Implications of Disconnection in Fight Club and American Beauty - Essay Example

?Implications of Disconnection in Fight Club and American Beauty ‘Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth’- spoke Pablo Picasso. This opinion truly shows itself most fiercely in the modern era of books and films and ever more intricate plays. With art imitating real life at every opportunity (Bigsby 1999), it is with no small sense of wonder that we revel in the depth of the reality that our modern day authors and directors produce with their books and movies. Within each of these creations lie the underpinnings of the society and culture within which they were created. In short, the artist cannot help but become a product, and therefore produce products of his society. Movies have become an indelible and inescapable part of modern day society. Frequently pointing out hot issues in society, often alongside actual events themselves as Blessing pointed out, movies and films have become the preferred method to experience things typically outside the range of normal reach (Blessing 2005). Watching a film can make anything seem possible. It is through the magic of film that the audience gets to experience emotions outside of their typical realm of comfort. In many cases such an experience can be used to replace a much more time consuming physical search across the face of the globe, or perhaps introduce the student to a way of thought previously unavailable in that certain part of the world. The ability to introduce new drama, emotion and previously unthought-of ideas is still in its infanthood. As movies and film attain new levels of understanding and historical input, the ability for film to enhance many aspects of societies struggle begin to emerge. By bringing out the emotion in a culture and by using film and movies to expose problems or invigorate change in any given circumstance, actors and directors are using facets of philosophy and their engine of delivery to connect into the soul of a nation. In very specific sense they are serving to define the fears, and worries of their generation. In the same manner that an audience can find solace and comfort in film, the reverse can be found in the mind of the unstable (Indick 2004). Emotions can be brought out by movies that evoke primal response is some audiences. Typically with an issue that connects the observer to the trial or pressure that the main actor is involved in, certain people begin to substitute themselves in place of the actor. This process brings the troubles first imagined on the screen into the lives of the unsuspecting watcher. By taking two modern films such as Sam Mendes’s American Beauty and David Finchers Fight Club, the ability to view a segment of society that finds itself in a place of uncertainty and need call out. Taking the time to examine the films, and the meaning hidden within the body of these dramatic interpretations will lead to an understanding of some of the modern problems faced by men in the American Culture today. It is through the medium of film, and the eyes and ears of the players within the movie, that the audience is given the opportunity to experience the dread and pain, and sometime helplessness that pervades these films. After viewing the analysis and comparison between these films and their correlation to the rest of the art world, the conclusion that not only does art imitate life become inescapable, but medium such as books, theatres and movies show themselves to be a necessary vehicle for understanding and experiencing emotions well outside the normal range (Stern 2009). Whether in stories over camp fires, actors on stage, or action on the silver screen the need for humanity to live out their dreams and experience their horrors is a vital, necessary part of society. In each generation, in various forms the storyteller has risen to a position of prominence. The need for the audience to experience something outside of themselves, to do the same things as the characters, disassociate themselves from reality, becomes attainable. Disassociation in Fight Club Fight Club is a classic example of the emotions of humanity needing a form to vent. The boiling point of any one persons emotions can be reached by a series of seemingly small events. The very premise of the movie from beginning to end hinges on the disassociation of the main character from his alter ego. This is a form of mental illness that is common in much of today’s modern culture (Gizzo 2008). The thrust of the plot brings the audience from the point of everyman, through the layers of the grime and dirt that herald a tremendous fall from grace and the resulting circumstances. The ability for the nameless main character to manage his subconscious faces scrutiny as a series of life changing events turn a middle class wage earner, into a brawling back alley baron. It is the transformation from one to the other, held at bay by a mind reluctant to realize the truth, and the basis for the film is a dire comparison based on many facets of commonality that exist in societies the world over. First a novel, written with grace and style, Fight Club resonates well with those that favor the darker genre of filmmaking. While not entirely what one may consider a ‘drama’ many dramatic tools are used to illustrate the stories plot. The original meeting with the narrator s alter ego, Tyler, begins a long examination into the depths of the main characters inner issues. By using Tyler as first a sounding board, and then further developing his persona to incorporate portions of the alters egos personality, the desire, the need to be someone other than who we are, is given to the character, and thus to the audience. It is his escapism that calls out to every person that shows that there is a line in the sand, whether figuratively or physically, that every person can be pushed across. The dramatic tinges given to the role of Marla as the love interest, serves to further exacerbate the questionable mental condition of the main character. By using the alter egos persona to see Marla, his estranged wife, and hide it from himself, his disassociation reaches new and darker levels. The social position of the main characters allows for a much wider range of acceptance as well. Generally in such films, the hero, or antihero are lower educated rougher edged players. With attention to a more moderate and well educated reception, Fight Club, targets the middle class, giving the film itself a place to descend to. The feeling of traveling in the same downward spiral as the narrator is able accomplished with the use of social position. For much of the main stream audience to successfully connect with Fight Club, the need to be present in the lives of every man, not just those already struggling, is overriding. Indeed, in some cases, the need to lash out at fellow man can be attributed back to a sense of disillusionment and malaise with the position attained in the work or social hierarchy. This film allows for the dream of absolute unplugging from consequences, while at the same time using the characters own hands to accomplish his goals. The special mix of actually doing an act of violence, yet not being responsible for those acts is particularly well thought out and ably demonstrated. As in real life, it takes radical action to accomplish radical goals. The narrators inner desire to cripple the financial system, coupled with the alter egos, Tylers, desire to wreak havoc in general, created a mix that allowed the narrator the freedom to live out his dreams (Pate 2009). While in the end, judging the process to be beyond his scope, it takes an example of self-immolation to free himself from Tyler. It is the process of death and rebirth, of accomplishment and new beginnings all mix together. By the narrator surviving after the alter ego has been vanquished is a form of victory. It shows hope in that confronting ones inner demons can bring together what a society has smashed into pieces, the narrators true self. Overall, the need to escape, to become someone else is realized in this story. It is the sense of need of desperation that continues to drive the plot, and it is the violence, so very much like real life, that adds the realism, the true grit and grime to the production. Society needs experiences such as this to help them to realize the potential consequences of actions ill thought out (Bigsby 2000). In some very real sense, this film helps to release the antagonism of the average worker by letting them know that there are others out there that feel the same way, and while it is not always possible for the general public to act, there is a stage upon which the dreams of a culture can find root. For this, films are vital. Disassociation in American Beauty As all very good movies seem to be first written in book form, Sam Mendes’s American Beauty stays true to this opinion. His story begins with a character in a middle class life that finding himself unfulfilled, finds solace in the lives and activities of those around him. As is typical in middle class suburbia the lifelong struggle typically surrounded by a cubicle in a dingy gray office environment is the end place for many workers. It is the constant agonizing struggle to break free from the social ‘prison’ that many dream of. Although, in many senses a fine life, the sheer ennui, lack of excitement or change in a life can bring fantasies of change and difference. While bleak in its overall assessment, American Beauty, serves to shove into the forefront of the collective conscious, various, sensitive and potentially life altering personal choices. The film takes on homosexuality, ageism, infidelity and an entire range of dramatic theater. American Beauty is stark in its portrayal of the environment that the main character, Lester, finds himself bound in. It was with the clever use of stark black and white contrast in the office space that the ideal soul draining experience is brought to life on the silver screen. It is through recurring themes such as the red petals that the vibrant contrasts between Lesters dream world disassociates itself from Lesters normal waking hours. The director’s cunning use of color and background brings depth and subconscious recognition that the environment described could very well be any one of a dozen offices in almost any major city in the civilized world. The plot line clearly speaks to most middle class office workers in that the dread realities that everyone fear are brought directly into the path of Lester. Between the real and the imagined sexual innuendo’s the use of potential but misconstrued content substantially adds to the dramatic effect of his pursuit of the younger girl. In finding his desires first thwarted by his wife, than the specter of a homoerotic connection between himself and his neighbor brings out the real profound fear that many ‘normal’ people feel is merely lurking around the corner. By experiencing the depths to which Lester sinks emotionally, the need to become such a person is alleviated (Natoli 2007). Knowing the consequences of the story will affect the outcome. The sexual overtones provide the steady drumbeat that forces the entire cast of characters to confront ugly, unpleasant truths. Stereotypes are first imagined, shattered then built again to be bludgeoned in another way. This is exactly what can happen in society. The example showing the truly horrendous actions generated by such misdirected desires can corrupt and deform an entire family. Lester becomes disconnected from himself as he finds his desires, his fantasies overcoming his waking world. It is this uncertainty that drives him to believe that Ricky is gay, and fearing the worst, and succumbing to that fear, drives him off. The fear and recrimination demonstrated on the screen is a stark reflection of many segments of society today. A person at one moment can proclaim themselves the absolute most righteous and true blue person, and turn around wrongly condemn another for the simple, and wrong, perception that their sexual orientation is wrong. It is this disconnection that allows so very many in society to approach these issues and not be labeled a hypocrite. The ability to affect two separate manners of thought can be demonstrated in churches, city halls and any number of meeting places around the world. Perhaps the most telling, and most interesting twist is the suicide of Lester. No longer judging himself able to cope with the world that he had created for himself, Lester, choose to take his life. This is path people imagine for themselves every day. Seeing the results of such a choice, even though the narration goes on to proclaim that he is comfortable with his death, is a proactive reminder as to the serious and profoundly harsh actions can become. There is no more permanent solution than that of death. Dark, bleak, gray and yet vital in the telling American Beauty illustrates the American Dream gone awry. Achieved and become stagnant the dream is tainted and the future is not what it first seemed (Bueka 2004). Only by escaping into the dreams and arms of others were the characters able to find any relief at all. This dreary scape is necessary in that the audience needs to experience the dark to get to the light. By realizing the darkness that can reside within the breast of our nearest neighbor, the audience begins to get a sense that the world around them is not quite as safe and solid as it may seem. Conclusion The films American Beauty and Fight Club are telling monuments to the society that has been built in modern times. Fraught with distress the characters in both films reflect a sense of helplessness only alleviated by escaping into a different frame of being. It took the act of thinking like another to achieve any sense of happiness. This exercise shows that much of the world is unhappy, and indeed uncertain of what to make of the world around them. It has become common to expect only bright and cheerful ploys and endings in our films. These two films have accomplished what many others have attempted and failed, they have told a story that truly and fundamentally reflects many social issues, regardless of their happiness factor, their consequences and the real life emotion that comes along with all of that. By bringing out the gritty gray that surrounds the black and white of the world, the audience is able to step in the boundaries between worlds and experience tragedy and hope well beyond their expectation (Zabriskie 2002). It takes films, plays, books and art such as this to truly drive the passion for creation that marks such pieces. Much like the characters in these movies chose to live outside themselves to experience what they deeply desired, truly, living through the characters on screen allows the audience to become a better person at home. Bibliography Beuka, R (2004). SuburbiaNation: reading suburban landscape in twentieth-century American. USA: Palgrave Macmillan. p 1-23. Bigsby, C (2000). Modern American drama, 1945-2000. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. 56-70. Bigsby, C (1999). A critical introduction to twentieth-century American drama: Beyond Broadway. USA: Cambridge University Press. p 31-53. Blessing, K (2005). Movies And The Meaning Of Life: Philosophers Take on Hollywood. USA: Carus Publishing Company Inc. p 47-60 Gizzo, S. (2008). The American Dream Unhinged: Romance and Reality in The Great Gatsby and Fight Club. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review. 6 (1), 1-20. Indick, W (2004). Movies and the mind: theories of the great psychoanalysts applied to film. North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company Natoli, J (2007). This_is_a_picture_and_not_the_world. Movies and a post 9/11. USA: State University of New York Press. p 31-53. Pate, A. (2009). Nietzsche's Ubermensch in the Hyperreal Flux: An. Rhode Island College Digital Commons. 1 (1), 1-20. Stern, S. (2009). Self-Absorbed, Dangerous, and Disengaged: What Popular Films Tell Us About Teenagers. Mass Communication and Society. 8 (1), 1-20. Zabriskie, V. (2002). In Search of Harmony: Becoming Your Own Hero at Work. Heroworks, LLC. 1 (1), 244-270 Read More