Concept #5: Tough Guise

1. The image I selected above is the narrator from Fight Club, with Tyler Durden in the reflection. Masculinity is portrayed in the movie Fight Club because it is all about a club that was created by Tyler and the narrator where men come together to blow off steam and fight. They fight without weapons, just man vs. man.
2. The narrator lives a normal and boring life. The only thing the narrator is interested in doing is attending group therapy sessions for issues that he does not have. He believes this is the only time he can actually release his emotions and be sane. Other than this, he does not do anything exciting until he meets Tyler Durden, one of the most interesting people he has ever met. Later the audience finds out that Tyler has just been a character created in the narrator's mind of everything the narrator himself wants to be, and believes he is not. As the Fight Club progresses, it becomes more and more violent until 'Tyler' has created a team of killers trying to force people to fight and live their lives to the fullest. The narrator thinks what Tyler is doing is very wrong and tries to stop him, until the end when he realizes that all along Tyler has only been in his head, and all of Tyler's actions have actually been his own.
3. Yes, I think the media I selected is consistent with what is portrayed in "Tough Guise", but Fight Club is more exaggerated and I think it stands more as a metaphor of what masculinity in today's society is. The narrator believes the only time he can be emotional is at group therapy sessions that he does not need to be at. In my opinion, I think he might be so pressured to be masculine and be this figure that he is not, that he begins to imagine himself as Tyler in desperation to be a masculine figure and have people fear and look up to him. Obviously in real life, the events would not be this drastic in the end and result in a massive killing team, but I think the narrator has a quality that most men can relate to; the pressure to be tough, emotionless and to be feared.