Fight Club is a social satire directed by the talented David Fincher and was adapted from the book of the same title written by Chuck Palahniuk. The film attempts to show the despair involved in living in a consumer driven society and the emptiness that fills people when commercialism takes over their lives. As well done as the movie is, when watching the film you can not help but feel the irony involved that Brad Pitt delivers the most biting lines in the film. Brad Pitt plays Tyler Durden whose Unabomber philosophy on life completely contradicts Brad Pitt’s image as a poster child for the new young pretty boy Hollywood star. Interestingly enough Edward Norton and Brad Pitt play the same schizophrenic character; though this is not evident until the end of the film. Every scene in the movie is some form of social commentary, because of this it is necessary to limit the scope to the most interesting scenes.
The “narrator” played by Edward Norton is as he describes himself: “I was the warm little center of the universe that the delight of this world crowded around.” He has it all, a good job, nice clothes and even a nice place to live. Despite all the things the narrator has, he still feels hollow and incomplete. In the beginning he believes that this emptiness can be filled with personal possessions, but eventually through his relationship with Tyler Durden he learns that his emptiness is something deeper.
The narrator was looking for a way to c...
In Thomas J. Dilorenzo book, The Real Lincoln: A new look at Abraham Lincoln, his agenda, and unnecessary war, is all about the hidden stories behind the 16th president of the United States, where he seem to be a good role model in the eyes of many American. The Real Lincoln, “Stripped of all its covering, the naked question is, whether ours is a federal or consolidated government; a constitutional or absolute one; a government resting solidly on the basis of the sovereignty of the States, or on the unrestrained will of a majority; a form of government, as in all other unlimited ones, in which injustice, violence, and force must ultimately prevail.” (x). Dilorenzo’s book examines between the role of the federal government with the states, which the government system we have today. The Real Lincoln, also revealing many pros and cons of President Lincoln during his golden era. Furthermore, Dilorenzo not only focuses on Lincoln’s role as a president, but the private and public life with a lot comparison as well.
Thomas J. DiLorenzo is an economics professor at Loyola College. He has written eleven books, and is very widely published in many magazines and journals. In his book, The Real Lincoln, a twist is placed on the traditional picture of Abraham Lincoln. One of the most famous men in American History, Lincoln was regarded as being many great things, but were these things an accurate depiction of who he really was? As DiLorenzo states, “In the eyes of many Americans, Lincoln remains the most important American political figure in history because the war between the states so fundamentally transformed the nature of American government” (2). Lincoln helped begin a transformation from a small national government to a larger, more centralized one. Perhaps one of the largest misconceptions about Lincoln was his stance on slavery. DiLorenzo goes in depth about this saying, “He (Lincoln) could have ended slavery just as dozens of other countries in the world did during the first sixty years of the nineteenth century, through compensated emancipation, but he never seriously attempted to do so” (9). These two major topics, along with many more, are examined from a different perspective in discovering the man Abraham Lincoln really was.
Lincoln justified his action via the suspension clause, claiming that Congress was in recess and therefore could not fulfill its duty at the time. The Constitution itself specifically references habeas corpus and acknowledges that it can be suspended “in cases of rebellion,” however, as Chief Justice Roger Taney asserted in the ruling of Ex parte Merryman (1861), the writ of habeas corpus falls exclusively in the hands of Congress in Section 9 of Article 1“without the slightest reference to the executive branch.” Additionally, Article 6 provides all persons accused the “right to a speedy and public trial by impartial jury of the state.” Both provisions, Justice Taney stated, are in “language too clear to be misunderstood by anyone.” The ruling concluded by declaring that President Lincoln’s actions in suspending habeas corpus in Maryland were unconstitutional as he did so without proper congressional authorization. According to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Maryland, Lincoln had overstepped his appropriate executive authority as
The time period plays an important role that pushes Jekyll to create the potion, so he can do the sins everyone has within. Evil which is not associated with wealth is hidden, and Hyde takes advantage of this. He uses his position, and makes the best of it to get away with his misdeeds. In the movie Hyde and Jekyll are shown hurting women; the director uses this to create a different kind of evil, that is more universally understood. The audience is either a female, or has a female family member. While watching the movie he wanted to make the audience despise Hyde and want to help Ivy and Beatrix. Ultimately the nature of evil, and the split of Jekyll’s identity lead to his
Though the proclamation did not bring about an immediate effect, the idea that, "all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free”, aided in the strategery of the war, ultimately foreshadowing the passage of the 13th amendment. After the minute, nearly ineffective results of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln searched for a new way to promote abolishing slavery, in hopes of ending the war in favor of the northern states. As the war was nearing end, Lincoln made it a priority to ratify the 13th amendment before the end of the civil war was official. Because of the divided congress, in which one party controls the house and the other the senate, Passing any amendment proved more difficult than ever before. Because of these difficulties, Lincoln fell to passing the amendment by corruption. One way in which corruption was practiced by Lincoln was through the use of
In the current age of technology and capitalism, many people get caught up in trying to define their individuality with mass produced goods. In David Fincher's movie Fight Club, the narrator, who is commonly referred to as Jack, invents an alter ego to serve as a source of substance in the hallow world of corporate America. This alter ego, named Tyler Durden, is portrayed as a completely psychologically and physically separate being throughout the movie. The inherent polarity in personality between these two personas proves to be a crucial point of interaction between the two characters, and is the basis for most of the action in the movie. Thus, Fight Club depicts the necessity for a balance between the passive and aggressive aspects of the human psyche, which parallels the main theme and insights that are illustrated in Judith Cofer's "The Other."
In the Film “Fight Club” the setting was set during the postmodern period. When the term postmodern is mentioned it is a bit of a contradiction. Modern means the here and now, the present. While post means subsequent to or after. It is the same as saying after the present. That is the contradiction! No one knows what is after the present. Maybe postmodernism means before it’s time. Many argue that this movie was before its time, some even believe that people would begin to mimic this behavior. Although no one has a clear on the definition of postmodernism there are many terms that correlate to postmodernism. In the film “Fight Club” there are words that resemble the postmodernism ideation such as consumerism, nihilism, and liberation.
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a cartoon horror story written by Marsha Hatfield. They made the story about a Doctor that was drinking potions from another side of his body. The other side of his body of course was, no other than, Mr. Hyde. The potion drinking got to a point where Mr. Hyde would control Dr. Jekyll’s body and he wouldn’t be able to control it. Mr. Hyde would cause mayhem in his body and made him get in lots of trouble. At first, he would only drink 2 potions to control it but then it got to the point where he added another potion, and overdosed. He died in his study. Marsha upheld the horror genre by making Mr. Hyde look very creepy, and made it to where the potion drinking went too far to where he died. She made the mood for herself, and readers very odd. She left them off thinking in this story or why he created the potions in the first place. The setting when Mr. Hyde would come in also made it spooky because it got different. Plus, Mr. Hyde was very mean to everyone and Dr. Jekyll
“I am Joe's Blood-Boiling Rage “ (96). Anger is one of the seven deadly sins which is defined by Christopher Marlowe in Doctor Faustus as, “I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother. I leapt out of a lion’s mouth when I was scarce an hour old, and ever since have run up and down the world with this case of rapiers, wounding myself when I could get none to fight withal. I was born in hell, and look to it, for some of you shall be my father” (Doctor Faustus 2. 1).
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll has a desire for splitting his personalities and taking pleasure in two different lives. A sinister, malicious, abnormal, small man would control one life while; an honorable, wise doctor would control the other life. Dr. Jekyll produces a potion, which allows
The Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, constructs an underground world of men fighting with one and other to find the meaning to their lives. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are the main characters who start the fight club. They make a set of rules in which everyone must follow.
The most blatant abuse of Lincoln's power was his suspension of habeas corpus. The suspension of this constitutional guarantee, by which a person could not be imprisoned indefinitely without being charges with some specific crime, around much opposition throughout the country. Although Lincoln himself made no concentrated efforts to suppress political oppositions, the repeal of habeas corpus enabled overzealous civil and military authorities to imprison thousands of people who were vocal in their opposition to the war against the South. During the war, in the case Ex parte Merryman, Chief Justice Taney ordered Lincoln to grant a writ of habeas corpus to a Southern agitator who had been arbitrarily jailed by military authorities in Maryland. Lincoln ignored the order. After the war, in the case Ex parte Milligan, the Supreme Court ruled that president could not suspend habeas corpus without the consent of Congress.
In his work, The Real Lincoln, economic historian Thomas J. DiLorenzo tells quite the different tale. Daring to criticize this beloved president, DiLorenzo defends his antithetical statements with several key points: Lincoln was more similar to a dictator than an American President. Arguing that the War Between the States was wholly unconstitutional, DiLorenzo corrects the popular misconception that Lincoln’s war was one of abolition. War was not necessary to end slavery, but it was necessary to fulfill Lincoln’s true agenda – to destroy the most significant check on the powers of the central government: the right of secession.1
Our group collectively decided to choose the movie Fight Club as the movie to review for this case study. Fight Club was released on October 15, 1999 and is based off the novel written by Chuck Palahniuk in 1996. The movie was directed by David Fincher and featured several outstanding actors such as Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. We settled on reviewing Fight Club due to the films’ psychologically thrilling nature.