Fight Club

Fight Club is a movie that has become somewhat of a classic.  I never knew that it was actually a book before this class, and it was interesting to learn more about the author behind the book.  Fight Club is not one of my favorite movies, but I do like and appreciate it.  I enjoy the mix of humor, irony, and violence within the movie, especially its focus on consumerism and the growing feminist movement.  For instance, the narrator is obsessed with IKEA, making sure that his apartment looks great because he has been told through different types of advertising that he needs it.  His job represents the greed of America, as his job is basically to determine whether a defect is worth recalling or letting people die, depending on the cost.  The movie highlights the increases in consuming of Americans, who are never satisfied, no matter how much they spend.  Then along comes Tyler Durden, who defies society and helps the narrator delve into his "manly side."  He tells the narrator, "It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything," meaning that our obsession with useless objects is a continuous circle that restrains our freedom. Their obsession with fighting demonstrates man's attempt to rediscover what it means to be masculine.  Tyler says we are "generation of men raised my women."  Fight club is about regaining that primal manlihood that has been lost because men have been oppressed by the feminist movement.

Fight Club also has many Gothic elements, such as the use of setting and doppleganger.  Tyler's house can be seen as an old, rundown plantation.  His house is trashed, the water doesn't work, and is in a forgotten place where Tyler and the narrator can hit golf balls at houses and no one even knows.  The overall movie has a dark mood and the characters are only really alive at night.  The use of the doppleganger is Fight Club's largest Gothic element.  The narrator's doppleganger is Tyler, who is basically the man the narrator wishes to be and eventually becomes.  Tyler is free from consumerism and lives life on the edge, where the narrator is drained from Western society and its consumption obsession.  His loss of purpose and manlihood forces him to make drastic changes to be like Tyler and rediscover what being a man is about.  Overall, I enjoyed watching Fight Club, as it is a modern representation of Gothic right before the 21st century.

Streetcar Named Desire

Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is a play that revolves around Blanche, a southern spinster who cannot adapt to the changes occurring in the South.  I read the play in an Intro to Theater class here at TCU, and I really enjoyed Streetcar.  The relationships between characters and events that occur create an excellent storyline that ultimately leads the reader capitvated and astonished by the ending.  I have also seen the movie, and I think they do an excellent job of showcasing the strengths of the play.  The play really concentrates on discussing the adaptation of the old South to the new South and pokes fun at the "blue-collar man."  Blanche centers her life around creating a perfect world, with courting and mystery.  When she loses Bella Reuve, she almost loses a part of herself.  She then goes on basically become a prostitute at "the tarantula" as she calls it, and loses her teaching job because she has sex with a 17 year old boy.  She never really recovered from the death of her lover, when she discovered he was gay and he then committed suicide.  Stanley, on the other hand, represents the new South, which Williams protrays as brutish and demanding.  Stanley is a dominant character who is selfish, strong, and powerful.  He uses the "Napoleonic code" to tell his wife and Blanche's sister, Stella, that what is hers is his.  However, that does not necessarily work the other way around, showcasing the new South is still a patriarchial society where the man is in charge and the wife is submissive.  Stanley, the new South, ultimately crushes Blanche, the old south, through what Blanche calls "deliberate creulty."  Stanley ruins Blanche's relationship with a man she may marry and eventually rapes Blanche.  The rape can be seen as the new South raping the old South of its qualities and traditions, in order to make it disappear, which happens to Blanche in the end when she is sent to a mental institution.  Stella is the bridge between the old and new.  She understands Blanche's need for tradition and old customs, but has experienced the new South.  She eventually chooses old over new, because unlike Blanche, she is able to adapt in order to survive.

When converting a play into a movie, some things are lost, but the movie uses a few techniques to keep the Gothic feel alive.  Though the movie is black and white, the shadowing of the setting and characters creates an eerie, dark feel.  In addition, the setting looks old and tattered, which is similar to the old Southern Gothic plantation.  Since there are no stage directions, the characters must act out the directions, which is done successfully be all the characters.  Overall, I really enjoyed Streetcar Named Desire.