DSM-V’s diagnostic criteria, as he recalls interacting with his alter, but he does still exhibit many of the characteristic symptoms, such as “marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency” as well as “Recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events” as the narrator only knows what Tyler does when he is interacting with him (American Psychiatric Association 292). Dissociative Identity Disorder enables him to take many actions he would normally be unable to do, and some action he even pleads with Tyler not to do. This emergence of uncharacteristic abilities is also prevalent within people with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Within the film, DID serves as a foil for the narrator’s character, as well as a set of ideals that have been removed from society. The narrator is a white collar worker with no purpose and nothing but himself and his IKEA furniture that he believes defines him while Tyler takes what he wants and needs nothing and no one. The narrator believes if he were like Tyler he would be happier and live a more meaningful life. In this way, David Fincher asserts that society has emasculated men, leaving society feminine and materialistic, deviating from the traditional idea of a man who provides and protects. However, it goes on to disprove the notion that men should be this way, with the narrator eventually seeing the flaws in this ideology, realizing that this dissatisfaction and isolation cannot be cured by further detachment, but by human connection. 

Fight Club’s use of Dissociative Identity Disorder serves not to provide an accurate representation, but to create a satire on men in society. Tyler and the narrator are hyperboles of two contrasting feelings among men. This takes away from the depiction of Dissociative Identity Disorder as a satire usually does not care much in the way of factuality or sensibility. Because it is a satire, the film is not looking to provide realistic content, but rather only attempting to comment and mock parts of society. The film has no reason to be accurate to Dissociative Identity Disorder and does not try to do so. While there is some accuracy in the narrator’s symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder, each serves as a way to forward the plot. His amnesia from Tyler taking over explains how Project Mayhem has been able to prosper, and his “distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” that most notably appear in his deranged appearance at his job show how Tyler has radicalized him, leaving him austere and apathetic (American Psychiatric Association 292). 

Fight Club also has no credibility over psychology, with its director, David Fincher, having no higher education, let alone any psychology experience (IMDb). Thus, the film cannot be taken seriously for an accurate depiction of Dissociative Identity Disorder as there is no evidence to suggest there were any professional psychologists consulted. This further serves to prove how Fight Club is not seeking an accurate portrayal, but rather a vehicle in which to present its message. Fight Club also portrays Dissociative Identity Disorder somewhat negatively, as Tyler is destructive and harmful. Tyler is presented as a plague as he enters the narrator’s life and upends it, taking what he wants. This portrayal could negatively effect those with Dissociative Identity Disorder, especially with the film’s widespread popularity. 

Fight Club shows how an extremely bleak environment can foster extremely dangerous choices. Without hope, Tyler makes decisions that would seem extreme to a normal man, but to him seem necessary. His large following indicates that this feeling of despair is not uncommon among men, rather that Tyler unleashes what was already present among many members of society.