We are often told that we can do as we please. We can get the job we want, we can live where we want, we can have as much money as we want; but these and of faculties of life are only attainable to a select few. Those with the money, those with the power; those at the top of the pyramid of the foundation of traditional realist thinking and the patriarchal hierarchy. These two social entities stem from power wielded by men who fit the mold; rich, white, protestant Anglo-Saxon men. Those who do not conform to this mold are left out. They cannot make demands that follow them.
They cannot attain the wealth for hemselves, they attain it for others. Filmmakers routinely challenge these social constructs with the use of neo-noir films where they implement elements of the post-Nietzschean existentialism. This conceptual form of thinking is used to allow the anti/hero protagonist to begin a journey of finding themselves. They too often look for the villain an unbeknownst to them, they wear said hat. In the films, Memento , Fight Club, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, the anti-hero protagonists find themselves on the lower rungs of the ladder and are unwilling to accept their faith.
They then use their unconsciousness to xplore what they lack, strength, authority and wealth. They soon come to realize that escaping their reality is much harder than it seems, for they are not “them”, but the other. Leonard Shelby suffers from short term memory loss. He can remember things prior to the “incident” with his wife, but he seems to be unable to form new memories. We are first introduced to Mr. Shelby on his quest to avenge his wife’s death by finding her murderer, John G. Leonard wants closure, but he will never be able to attain it; for he is the reason why his wife is dead, and he cannot accept that.
Leonard gave his wife too uch insulin and she passed away. He is the reason why she is dead. Instead of admitting that to himself, he creates an alternate reality. He and his wife were attacked in their home and she is murdered. He then spends his life hunting for her killer, knowing fully well he caused her death. By acting as though he has short term memory loss, he does not have to accept the fact that he caused his wife’s death. He goes as far as creating a fictional character, Sammy Jenkins to blame for his actions. He claims that Sammy gave his wife too much insulin and killed her.
The problem is not his memory, the problem is hat he is unable to be true to himself and he is unable to live up to the expectations of traditional realms and the patriarchal hierarchy. He is supposed to protect his wife, he is supposed to be in command of her well-being and he failed her. He is so intent of not acknowledging what he has done, he commits murder. The murder of an unknown man, a drug kingpin and Freddy so that he can try to escape reality. But he cannot escape reality. Leonard cannot escape reality because he cannot change what other people think, he can only change what he thinks.
He killed Freddy because Freddy told him the truth. Other people know the truth and the only way for him to end his suffering, is to finally admit his guilt. And seeing that he is unwilling to do so, he will never complete his life narrative and will never find his wife’s murderer. In Fight Club, we are introduced to an emasculated Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden is weak, meek, over worked, underpaid and mad at the world. He does not fit the norms of traditional realism and unlike many, he knows that the riches of such a life are not waiting for him. So what is one to do? He takes matters into his own hands by creating the hands of another.
Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden onvinces himself that he suffers from a personality disorder and creates a fictitious version of himself. Tyler wants to be bold, brash, argumentative, abusive and in control, but he cannot bring himself to do these things and created an alternate version of himself. A fearless, strong, determined, and intimidating version of himself. Although he creates this character in his mind, he still feels as though the cards are stacked against him. So he rounds up like minded men to start a Fight Club. They then begin to dismantle the FACULTIES of society that encroach upon them not as men, but as individuals.
They are seeking to tear down the patriarchal hierarchy and the realm of traditional realism, sectors of society which they were left out of because they did not fit the mold. They were the other. The poor, the weak, the downtrodden. Tyler wants to write his life narrative, not have it written for him. He wants to know who he is and be free to express his true self. Tyler gets exceptionally close to reaching his goal but he falls short, crashes and burns. Although he succeeds in destroying the patriarchal hierarchy and traditional realist narrative, destroying the credit companies, levelling the playing field and moving the ebt to zero.
He is only able to complete this goal because he has other people stopping him from foiling his plans. He uses Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) to tell others to stop him from reneging on his nefarious plans. He has other control him. He is not able to control himself or what happens to him. In addition to that, Tyler Durden (Ed Norton) has not found himself. His true self is Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), but he killed him. He could not deal with who he truly is and instead of confronting, acknowledging and accepting that part of his being, his true being, he decides to kill that Tyler Durden. Tom Ripley is stuck.
Not in a rut, but in life. He lives in a basement apartment at the bottom of a long flight of stairs. Although he is talented and keen, he cannot escape his reality because he does not belong to the patriarchal hierarchy. He does not fit the traditional realist mold. His is not wealthy and he does not have the connections to escape the basement. When accosted by a shipping magnet to retrieve his son from Italy, Ripley obliges under the false pretenses that he attended Princeton University, a training ground for the execution of traditional realism and maintenance of the atriarchal hierarchy.
Upon arriving in Italy, Tom assumes the role of Dickie Greenleaf when he meets Meredith Logue, the heiress to a vast textile fortune. Upon meeting Dickie, Tom realizes that he is infatuated Dickie. He wants to be COOL like Dickie. He wants to charm women like Dickie. He wants to sound like Dickie. Look like Dickie, but most of all, he wants to be Dickie. Not for the life of leisure, but for the power. The power to be free of his problems. When Dickie Realizes that he did not attend Princeton and he is only using his family to a life of luxury, Dickie rejects Tom and emands that he return to the United States.
Tom is so consumed by his lust for power and wealth, the longing to be out of the basement, that he resorts to killing Dickie. Tome then believes that he must return to his old life, leaving behind what he longed for until he realizes that his goal has been accomplished, he has become Dickie Greenleaf. When he is mistaken for Dickie Greenleaf, Tom sees a way out of his life of misfortune and becomes Dickie Greenleaf. Tom creates a ruse, where he pantomimes as himself and Dickie all throughout Italy. As Tom Ripley, he is a lowly tourist; as Dickie Greenleaf, he is a od.
Unbeknownst to Tom he is still trapped in his basement. When Freddy inquiries about Dickie at Dickie’s (Tom’s) apartment, he kills Freddy to keep his secret. After incriminating Dickie in Freddy’s murder and faking Dickie’s suicide, he is confronted by Mr. Greenleaf and the family’s private detective. The men believe what Tom says to be true, but marge knows the truth. She knows that Dickie and Freddy were murdered at the Hands of Tom Ripley, but the men do not believe her. This is pivotal. Tom believes that he has crossed over into the traditional realist narrative.
In his mind, he is nowa part of the atriarchal hierarchy. Tom is consumed with is lust to rid himself of his problems and only creates more for himself. To him, everything he says, no matter how false is truth. The words of a woman, the words of anyone outside of the patriarchal hierarchy have no merit against his own. Tom has come to the finish line, but he is not able to cross it. While vacationing with Peter; a friend of Marge, Meredith, Freddy and Dickie, he meets Meredith Logue again. This would be fine if he is not Dickie Greenleaf to her and Tom Ripley to Peter.
Peter and Meredith are great friends and will likely see each other during the oyage, and unravel the mystery of Dickie Greenleaf and why death seems to follow those close to him. In an attempt to save his place on the totem pole, to save himself as Dickie Greenleaf, he resorts to killing Peter. Once the deed is done, He realizes, he is never one of them. He never had the money or the power, and he can never make his problems go away. What he had is an illusion. If he is actually a member of the patriarchal hierarchy, and became part of the traditionalist narrative, all of his problems would have been solves.
Dickie Greenleaf, Freddy, Meredith, Mr. Greenleaf and Marge all have their place in the patriarchal hierarchy and in varying degrees, they can use the wealth and the power to solve their problems. When Tome realizes this, and realizes that he is not one of them, but the other he feels trapped. Trapped like how he is when he is in his basement apartment. Although the men in these films; Leonard Shelby (Memento), Tyler Durden (Fight Club) and Tom Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley, are men. They are not patriarchs. They do not command respect, respect is commanded of them.
They come exceptionally close to reaching their goals, of entering the raditional realist narrative and the patriarchal hierarchy, but their hubris and inability to be true to themselves, causes their downfall. None of these men reach their goals and complete their life narratives. They cannot confront reality. They want to be a part of a system, a social construct that has built in defenses to keep them out. And until they are willing to accept not only themselves, but the illogicity of the systems in which they long to be a part of, not only will they never find themselves, but they will never accomplish anything in their lives.