Gender Critical Approach Gender Critical Approach MALE REPRESENTATIONMALE REPRESENTATION

“We’re designed to be hunters and we’re in a society of shopping”

- Tyler

Objectives:To analyse the representation of Masculinity in ‘Fight Club’. To outline and analyse the binary opposites that exist between the Narrator and Tyler.

StarterAnnotate the body outline with the features, signifiers of traditional masculinity. Be as creative as you like

MasculinityTraditional male roles: Cowboy; Hunter; Defender;

Achiever; Warrior; BreadwinnerExposed as myths by the feminist movementMen left without a clear identity after Feminism

questioned the role of manTraditional Male roles/unachievable images of

strength ALSO imprisoned men

• Repressed male rage – Frustration about:• The Feminization of Man and an increase in

‘consumption’• Repressed ‘Raw’ Masculinity• The dehumanizing effects of corporate consumer

culture

The ‘New Man’• The ‘new man’ has lost touch with his

masculine ‘core’ • The ‘real man’ has been lost by

consumerism and the media• Film depicts mens’ frustration at the

media’s ‘feminisation’ of men• Mans obsession with consumerism has

replaced traditional male symbols: strength, honour

• Attacks lack of male role models – men raised by women due to men working

• Fight Club attempts to reassert supposedly ‘obsolete’ Violent, Mindless Masculinity

QuestionHow does the intro to Fight Club present the ‘new

man’?

15 minutes – use examples.

The New Man

Annotate the features of the new man presented to us by Fight Club all around the body outline.

You can be as creative as you like.

The Narrator

As you watch the clip and with the knowledge we have already gained make notes on:

How is the Narrator presented to us a ‘man in crisis’?What does the Narrator’s ‘Power Animal’ say about

the state of contemporary masculinity?

The Narrator’s ‘Power Animal’• What does the Narrator’s ‘Power

Animal’ say about the state of contemporary masculinity?

• Power Animals: Lion? Tiger? Shark? Penguin

• Connotations of the Penguin:• Small; Incapable of Flight;

Childish; Harmless; Tuxedo/wears a suit

• Penguin is juxtaposed against Narrator’s dream of masculine empowerment

Norton (The narrator)• Introduced by credits hurtling

through his brain• The ‘Unreliable Narrator’ – gains

audiences trust but is untrustworthy due to his mental state

• The ‘new man’ character – he is ‘emasculated’

• Consumerist: Job + Possessions + Clothes + Car = Happiness

• His male status is an illusion – accumulation of possessions but no happiness

• Traditional male role is lost – no male friends, no sexual partner, no libido, no ‘action’ job

• Fantasises about dying

Mise en Scene & The Narrator• Mise en scene

depicts the Narrator in a constricted, unsettled world

• Spaces which

constrain him/give a sense of confinement; Low ceilings cluttered sets; no colour (chiaroscuro)

• TRAPPED in his suit

Remaining Men TogetherWe are introduced to two men that have attempted

to conform to traditional roles of masculinity and failed.

In what ways have they both been emasculated?

Bob• Bob’s character is seen through

the eyes of the ‘Unreliable Narrator’ –

• Norton’s unstable perspective: How he see’s contemporary man:

• A muscleman with breasts (Traditional Masculinity V’s the New Man)

• In trying to attain ideal male physique gets breasts!

• Gives maternal, feminine care to Narrator

Tyler

Watch the clip. What role does Tyler play in the narrative?What does he embody & how is he different to the

Narrator?

The Fight ClubThe creation of ‘The Fight Club’

plays an essential role in freeing the narrator from his crisis of masculinity.

Mostly filled by white middle class achievers who feel there material successes are empty, or working class men frustrated by their social status.

It is almost like a ‘trial by fire’ initiation ritual for the modern man.

The focus of fighting is endurance – taking the beating and defining one’s identity through the pain.

• Scenes of physical displays of violence in an attempt to find inner ‘man’

• Men resort back to a tribal, raw masculinity = another empty role

Tyler Played by Brad Pitt – the star most

men would want to play them in a movie of their life

Male aspiration figure for the Narrator – his care-free, hot ideal alter ego: answers to nobody

• Created from frustration and repressed rage

Introduced wearing sunglasses, leather jacket, chiseled jaw, spiked hair, a colourful juxtaposition against the ‘grey’ suited Narrator

Everything the narrator isn’t: Charismatic, Sexually Dominant Aggressive, Powerful, in charge of

his own destiny Tyler rejects consumerism/

materialistic lifestyle

Group TaskCreate a list of the binary opposites that exist

between the Narrator and Tyler.

Male Binary Opposites• Occupies corporate spaces:

Offices, Planes, Hotels• The same as everybody else –

just another grey suit (‘A copy of a copy of a copy’)

• Occupies shadowy underworld

• Outlandish, Flamboyant, Unique, Original – link to Anti Globalization themes

The Fight ClubWatch the Fight Club initiation scene again. Make notes on these questionsWhat type of man attends Fight Club?What seems to be the function of it in their

lives?Analyse Tyler’s speech – what could this be

likened to?How does this notion of masculinity differ

from what we have previously been offered by the film?

QuestionWhat function does ‘The Fight Club’ play in the film?

How is it trying to redress the issues created by the ‘new man’ ethos?