The real reason why men love Fight Club so much

FIGHT CLUB is a story of men rejecting the "normal life" no matter the loss of blood, reputation, and sanity. It shows how the grimy floor of a parking lot can be more satisfying and honest than an air conditioned cubicle. The arc of civilization bends towards men snapping

In Fight Club, the protagonist's superior alter-ego asks him: How is that working out for you? You behaved, submitted, ticked the boxes, did the thing. You became domesticated. This peace you "enjoy" now - any good? Worth diluting your soul for?

Fight Club was one of the first - and is still the best - critique of consumerism. Tyler Durden does not care about crime. He cares about male bodies built for war watching TV and chasing effeminate status symbols. Danger is not the danger. A distracted life is the danger.

Tyler Durden: "Without pain or sacrifice, we would have nothing." And if pain minimization and sacrifice substitution are the ruling ethos of modernity, then what does it say about our common future? Perhaps a nihilistic drive towards nothingness has hijacked the world-spirit?

THIS is a great metaphor. Tyler Durden's point is that instead of overcoming problems, today's world suggests you sedate yourself, become numb to them, make your peace. Be more accepting, tolerant, "mindful." Well, sometimes the solution is not to be mindful but to be forceful.

Fight Club is a reminder that YOU are not the end goal. YOU cannot remain standing all pristine, pure and improved at the end of the show. Time will see to that. The self is not to be polished like a marble showpiece but used as a weapon. You improve yourself to expend yourself.

The culture of self-help and meditation and journaling deluded you into thinking you can launch cute little projects of "growth" and expand yourself like a balloon and find the meaning of life. But what you really need is a castle to defend, a spear in hand, and channeled rage.

1% better everyday? How about 20% angrier everyday. You need to be intensity maxxing. You need to be deleting meditation apps and cancelling your yoga classes. Every moment is a drop of water in an oasis. You need to be slurping it down.

All real improvement is at the edge.

Fight Club's Tyler Durden is a sort of Dark Superman. A man oozing with charisma and power who says "fuck redemption," but wants to redeem the world in his own twisted way, anyway. The concept and character of the Superman has haunted literature for a long time...

From the philosophy of Nietzsche to the epic poetry of Lord Byron, I've collected my writings on Superman here. If you want to see how great thinkers have wrestled with the question of the Great Man, check out my board:

Superman: A Reading List