David Fincher’s cult classic film Fight Club (1999) is considered one of the best movies of all time by both critics and casual movie fans. The film follows an unnamed narrator suffering from insomnia. The narrator eventually becomes addicted to attending support groups for diseases he does not have as because they helps him sleep. Eventually however, the support groups are no longer help him sleep and it is at this point that the narrator encounters the charismatic Tyler Durden. Tyler and the narrator end up living together and, through a series of events, form an underground boxing club called fight club. Over time fight club becomes increasingly popular and increases in size. Through Tyler’s guidance fight club evolves into a terrorist organization
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All the previous scenes discussed are examples of persuasion but there are many others as well. Such as when Tyler started giving the members of fight club homework assignments that asked the members to do random acts around the city, usually mischievous and rebellious like stating a fight with a stranger and losing (Fincher, 1999). Tyler usually did this by taking the peripheral route to persuasion which occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues like attractiveness (Myers, 2013). Tyler fits this form of persuasion because he is clever, charming, and charismatic. In fact, he is described in the film as being what a man wants to be. Tyler is also very good at telling people what they want to hear. What he tells the members of fight club makes them feel like they are a part of something greater and makes them much more willing to follow …show more content…
A cult is a group of people characterized by distinctive rituals and beliefs in a God or person, isolation from the surrounding “evil” culture, and a charismatic leader (Myers, 2013). These are all qualities that are apparent in fight club. Their main ritual is in their name, fighting. Fighting is what the group was all about at first but Tyler molded the club into something more. He slowly started to inject his beliefs and ideas into the group with the speeches he gave at the beginning and end of every session. Most of his beliefs coincide with the second part of the definition of a cult. Tyler’s believed that postmodern society was wrong and needed to be destroyed. In a way this can be seen as isolation from the surrounding culture as they hoped and acted towards destroying it. Now the only aspect missing to make fight club a cult is a charismatic leader but, as stated before, fight club had one in Tyler Durden. Tyler was confident, attractive, charming, and had all the qualities of being a good leader. With all three criteria meet, it can be said without a doubt that fight club is a cult (Fincher,
All the previous scenes discussed are examples of persuasion but there are many others as well. Such as when Tyler started giving the members of fight club homework assignments that asked the members to do random acts around the city, usually mischievous and rebellious like stating a fight with a stranger and losing (Fincher, 1999). Tyler usually did this by taking the peripheral route to persuasion which occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues like attractiveness (Myers, 2013). Tyler fits this form of persuasion because he is clever, charming, and charismatic. In fact, he is described in the film as being what a man wants to be. Tyler is also very good at telling people what they want to hear. What he tells the members of fight club makes them feel like they are a part of something greater and makes them much more willing to follow …show more content…
A cult is a group of people characterized by distinctive rituals and beliefs in a God or person, isolation from the surrounding “evil” culture, and a charismatic leader (Myers, 2013). These are all qualities that are apparent in fight club. Their main ritual is in their name, fighting. Fighting is what the group was all about at first but Tyler molded the club into something more. He slowly started to inject his beliefs and ideas into the group with the speeches he gave at the beginning and end of every session. Most of his beliefs coincide with the second part of the definition of a cult. Tyler’s believed that postmodern society was wrong and needed to be destroyed. In a way this can be seen as isolation from the surrounding culture as they hoped and acted towards destroying it. Now the only aspect missing to make fight club a cult is a charismatic leader but, as stated before, fight club had one in Tyler Durden. Tyler was confident, attractive, charming, and had all the qualities of being a good leader. With all three criteria meet, it can be said without a doubt that fight club is a cult (Fincher,