In Fight Club boxing means pain, which is the key to liberation. Only through the willing embrace of suffering can one overcome fear, exercise power, and resurrect one’s masculinity (Grindon 185). By exerting physical power, the characters are able to find ectasy. The characters are able to prove themselves through the physical task, and they are rewarded for their pain. It can be concluded that most boxers fight as a way to achieve a sense of greatness. Most boxers have the same idealogy about life and how it should be spent. Although Fight Club and it's main character are unconventional, he still has certain beliefs that fighting will provide an escape and create a sense of meaning in his life.
is This follows along with the theory that the boxer is trying to escape something by fighting. When Tyler alludes to the idea of letting pain go, he is trying to tell the narrator that he must commit to pain in order to feel something. When boxers step into the ring, they know what pain awaits them, and yet they continue to fight and sacrifice their bodies in order to achieve enlightenment. When Tyler Durden subjects the narrator to this pain, he is reiterating the sacrifice boxers always make. This scene is important because it is focusing on just how far the narrator will go to escape his emotional problems and achieve power. Fighting is physical, but this implentation device involves the mind and the narrators way of life. It reveals there is more to a boxer than what appears on the surface; a common theme seen in many boxing fims.
At its best, the boxing films present suffering as a means of achieving insight and compassion, rather than endorsing pain as an avenue to power. (Grindon 187) Boxing is seen as violent, but it is something still widely popular, and many movies have been made about the subject, which is why, the genre does not support the pain, but the escape. Fighting offers solutions to the audience, and the boxer is able to reveal his true self in the ring. Another issue commonly noted in the boxing film is masculinity.
... this is exemplified in films like On The Waterfront, Body and Soul, and even films like Creed, where fighting means more than just winning (In the sense that Terry fights against unfair treatment of the mob and Adonos proves himself to be a Creed). It creates a meaning for the boxer, and in Fight Club, the narrator learns that his meaning is to take control of his life and do things that will make him, not others, happy.
On the surface, "Fight Club" is not a conventional boxing movie, but throghout the film, the central characters reveal similarties between boxers and their personalities. In "Fight Club", violence is used as a method of escape. By exerting physical pain, the characters are able to revel in power and express their emotions in an unconventional way. The main thing that connects Fight Club to the boxing genre is the characters and how they react to violence and power. Even though there is no literal boxing ring, the characters are therotically placed within one and are meant to find meaning through their punches.
1 Comment
Rachel Bushell
12/14/2016 12:20:23 pm
It's interesting how you compared the pain inflicted by the burning scene to the pain that boxer may feel. The narrator caused this pain to himself even though he believed it was by Tyler. I think a boxer kind of ultimately causes pain to themselves as well because they are putting themselves in that situation to inflict pain. Overall great points and ideas!
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