#71 - Todd Myrick: What I Learned from Fight Club 20 Years Later

"These are all inflections points in your life. Can you look back and figure out why you thought the way you did? Then compare it to how you think now?" - Todd Myrick

In this episode, we are joined by Todd Myrick. Todd was on the show previously, and we covered the first half of his life in a much-abbreviated fashion. In this episode, we are unpacking the last twenty years of growth Todd has had since he turned thirty. The lens at which we use to plot the course of this growth is through a discussion of the film Fight Club. Fight Club was initially released on October 15, 1999, and is based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk. This conversation took place shortly after the twentieth anniversary of the film that is now a cult classic.

For the majority of the conversation, we stay close to major plot points. We expand on the events and quotes as they pertain to our personal lives and broader conversation about what it says about our society. In many ways, Fight Club can resonate with our current landscape even more than it did when it was released. What I mean here is, as we go through the system, we are all told, "You're going to do great things, follow your dreams." But then we hit thirty and have been doing what the system tells us. Then when you stop look around by external measure, you've it figured out, but inside you feel empty. This conversation is our attempt to unpack this story and flip the script.

Show Notes:

[00:04:54] - Twentieth Anniversary of Fight Club

[00:05:44] - When the movie was released it was a transitional period of Todd's Life

[00:07:09] - "This is your life and its ending one minute at a time." "On a long enough timeline, everyone's survival rate reaches zero."

[00:08:24] - The first line of the movie

[00:09:09] - It strikes home to the promises that life makes us. but end up feeling unfulfilled

[00:09:49] - This Is Water - David Foster Wallace

[00:11:54] - The main character is suffering

[00:13:39] - Todd's distinction between perfect and best

[00:14:39] - Origin of the word Suffering

[00:16:49] - Suffering is necessary to experience the joy

[00:18:09] - The story of Fight Club seems to be more apt today than when it was written

[00:20:39] - The story has two different layers one on the surface and one that is at a deeper spiritual level

[00:21:09] - Why would you want to fight another person and what's interesting is he's just beating himself up

[00:22:09] - Looking for connective tissue in Fight Club to expand the story.

[00:23:39] - Where the themes in the story intentional by the author?

[00:26:09] - Chuck Palahniuk doesn't write happy endings

[00:27:10] - Comparison of the depiction of the Joker

[00:27:39] - The Joker is a nihilistic archetype

[00:28:09] - What Batman stands for

[00:28:39] - What does it mean to be nihilistic?

[00:30:09] - The new version of the Joker adds a backstory to a character does not have one

[00:31:09] - Comparing The Joker and Fight Club

[00:32:29] - This is the first time in history that modern mythological characters can get revised as the culture evolves more fluidly

[00:33:39] - Christopher Nolan's update of Batman is the high water mark of updating these characters

[00:35:09] - The Changing role of masculinity

[00:36:09] - Marla is an interesting character

[00:38:09] - The main character is looking for relief from insomnia, but there's nothing health care does. He turns to support groups

[00:38:59] - Marla is a faker which causes him to be agitated and disgusted by his actions

[00:40:09] - Meeting Tyler Durden

[00:42:09] - The things you own, end up owning you.

[00:42:29] - The #1 Rule of Fight Club

[00:42:54] - Tyler Durden: Shut up! Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God?

[00:46:49] - There is a barrier between humanity and the divine

[00:47:09] - Is there an aspect of being a part of something bigger than yourself.

[00:47:39] - Learning to cultivate your emotions - it's OK to feel the full spectrum of emotion, but not letting negative emotions take over.

[00:48:39] - The follow up on the quote by Tyler: "Fuck damnation, man. Fuck redemption. We are God's unwanted children? So be it!"

[00:49:09] - "May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect. Maybe self-improvement isn't the answer, maybe self-destruction is the answer."

[00:50:39 - Some of the spiritual aspects of Fight Club. Is it intentional? We can't say for sure.

[00:51:39] - You're not the things you buy.

[00:53:09] - The most intense quote of the movie

[00:54:39] - Realizing that the things society tells us to chase are the most unnecessary

[00:56:09] - Going to the doctor as an aging adult and lack of trust

[00:59:09] - Project Mayhem

[00:59:59] - Enlightenment Trap

[01:01:29] - How Fight Club relates back to Todd

[01:02:29] - If you could wake up at a different place, could you wake up as a different person?

[01:03:39] - Todd's sense of doom and the path to recover

[01:05:09] - Todd: Why doesn't matter, doing what's right matters

[01:06:39] - Relationship cycles