Fight Club Question

How useful has a particular approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?

The film Fight Club by David Fincher was released in 1999, a time where men were becoming more feminine and lacked many strong male role models. I feel that understanding the crisis of masculinity has helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the time that this film was made and how men were considered to be less manly. 

One example of how Fight Club represents the risks of masculinity is in the secs where The narrator visits the testicular cancer support group. This is good for highlighting the crisis of masculinity because the men at this group have had there testicles (their manliness) removed. Furthermore they are gathered in a basketball court where men often play sport, however these men are sat round in low-key lighting looking defeated and emotional. Also you can tell from the mens body language that the sat femininely. In Addition the fact that they are not playing sport could be a subtle nod by the director to them not having any balls. Moreover in this scene we can see an American flag hanging in the background, this helps to establish that this problem is rooted in the west. 

Another example of how the crisis of masculinity is shown is where Marla tells The Narrator that she has more right to be at a testicular cancer group than him. This highlights his own personal lack of manliness. This has helped me to develop a deeper understanding of Fight Club.

Another scene which conveys the loss of masculinity within The Narrator is where we see Jack on the   toilet flicking through an Ikea catalogue when he states that he used to look at porn but now its furniture mags. this shows that he has lost his male sexual desire and replaced it with an addiction to buying furniture.

Furthermore Later in the film we can see Jack look (in slow motion) at Tyler showing affection towards Angel Face and when the shot reverses to show his jealous face. This brings into question his own sexuality when he later beats Angel Face to a pulp.