The Hidden Meaning in Fight Club - Earthling Cinema 

"Capitalism was a system that allowed humans to purchase their identities, which was more convenient than building one from scratch." That is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

"They become friends and start punching each-other"

I love this concept. Love love love love it. I've always wondered what aliens would think of us if their only experience was watching our movies. Perfection. More and soon.

It's funny how it starts really ironic and all about how an alien would see our culture but then it goes deep in the actual meaning of the movie, explaining it really well but still in a concise way.

...and ruins the pornography by rendering it incomplete. lololol

It's a capitalistic movie about anti-capitalism. Ironic.

I think there are a lot of different meanings in this movie. One I always think of the most is a message against letting your possessions and desires control you. It's like the buddhist saying "attachment is the root of all suffereing", which is totally accurate (except for physical suffering I guess). The narrator is strongly attached to his possessions whereas tyler represents a free man who isn't controlled by his desires, needs, or possessions and is ultimately free economically and mentally. The narrator had everything to lose, his apartment, job, etc. but Tyler had nothing to lose and wanted to show the narrator that having nothing and hitting rock bottom is truly freedom because you are no long under the control of your unfulfilling desires. A quote from the movie that fits perfectly into what I am saying is when Tyler says "The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.” Though the message of freeing yourself from desires has been around for thousands of years, I don't think it has ever been more relevant then in the modern era of consumerism and greed.

Pretty funny show but Fight Club was less about criticizing capitalism, and more about breaking free from the bondage of needless consumption and materialism that comes from capitalism along with the sedentary, pointless lifestyle that modern society has wrought.

Dear Garix, I am looking forward to the day when you chronicle your backstory, not only how and why your species destroyed the planet known colloquially as 'Earth,' despite mainly being made of water, but also why you are so keen to teach about Earthling culture and cinema in particular.

I, for one, welcome our new lavishly eyebrowed overlords.

it's funny how I never realised that he didn't have a name

The thing about this movie is that it's also staunchly anti-communist. Tyler's group where everyone is equal removes their identities. They stop being people and start being just members of Fight Club. They don't even have names just things that describe their looks like Angel Face. The one who tells everyone to call the dead guy Robert Paulson is the Protagonist, not Tyler the communist. The movie tells you to not make an identity out of label, but instead make your own identity that isn't based on superficial things like being in a group or buying from catalogs.

I actually think it's important that the main character doesn't have a name. It goes further to show how he doesn't really have an identity. In Tyler though, there is substance and a real feeling, even though he's not real. It seems to show how the main character, Edward Norton, lives his life somewhat through other people and with different name tags (cornelius, for example)

if this show did 2001: Space Odyssey i bet the aliens wouldn't even get it first time.

these videos are the answer to all the horrible amateurs cranking out un-watchable RU-vid videos where they wave and swing their arms around and yell, "WHAT'S UP RU-vid!!!"

MARTIN_SCORSESE wants his eyebrows back/:

One of my favorite things about this channel is the variety of unique voices and perspectives while maintaining consistent insight and exceptional quality. Keep up the great work!!

I love it! Is this the first episode?

Absolutely phenomenal. Your intelligent analysis of classic and modern thought is highly appreciated. This channel is quickly becoming one of the best on RU-vid. Keep it coming all!

This isn't the hidden meaning, this is just you telling us the story...

"First rule of street countdown!! Tell all your friends coz it's really a lot of fun".

the concept isn´t bad but the execution ..... whats up with that over the top facial hair on that guy´s face? if he´s suposed to be from the future than he looks more primitive than us.

Always loved the idea of viewing media through an "alien" perspective. This just takes that to its literal conclusion. Bravo!

Hilarious. Fight Club has always been one of my favorite movies. ALSO! In case anyone was wondering, Edward Norton's character is named "Narrator" as it is said in the credits.

I ADORE THE CONCEPT OF THIS SHOW. MAKE A MILLION EPISODES.

I really really like the first observation "purchasing an identity is more convent than building one from scratch." It works well as a frame for the movie.

This was actually really good. The only thing I would say is, if you're going with the whole alien shtick, maybe go a little further, maybe add some sort of alien background, and maybe try to touch up on Mr. Wormuloid and make him look a little more alien, the eyebrows are great but, a little more touch ups might not hurt. All in all, another intelligent and entertaining show to debut here, love it!

Wisecrack, you are now my favorite page. Love all your videos.

2:03. Oh, so this is where the joke about censoring eating comes from.

"Edward Norton discovers that he and Tyler Durden are the same person because human brains were primitive and they occasionally malfunction" That's was the moment that I hit subscribe

DAMN! That shot of Brad Pitt's body @ 0:54! Dude's workouts must have been *no joke* Hate to be so forward, but my keyboard blurted it out!!

This is my favorite movie, I've seen it a lot of tmes and i didn't notice the vagina scar in his hand was a resemblance to Trilaxian and Zorgian vaginas! Damn! You always learn something new in Wisecrack...

It was not the fighting that allowed the narrator to sleep in first place, it was the self-help groups and the fact that they enabled him to let go and cry. The fighting was the next step

I clicked on this because it appeared in the "you may also like" heading on my RU-vid start page. I really wasn't expecting much, but this really surprised me, I like it a lot!

I shoplifted Fight Club when I was 14. My experience of the movie, was perfect!

this is such a brilliant concept for a youtube page! I can't believe it took me 6 years to find you but subbed right away

I was definitely afraid this was going to turn into another "yeah, Tyler Durden's cool and so is terrorism" analysis of Fight Club that 20-something guys always come up with, but this was pretty good. I've always seen Fight Club as the ultimate argument that countercultures end up using the same parts of the mainstream culture they were trying to escape in the first place. But I really like this!

I rarely comment on RU-vid, but I will write here what I just unintentionally blurted aloud: "That was great. Thank you."

Please do Naked Lunch. Or any David Cronenberg movie for that matter.

Okay this is officially the best and most greatest channel on all of RU-vid Sparky Sweets was awesome, 8-bit philosophy was cute but this new concept just blew my mind! Can't wait to see more Earthling Cinema!

Funny thing is I didn't like Fight Club, but this analysis shows some of the subtext I probably missed.

Earthling Cinema is the perfect combination of sarcastic humor and concrete reviewing.

Hidden meaning? Not so much really. Fight Club kind of wore its meaning right there on its sleeve.

Wisecrack is pretty much my favorite channel now. Thanks for making this and please keep it up!

Wow, this was great! I didn't expect it to be so good, either! I'm really looking forward to the next episode, Mr Wormuloid.

1:53 Notice how he's wearing a tie even when he doesn't need to, a perfect representation of the internalized oppression caused by "living in the system" (Oingo Boingo reference, though the song 'Perfect System' was criticizing state socialism which, from the perspective of a civic nationalist, is even more oppressive than crony capitalism).

Nice analysis, but Tyler (the protagonist) eventually becomes disillusioned with Project Mayhem in the same way he became disillusioned with economic materialism in the first place. It's important to distinguish between capitalism, which is an economic system, and economic materialism, which involves buying goods to gain higher social status. Tyler wasn't unhappy with the fact that he could go out buy some milk rather than having to tend to cattle to get some. He was unhappy with the fact that, like you said, people built their identity through what they owned. Fight club started and it was all good, until it got too far - and the disillusionment happened again. In this way, it's maybe better to say that Fight Club shows how over time, as ideas are developed further and further, they turn into something else, and then a revolution must happen which gives birth to a new idea (happening twice - creation of fight club, and Tyler's suicide at the end). It's similar to saying that as anything reaches completion, it becomes corrupt - just like the film itself.

The alien here is spot on. Well done. Fight Club wasn't targeting capitalism. It was about materialism. "Don't let the things you own own you." Pissing in soup at restaurants and destroying coffee shops wasn't about taking down uncoerced trade (capitalism), it was about destroying things people took for granted so that they knew they were there in the first place. "I am Jack's Liver." "“I felt like putting a bullet between the eyes of every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species. "

Outstanding! Can't wait for the Worm's take on 2001 and Pulp Fiction.

A chill ran down my spine the moment that facehugger frame past by.

My god this was actually funny as well as a decent analysis!

Fresh concept, nice going Wisecrack, keep up the good work ...

nice face hugger

this was WAY better than i thought it would be

Greetings Garax Wormuloid! May you continue to share your interests with our cinematic history archive! Great stuff :)

I think the best part was his explanation of the bible. Having such an obvious misunderstanding of why the bible is important to many really sells the whole alien thing to a large audience. This seems really well done, just like thug notes, and I am definitely looking forward to more in the future.

Please may you do Battle Royale?

Just like to point out; the ending of Fight Club is basically pointing out Tyler Durden, while fighting for the right reasons, was going about it the wrong way. David Fincher strengthening Marla Singer's position in the plot (something Chuck Pahalnuik regrets that he didn't do) helped solidify the theme of missing interpersonal connections being the problem, instead of the rampant capitalism.

"The hidden meaning" Only says obvious stuff. Incredible.

God, how I love this series. I can watch them over and over again. I even find them relaxing to sleep to. Thank you Garyx Wormuloid!

I really like the idea of bringing the way you communicate philosophy and literature to popculture and film. But in a way the "alien format" just didnt cut it for me.

This was thoroughly enjoyable. Just enough humor without it taking away from the analysis, much like thug notes. Keep up the good work!

I'd LOVE to see more of this...

I also felt like one of the themes of this movie were somewhat similar to the holy mountain, where the characters want more than they could possibly have ( being listened to by anyone, having a complete IKEA furnished apartment) and ultimately are reminded of their violent human nature through Fighting. But I interpreted it as though The different characters represent different parts of the psyche ( Ed Norton being smarter and more rational, although slightly sociopathic, and Tyler Durden being the more primal, raw instinctive and lusting for Humans to be reduced to equals) until by the end of the movie their personalities have been blurred together. It's quite a brilliant movie, one that I think speaks about human materialism and satirizes the violence that it uses in order to show how the struggle for power (figuratively shown as literally in the movie) is what gives us our identity and position in society.

Loved it need I say more

I really loved this. I don't mind eyebrows and the other alien references because they are pretty funny. I think this series is going to be really good. I hope we will see one every couple of weeks. Also - MUST CRUSH CAPITALISM!

But... but... but its about men being angry because they don't feel manly enough! D: In the book is more obvious, (and more gruesome and sometimes downright disgusting), since the the movie seems so fresh on that "capitalizm iz gronwz" because they use a lot of product placement, (producers didn't believe in the film), but when the protagonist says stuff like "I own the perfect tablewear that matches my perfect drapes in my perfect home", while sounding like consumerism, he is complaining that he cares about sheets like a woman does, and does stuff like women do, and the men who join before Project M. feel that way too, therefore, Fight Club is their way of realizing their hypermasculine expectations. The protagonist starts feeling weak sissy, and while aspiring to be macho Tyler he fails, and is left in the middle of both, therefore, turning into a normal man who wants to stop Project M. A really fucked up person, but still a normal man. Yes, there is some "capitalism can be hella bad for you if you let it empty you", but its on Tyler Durden himself :( I mean, the dude is a muscular macho who has lots of sex and can do what he wants and has a company about selling soap bars with cheap primary resources that do not belong to him while also giving his obviously brainwashed followers the false ilusion that they are not being opressed by nobody because they are working against something bigger, even if that means that they have to obey him withouth a doubt and would try to convert other still healthy men too. He even wears the message blatantly on the movie with his tank top of unrealistic porn at the end. Its... all of him. Like... THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT. When people don't realize this it makes me so angry it saddens me, because its not like they catch half of the satire, they admire the thing that it satirizes, making everything pointless u.u

Thank you for a great laugh, I'm working on twenty page research paper on Fight Club and this got me out of a slump.

Please do Forrest Gump. That's my favorite movie ever.

Man, I miss this series so much.

I like the concept of explaining movies as if they were anthropological studies, at some points that really clicked but you need to tone down "alien" humor in this series. References to fake alien species and random nebulas just distracts from the experience. There is a lot of "as you know, we are aliens" going on that really kills your character (if we know that digesting food is odd and disgusting, why bring it up? lots of earthling movies are going to have food you know). You don't need to overdo the humor.

Thank you for creating this! The concept is sublime! Congratulations!

3:28 AHHHH!!! *fap*

This is so much better than I thought it would be!!

I have mixed feelings about the new show. As with thugnotes, the 5minute formula holds, the summary and analysis are to the point and with great jokes "a movie about punching" and the bible joke. Very good. Same upkept quality. However, while 8bitphilosophy and thugnotes have very definitve roots in realiy, namly 8-bit gaming and the thug image, jokes about that theme work, because people can somewhat relate to it. However with earthling cinma, we are presented with a completely arbitrary framework, noone can know anything about or relate to. Noone can know what the vaginas of the whatever nebula looks like, so comperative jokes about that don't work. Especially when the host alien isn't a war-of-the-worlds-octpus, but a humanoid humanoid, startrekish-alien with mentat eyebrowes from Dune. Jokes about humans having destoryed their planet, like the burned dvd box - work. Jokes about oddeties of society we only accept as normal because of tradidtion, but look very stupid from the outside, like the biblejoke - work. Runninggags like Greg's icing of characters might work too. But any jokes that relate to the universe of the host don't. I hope that critique was helpful.

This was so unexpectedly entertaining. Making points, being humorous, and touching on different subjects all in one. You nailed it!

Edward NOR-TON! XD

“Because imaginary friends always live in your cheek”

The strength of Thug Notes is the contrast between the urban and the academic. This doesn't have that allure.

How do you people even get these visual meanings so on point? It drives me nuts.

besides the great writing of Earthling Cinema videos, Mark Schroder is just so darn good as Garyx Wormuloid. great deadpan delivery and great comedic timing!

"Imaginary friends always live inside your cheek" LOL

Another YT video convinced my that Fight Club is the story of one man's struggle to come to terms with his testicular cancer.

No, they didn’t forgot to give him a name, it was intentional so when it comes out tyler was in his mind you get confused and realize they never said his name in the entire movie, making you doubt if he was actually Tyler Durden or not( but his real name is Jack, that’s why he mentions sometimes during the movie that name, one example is when he says “im jack’s broken heart”)

Wonderful work Garyx. My life is a little more fun now with you and Sparky Sweets in it. Many thanks.

Have you forgotten the first rule of Fight Club? I am Jack's rapidly beating heart.

"A society that makes them feel nothing." I see it more as a society that does make us feel something, (most often hate, depression, frustration, etc), but tries to persuade...or force us, into expressing nothing but fear and perhaps a blindness of stupidity. So technically is....right I guess.

This is great! Can't wait to see more episodes :D

lol can't get enough of these!! whoever came up with this is a genius.

FANTASTIC.....THIS WAS SARCASM WITH ATTITUD AND A LITTLE DOSE OF SOCIAL CRITICISM...LOVED IT

Always good to have an alien perspective on things.

That was awesome! Great first episode. It was two of my favorite things, movie discussion and aliens.

"Tyler creates Project Mayhem, which is like Fight Club but with bombs instead of fists" In that fight, both would go boom cause the first hit would explode one fist, then the others would explode too because blast radius xD

The irony is that Tyler proves you are your job, regardless of the propaganda he's spreading. The only real distinction he makes is that you are either a producer or a consumer, so be a producer.

Not sure whether this format is working... The central message of the video is, as always, crystal clear and thought-provoking. But it is interrupted and diluted by pointless jokes that aren't even close to funny.

The one thing you ALL missed is Jack didn’t just create the man he’d be, Tyler...he also created the woman he’d want to be...Marla Singer.

Good start - now just keep them coming!

I love Earthling Cinema!

I love the combination of sarcastic condescension and highbrow analysis. When he says “it might seem like a movie about punching … a closer reading reveals that Fight Club is a cathartic expression of frustration with American capitalist society,” I was “wha wha wait a minute...what?” There were so many insightful analyses like that, which was awesome. However, Wormuloid’s quips seemed to crowd; they distracted from the analysis. “Ingesting nutrients through one’s mouth is obviously disgusting” and “no, not with a star cruiser and coordinates to the Yaj nebula” are really funny comments, but they’re on the long side. I really liked his performance, though, and again, the analysis was awesome just like Thug Notes. Keep it up!

in the book, Tyler blows his other cheek time before Jack realizes Tyler and him are the same person. When he blow his cheek by the end of the movie, he was just aknowledging that iot was him all along, that HE is the one blowing his cheek, as he did before, but this time, he knows it. a Bit drastic, yeah... But the main character from old boy cuts its tongue off, and it works for the character and movie.