| Original Message |
Catherine Collazzo (no login)
Posted Apr 21, 2008 3:10 PM
In my paper, I will be exploring the impact that Fight Club the novel and film have had on popular culture and modern society. I am mostly inspired by the novel’s afterward where author Chuck Palahniuk writes about the institutions of fight clubs and project mayhems around the world, the daily references he hears about the novel and film, and the questions he receives from fans asking “who started fight clubs?” and “where can I find one?”. I want to re-evaluate that fine-line between fiction and reality and try to understand how readers and viewers can misinterpret and eventually cross that line.
There is something unique about the novel and film Fight Club that people are not just satisfied identifying with but that makes them want to emulate. What makes one fictional story become a phenomenon over another when the purpose of all novels and films is to connect to an audience? Palahniuk questions this himself in the afterward. He explains his motives in writing this novel were to “compete with the espresso machine and ESPN” (Palahniuk 216). In a world of over stimulus caused by advances in technology and overexposure of violence in the media, Palahniuk just wanted to keep up. Fight Club, however, was able to shock a society that thought it had seen it all.
I have researched articles that define pop culture and fandom, analyze the theory of the copycat effect, explore the psyche of Chuck Palahniuk, and consider the differences between reality and fiction. I will form and support my own ideas by combining and interpreting the information and theories I have learned from my research. |
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