Fight Club is Gay?

Well, what is a homoerotic undertone? Is it just something that each person who views the film deems to be an underlying homosexual message, or is it something that the writer intends for us to notice? For me, it's the latter: anything else is only our interpretation, and therefore it's not the FILM that projects that...it's just the way it shows up once it's passed through our head. For a film to have some sort of hidden meaning, it needs to be meant that way. Then again, even if you ask the writer, you may not know, because some such things can subconciously sneak their way in the script.

Since a lot of moviemakers seem to love Freudian theories, I'm guessing it was very likely the intention of the screenwriter.

There's so much more to appreciate about this movie than to boil it down to homoerotic undertones.I hate to say this...and it's the first time I've ever said it here,but who cares?!I sure as heck don't...I'd rather talk about Brad Pitt and his hottness or Ed Norton and his Bad A**ness.Those things I CARE about.Let's spin-off the direction of this thread already..how long are we gonna argue undertones?Unless...that interests you GUYS,*pinky in the corner of my mouth* Hmmmmm....

But this thread is about Fight Club being "gay", so should we just ignore it?

Sorry if I ruined the surprise for anyone but I would say that nobody ever goes to a film with a completely open mind and a clean slate. Everyone brings their own pasts, thoughts, tendencies, prejudices, etc. That's why I pointed out that the orginator of this thread also started the Tom Cruise thread. I felt it was just another Gaydar search or somethin. ;o)

Great line Mr Paige. LOL The Triple Lindy!

So many threads go off the main topic...they don't stray far though...on the New Austin Powers thread,for instance...we're talking about Mike Meyers in general.Some threads just naturally run their course.I'm just saying,we don't have to beat a dead horse...got me?

I figure Holden will bust in and answer this question for me, in a very lenghty manner, with lots of bold and italic font...

But, is Ed Norton gay? The interview with him on th Fight Club DVD, mentions his "partner". I tried to figure out what he meant and concluded he was homo like milk. But I never really was sure. So.... Is he?

Well, according to IMDB, he's dated Courtney Love and Salma Hayek in the past, so I'd guess not.

For the record, I couldn't care less what a person's sexuality is and I find that type of speculation endlessly dull and completely unimportant. If someone chooses to make their sexuality a matter of public record, "come out" as it were, more power to 'em!

But Edward Norton has not come out or made it an issue, so I have no idea with any certainty and don't care either way. For what it's worth, as Commish has already said, he has publically 'dated' women, including Hayek and Love.


*also note: no boldface type or italics were used in this post. Heck, I didn't even use parenthesis or elipses. And thanks for noticing!

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Homo as milk... so clever...so clever.Ed Norton is kinda hot if you ask me...in that skinny-prep-school-way.I'm sure he's not gay...not just because I think he's hot though...ok,yeah,he's not gay because i think he's hot.Same with Spacey.

I think the fact that some guys see homeoerotic undertones in Fight Club says more about those GUYS than it does about the movie itself.

But seriously. I think the very "identification" of these sorts of "underlying tones" is entirely based on society's conception that any man who has his shirt off in front of another man, or lives in the same house (alone!) with another man, or can take a shower or bath with another man in the same room, must be either gay or latently homosexual.

I mean, come on. Project Mayhem. All males. Must be a gay love-fest, then. Same goes for any large all-male standing army in the history of the world (which is most of them).

There's just no room in our society for men to be comfortable with their own bodies and emotions, and those bodies and emotions in relation to other males' bodies and emotions.

__________________
Everything is destined to reappear as simulation.
Jean Baudrillard
America, 1988

"I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need" (said by Tyler in the bathtub while giving a questioning look)

"Throughout the week, we were Ozzie and Harriet..." (said while fixing Tyler's bow tie)


I don't know where anyone else thinks the movie's homosexual undertones come from, but they DON'T come from the idea that they live together, take shirts off around each other, etc. They're from those little moments, like when Tyler ruffles the blond guy's hair and Jack just stares at him so jealously, or how Jack resents Marla even more after she starts sleeping with Tyler, or how they walk into the club, Jack first, Tyler trailing behind and looking around, both of them with their arms folded exactly the same... I don't think how society views masculinity has anything to do with it.

Personally, I'm tired of all these breakdown's of the movie trying to finger the exact moment a gay emotion, or sentence is carried out. I mean any movie with a bunch of girls in the bathroom isn't considered lesbian. It's just the way most girls are, they travel in groups. So why is it, that a movie dealing with men all living in one house, fighting at night in their own little club is considered gay?

Sullivan, you mentioned the thing about any male-standing army, are you saying that any army of mostly men should be considered a giant orgy? Why you feel this way is not my business, but it's far from the truth. To think that any mass number of men should be presumed homosexual is just downright crazy.

Personally, I'm going to treat all of this the same way I did before, I'm going to just watch the movie disregarding all these hidden messages some of you claim to be present. It's just a movie. I tend to just watch it and enjoy it without putting much thought into what some person behind the movie might be trying to express in hidden messages.

__________________
"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg

NO NO no no no no no no no, no. I was using sarcasm (or attempting to use sarcasm) to illustrate the fallacy of some other poster's reasoning in saying "fight club was composed entirely of males, therefore it must have had homeoerotic undertones".

But this is the Internet, and tone of voice doesn't come across so well.


How "jealous" that gaze was is totally open to interpretation. Ok, maybe it was jealous-- but just because Jack was jealous does NOT automatically mean it had to be sexual jealousy. Listen to the dialogue in the car right after that scene (the 'commisioner castration' scene) or, better yet, download the script and read through it. There's a lot more possible reasons for that stare than jilted love.


Hmm. Maybe because Jack would rather be sleeping with Marla himself? Ironically, he is.

OK. If their dress, manner, gaze or general attitude / appearence seems to be exactly the same, that's because it is the same. People are completely and totally forgetting that we are talking about a single man with Dissociative Personality Disorder. Please don't tell me he wants to have a homosexual love affair with himself.

Not only that....but...THEY'RE THE SAME PERSON! Can you be in a gay relationship with yourself? Sheesh. This is a weird conversation, to say the least.

Maybe a spoiler notice would have worked there sades...after all, there might just be soemone who hasn't seen it yet.

Sullivan you said you were joking about the any army of mostly men thing...well you need to put a little smile or a laugh thing behind that statement...or at least mention you were sarcastic about it so that we'll know better.

If someone has read as far as my last post, then the movie was over for them long before me. The twist was spoiled eons ago, spud. Check out all the spoiler notices early on.

and BTW- when using sarcasm, it's your choice if you want to be obvious about it and include a smiley...but you don't have to.

I realize that, but for someone that chooses not to read through all the old posts....you get the idea...

And for sarcasm...you're the only one, Sadie, that uses some sort of notice with yours.

spud.*sigh* are you telling me that every post on this particular thread, if it mentions anything about the ending, should use spoiler tags? That's gay.

I always use a smiley now because I used to get reemed for people not knowing I was being sarcastic, but I don't think anyone should have to be so obvious about it, unless they really want to. Some people hate smilies. There's even a box you can check to disable them.

Ok. Thanks for the heads-up, spud, I'll make sure I use a smiley to denote sarcasm in the future.

Originally posted by sadesdrk
LOL!