The First Rule of Fight Club: You Talk About Buddhism

I want to enlist you in a project, ATS.

No, it's not project mayhem.

See, I came across something that interests me and I want your help analyzing it. I came across a paper about Fight Club and Buddhism. I am asking Fight Club fans and Buddhism enthusiasts alike to read it, watch the movie, discuss it all here, and maybe together we can enhance our understanding of both.

It's been a while since I've seen Fight Club and I was like WTF. I'm going to watch it again tomorrow night. Then I will be ready to discuss the movie in regard to the paper. That should give you guys enough time to read the paper and/or watch the movie too if necessary.

And, hey, if you aren't up to it that's cool. No hard feelings.

So here is the paper abstract and a link to the full paper.

Fight Club: An Exploration of Buddhism

'Initially panned by many critics for its violent content, David Fincher’s Fight Club may seem like the most unlikely film to incorporate the tenants of Zen Buddhism. However, if one looks beyond the surface, issues like fighting against capitalism, saving people from themselves, creating a world-wide equilibrium, and suffering to gain enlightenment are all present in Fight Club. This alone may not be enough to prove an air-tight connection between Zen Buddhism and Fight Club but the film’s characters, structure and storyline can also be linked to key aspects of the Zen Buddhist doctrine. By exploring these multiple connections this paper provides a different, if not completely opposed, view of what could be one of the most controversial and ultimately misunderstood films of the last decade.'

The implications of having a split personality like that and then destroying it all in an attempt to change the coarse of yourself and the world at the same time is pretty profound in its self.

a reply to: BlueMule

Oh the movie definitely has elements of Zen within it. Personally it is one of my favorite movies of all time and I have probably seen it way too many times.


Go into your cave.

I can see it. I am not very well versed on Buddhism, but from what little I know, it fits.

The scene when he "robs" the convenience store guy and ends up taking his ID and telling him to run home to his crappy basement apartment. "Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted." This has always stuck with me as a strangely beautiful situation.

In times like that, people will tend to reorganize their priorities and focus on what is truly important. From what I understand about Buddhism, its all about focusing on what is truly important and doing away with all the crap society tells you is important, but really is worthless.

Thanks for the thread S+F!

I Just Love the Title!

Fight Club is destined to be a classic. It has threads of very deep philosophy, social issues, and struggling to find one's identity in an insane world that could rival the Bible. In my opinion.

And most of it will go right over people's heads. Like Napoleon Dynamite - some people just won't get it.

It seems that the three main characters correspond to the three bodies of the Buddha:

The Dharmakāya or Truth body which embodies the very principle of enlightenment and knows no limits or boundaries;
The Sambhogakāya or body of mutual enjoyment which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation;
The Nirmāṇakāya or created body which manifests in time and space.

originally posted by: xDeadcowx
I can see it. I am not very well versed on Buddhism, but from what little I know, it fits.

The scene when he "robs" the convenience store guy and ends up taking his ID and telling him to run home to his crappy basement apartment. "Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted." This has always stuck with me as a strangely beautiful situation.

In times like that, people will tend to reorganize their priorities and focus on what is truly important. From what I understand about Buddhism, its all about focusing on what is truly important and doing away with all the crap society tells you is important, but really is worthless.

Thanks for the thread S+F!

Not really. Lots of people end up emotional cripples due to situations like that...

I agree with the idea, however assuming that it can happen to anyone is ridiculous, especially in todays Victim mentality society.