"Marla is the root of it all" - Fight Club Directed by David Fincher

“Marla is at the root of it.” Says Jack in David Fincher's film 'Fight Club' (1999)

(Warning this essay contains SPOILERS from the film 'Fight Club'. It is an analysis on the effects of Marla Singer on the main character, scripted as 'Jack'.)

Fight Club DVD directed by David Fincher and Fight Club written by Chuck Palanniuk.

Marla Singer is introduced very early on by Jack (the narrator) when he appears to be threatened by Tyler Durden with a gun, “Somehow I realize that all of this: the gun, the bombs, the revolution...has got something to do with a girl named Marla Singer.” From this brief mention the film moves to a flashback from which the rest of the story is told. The first mention of Marla allows the audience to know that Jack believes that Marla caused his present predicament and therefore causes us to judge her accordingly. We believe that this ‘woman’ must be an untrustworthy and manipulative person as we stereotypically cast her as someone likely to cause Jack’s position.

When Marla first appears on screen our earlier assumptions appear to support her character. Jack is currently addicted to support groups that allow him to cry and release his built up emotion allowing him to sleep. Marla ‘invades’ these support groups. We hear her heels before we see her entering the meeting room for a ‘men’s testicular cancer group’. She is smoking with no concern for the other members in the room. Her appearance is messy and also has an uncaring quality with her short matte black hair and her big dark eyes. Jack’s dislike towards her is enforced by Jack’s narrative voice-over, “And she ruined everything.”  She uncaringly asks if this is the group for cancer and Jack is left staring dumbfounded. Her behaviour appears harsh and disrespectful towards the members of the support group due to her constant smoking and turning up to all and any group. However, this emphasises the wrongs that Jack is committing by also attending all the support groups giving us a contrast between the two characters “Her lie reflected my lie.” Jack becomes self-conscious and is unable to cry, stopping him from sleeping again. Jack uses very negative language when describing Marla, influencing the audience’s reactions and feelings towards her, making her throughout the film, appear more ‘unhinged’ than Jack.

The contrast between Jack and Marla remains clear. Jack has everything that everyone wants to aspire to, even living in a condo with the slogan “A place to be somebody”, he isn’t happy. Marla is also unhappy but is of a lower class, owning little and unable to do anything due to societies system “The girl who lived there used to be a charming, lovely girl. She’s lost faith in herself.” Both characters have a desire to ‘feel’, Jack creates ‘Fight Club’ to quench the desire while Marla attempts suicide “This isn't a for-real-suicide things. This is probably one of those cry-for-help things.” Marla has a ‘bored’ attitude to her situation; she has little to live for and nothing to do and appears not to take her situation seriously. Tyler stops her suicide attempt, beginning a sexual relationship with her in the process.

Jack becomes jealous of this relationship even though he denies liking Marla “I am Jack's Raging Bile Duct.” However, frequently throughout the film Jack’s mind wanders to Marla for instance when he is at a support group and thinking of his cave, for the second time, it is Marla he thinks of. Tyler’s and Marla’s relationship is a key function to giving the audience clues about Tyler’s true origin “Tyler and Marla were never in the same room together.”And at other instances Marla’s words or actions appear out of context to Jack. Tyler soon wants rid of Marla and doesn’t want Jack to say anything about him to her “If you say anything about me, or what goes in this house to her or to anybody, we're done. Now promise me.” This sounds like a reasonable request but as the film draws to its conclusion we discover the real reasons behind it. Jack’s refusal to admit he likes Marla creates Tyler’s sexual interest in her. Tyler is everything Jack wants to be and Jack desires a relationship with Marla but won’t admit it to himself, “If I had a tumour, I'd named it Marla. Marla...the little scratch on the roof of your mouth that would heal if only you could stop tonguing it, but you can't.”

Marla’s odd behaviour is evident when she steals some clothes from a launderette and sells them in a vintage shop further on. Although Jack comments on this he does nothing to stop her. When they exchange numbers Jack’s voice-over tells us “Marla’s philosophy of life was that she might die at any moment, the tragedy, she said, was that she didn’t.” This highlights again the uncaring attitude she has but then opens up questions about Jack’s own feelings on life and how the audience should view their own lives. When Fight Club begins Jack doesn’t care about how he’s hurting the other members just that he can release his own energy and emotion “Where did you go Psycho Boy?” He only realises the true impact of what ‘Project Mayhem’ is doing when ‘Bob’ dies by accident. He can’t understand why the other members are so uncaring and passive. This leads to his attempt to protect Marla from the effects also but in the end she is brought straight back by his own making.

Marla appears or disappears whenever something crucial happens in Jack’s life. Jack is finally able to sleep and Marla appears causing him to be unable to sleep. When he is finally ‘rid’ of her by splitting the support groups he sets up fight club. When she starts a sexual relationship with Tyler, Project Mayhem is created. When he makes her leave to protect her, he has just discovered he is Tyler and has realized that Fight Club and Project Mayhem were not the right solutions. Overall when Marla leaves from his life, Jack/Tyler creates something more dangerous that creates a bigger community but is still harsh and uncaring. Chuck Palahnik author of the original book said the whole story is about a man reaching a point where he can commit to a woman. I believe this is true; Jack has nothing to care about or commit to and thus has no purpose, when Marla enters his life he refuses to admit to himself that he likes or cares about her to the end. When Marla asks him to come over and check if she has breast cancer, he goes. Tyler’s relationship with her is a reflection of what Jack truly wants. When Fight Club and Project Mayhem refuse to provide its members with that ability to care, Jack realizes his own mistake and tries to break free. Therefore Marla is the point of the story. Men need to learn to care or they will have no purpose. Interestingly when Jack is asked to find his “power animal” he thinks of a penguin which symbolises self-discipline, self-confidence, spiritual, creative energy, loving and capable of out of body experiences. This defines what Jack wants to be and gives the basis for Tyler. It is also what Jack becomes in the end, He becomes confident and loving.

However, Marla maybe the reason behind Jacks actions later in the film but she is merely a catalyst for fight club. Other factors caused Jack to create another personality. Tyler flashes on screen almost subliminally before me meet Marla.  The first time is when Jack is talking about “Everything is a copy, of a copy, of a copy.” And we have a shot of a copy machine and everyone drinking starbucks coffees. Jack is sick of the repetition within his own life and craves something different which Tyler is. When Jack is refused help by the doctor Tyler flashes up on screen, which leads him to the support groups where he and Marla believe that “When people think you are dying, they really listen, instead –“ ... “--instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.” Tyler then flashes up as Marla is leaving from a meeting and going off down the street as Jack pauses to decide if he should follow her. Therefore Marla isn’t the root of it all but she is the catalyst.

In conclusion Marla creates a meaning for the film as well as being a catalyst she is also the goal. 

This essay was created in 2010. All Quotes are from the film 'Fight Club' (1999).