Fight Club By David Fincher - 1174 Words

What defines a macho man? In the 1999 film, Fight Club, director David Fincher gives us a glimpse into the world of manhood. A man, known to viewers as the Narrator (Edward Norton) is an insomniac who seeks tranquility in support group. That is, until he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who introduces him to a new way of finding peace: fighting. The two team up and accidentally start an underground mens club called Fight Club where men are able to come and fight one another in order to leave reality behind, prove their manhood, and to simply have a little manly fun. In one of the beginning scenes of fight club, The Narrator has just recently lost his apartment to a house fire and he calls his new friend, Tyler Durden, for help. At first, the†¦show more content†¦This is portrayed in the movie with none other than the handsom Brad Pitt who, lets face it, it quite nice on the eyes. Cody L. Hobza and Aaron B. Rochlen, authors of â€Å"Gender Role Conflict, Drive for Muscularity, and the Impact of Ideal Media Portrays on Men†, researched the effects of the media s ideal man on the everyday man s self esteem and his drive for masculinity. They found that most men feel the need to conform to these social norms, even if those norms are unattainable in order to gain approval from women. Some men will even go to such lengths as engaging in an unhealthy lifestyle by working out too much or even taking steroids (Gender). Hobza and Rochlen stated that, â€Å"Considering the increased prevalence of societal messages equating masculinity with muscularity and suggestions that boys and men perceive muscularity as being strongly associated with their masculinity, men who endorse in traditional masculine ideology as evaluated by the [Gender Role Conflict Scale] may be particularly susceptible to media-based portrays of muscular men† (Gender). It is evident from this research that men try to portray themselves as a macho man in a way that is similar to that o f the media s standards, just as women do. The media also portrays men in one of two ways: a â€Å"sex-only† man or a romantic man. In their article â€Å"Heck with the Flowers and Candy- I just want Sex! Women s and