17. How useful has a particular critical approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film? [30]
The particular critical approach that I have been studying, the Crisis of Masculinity, has certainly helped me gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the film, Fight Club. There are many scenes which relate to this approach that have helped me understand what the director, David Fincher, was trying to say throughout the film. The Crisis of Masculinity suggests that men in today's society are becoming more feminised due to the lifestyle they have chosen. The approach also suggests that we live in a female-dominated world and this is the reason for the femininity of males.
An example of this is the 'Testicular Cancer' scene, where Jack/Narrator goes to a support group whose aim is to help men who have had the disease and need emotional support. The scene starts as we see Jack arrive and there are a group of men standing and talking to get to know each other. There is then a straight cut to show the same men sitting on chairs in a circle, talking about their stories. This is something that is stereotypically linked with an activity that women do when they have problems, therefore linking itself to the Crisis of Masculinity. They are located in what appears to be an gym, with an American flag noticable in the left hand corner of the shot. This also links itself to the theory as these men have the ability to play 'manly' sports in this facility, however they are not. The audience then go on to hear one of the men in the circle talking about how he has lost his wife, as she left him, and he says "Thank God, I'm happy for her" before bursting into tears. The word God/Jesus appears a lot during the film, and this is due to the idea that we assume God/Jesus is male, however that may not be the case, like the males in this scene. After this, the host of the group announces that it's time for the one-on-ones, which in itself could be mistaken for a reference to sexual activity. Jack is paired up with a man named Bob, and then states he has 'bitch-tits'. Jack goes on to use the voiceover to tell the audience that Bob had his testicals removed due to cancer, and as his body wasn't producing as much testosterone and more estrogen, he then grew a pair of breasts and his wife left him. Bob is a perfect example of the crisis portrayed in the film, as he has no testicals or wife/children but does have breasts and a higher-pitched voice. This helped me gain a deeper understanding to the crisis as this shows that the men in this film are literally being turned into women and they can't do anything about it. Even Bob's name is comical and links to the approach as it is one letter away from the word 'boob'.
Another example which helped me gain a deeper understanding of the film are the rules of Fight Club and other quotes from the film which may suggest that Jack/Tyler are homosexual. The rules of Fight Club include ones such as; "You do not talk about Fight Club", which may be a reference to 'being in the closet' and not telling people that you are gay, "If someone yells stop, goes limp..." which is a reference to a man's penis during sexual intercourse, and finally "No shirts, no shoes" which is accompanied by a stot of a man removing his wedding ring. This the act of the men removing all forms of women from their lives for the period of time that they are in the Fight Club. Another thing regarding the fight club that may be considered an act of homosexuality is the pink bar sign above the entrance to the club, as pink is a colour associated with homosexual men. Other quotes from the film which may suggest that Jack/Tyler are homosexual are ones such as "Everywhere we went, we were sizing things up" which is a reference to somebody looking at others in a sexual way and wondering how 'large' they are. Another quote which could link to the Crisis of Masculinity is when Jack comes back from a business trip and gets stopped by airport security because his luggage was vibrating. The security officer states that "9 times out of 10 it's an electric razor, but every once in a while...it's a dildo" and Jack immediately becomes defensive and responds with "I don't own a dildo!" which could be seen as Jack getting embarrassed and panicked due to him actually owning one (homosexuality).
Jack's lack of ability to talk to women is another factor which could be linked to the critical approach, and this is seen whenever he's around Marla. When Jack first meets Marla and she walks off, Tyler flashes in between them, suggesting that he is going to become in between them having a relationship. Later on in the film, we discover that Tyler and Marla are in a sexual relationship and this is due to Jack not being able to begin a realtionship with her. Another critical approach, Freudian theory, suggests that Jack is the ego and Tyler is the Id. Tyler is able to get whatever he wants and is everything Jack dreams off being, which can be backed up by Tyler's quote " I look how you wanna look, I fuck how you wanna fuck....".
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