Yet, this surplus of brutality becomes a necessity that amplifies the shock value of such radical ideas of revolt and anarchist uprisings. Categorically, both mediums of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club employ drastic means of violence, transcendentalism, and elements of a satire, to create the unique message of self-discovery of individual freedom. .
In this "Post Columbine- era, critics often frown upon overwhelming violence in our entertainment. Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times deems Fight Club " a witless mish mash of whiny, infantile philosophizing and bone crushing violence that actually thinks it's saying something of significance- (Fight Club: DVD Review, 1). Perhaps the purpose of both mediums' violence was overshadowed by the vivid depiction and imagery used. Screenwriter, Jim Uhls, comments, "The novel is about numbness and alienation, and finding self empowerment through drastic means- (Fight Club: Supplemental Disc, 15 min.). The drastic means of which Uhls speaks is the brutality unleashed when man embraces its bestial tendency and removes its daily fazade. The movie's executive producer, Laura Ziskin, defends the film's violent nature, stating,.
"I think the critics attack the movie for what they perceived as its exploitation of violence of course the movie is really about the causes of violence and is, in fact, anti-violent, although it recognizes those impulses in human nature. If art can't examine those issues, then we are in a lot of trouble- (Fight Club: Supplemental disc, 27 min.).
Gathered evidence suggests that both the book and film used overstatements of violence to play upon the reaction of society. Individuals have been trained throughout the progression of civilization to suppress aggressive instincts. The violence in Fight Club is yet another depressing reminder of the detrimental effects of censorship and the reversal of desensitization in our modern culture.
