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Twenty years in from its slow-burn late 90s success, David Fincher’s Fight Club remains the definition of a problematic fave. Does the movie satirise toxic masculinity, or celebrate it? Much as is the case with 2019’s controversial blockbuster Joker, you’ll find strong arguments on both sides of the debate.

After revisiting the film for this week’s episode, we still aren’t quite sure where we stand. Like most Fincher movies, Fight Club is undeniably stylish, well-acted and innovative – even if that infamous twist is as widely known now as Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense – and just as glaringly obvious on second viewing.

On the other hand, the film doesn’t exactly offer much in the way of a counter-argument to Brad Pitt’s proto Jordan Peterson world view. The film has no significant non-white or queer characters, and while Helena Bonham Carter is reliably excellent as burned out love interest Marla Singer, her character exists solely as a function of the plot rather than to offer any kind of feminine perspective.

Despite these reservations, on the whole we’d have to say we enjoyed the film. In this week’s podcast, we discuss growing up in a post alpha-male environment, Helena’s fabulous smoking aesthetic, why it’s perfectly acceptable to want a nice sofa and much more. As usual, we also throw out some drinking games and our own sequel ideas – which coincidentally both function to broaden the narrative a little bit away from the original movie’s very straight, very white, very male perspective. We’re, like, so progressive!

You can download or stream this week’s episode by following the links at the top of this blog post, or by searching for Beyond The Box Set on your preferred podcasting app. You can also hit subscribe to receive a new episode every Friday morning – and if you have a couple of minutes to spare, a rating or review always helps us to spread our podcast a little bit further…

Next week, we’ll be getting into the winter spirit with a chilly Coen Brothers classic. Until then, happy listening and remember – there’s nothing wrong with a nice IKEA 3-piece…