The Search for Male Identity within Modern Society___73
The second set of fantasy types and rhetorical visions that the men’s
movement and Fight Club utilize deals with the general angst associated with
adulthood, the workplace and, more significantly, the lack of male identity in
modem society. Tyler attempts to force others to exit the cycle of meaningless
employment by forcing his human ‘Victim” into taking his life into his own
hands, regardless of the obstacles. Andrew Kimbrell, in his book The Masculine
Mystique, addresses this same problematic relationship between the need for
men to have meaningful employment or else be viewed by society as a failure.
The feeling of helplessness that mythopoetic men feel is often directed toward
the workplace and they cite the same basic broken promise of the “American
Dream” cited by Tyler, creating a clear connection between the two seemingly
diverse institutions.
The final benefit that analyzing Fight Club has when studying men’s
movements relates to the search for identity by members of both groups. Ely
cites the need for men to find their “Zeus energy” (Ely) (their own masculine
power) in their search to define themselves as men, and Fight Club
accomplishes this same goal by making its members the center of a masculine
universe when they are fighting, an almost purely masculine endeavor. The
mythologies that are invoked during these meetings are just one means for the
members to establish their own identities based upon a masculine image. The
sense of belonging that members of both groups feel is yet another strategy for
them to define themselves based upon characteristics that have been recently
demonized as too regressive and violent for modem times.
Conclusion
David Fincher’s Fight Club provides insight into the nature of a unique
social movement organized around the “male dilemma.” Ey isolating a series of
fantasy-types related to the broken promises of society, Tyler Durden and Jack
are able to constmct Fight Club as a means for alleviating the problems caused
by those unfulfilled promises. Utilizing problems—such as the absentee father,
the angst associated with adulthood and the workplace, and, more significantly,
the lack of male identity in modem society—they are able to promote
membership within the group. In answer to these three broken promises. Fight
Club develops into the comprehensive organization of Project Mayhem to create
a series of rhetorical visions that extends the groups’ appeal to a larger audience.
The idolization of Tyler as a father-figure, the desire to move away from a
consumerist society, and the development of individual identities without
emasculating its members all act to keep the pr omises of society to Fight Club
members. These same promises and rhetorical strategies also present themselves
when analyzing other postmodern social movements, in terms of their attempts
to both retain and increase their membership and loyalty. This is particularly
tme when looking into the actions and beliefs of men’s movements.