The film, Fight Club exemplifies various ethical dilemmas relating to cultural standards, organizational structure, and ethics systems. These ethical dilemmas are presented through both personas of the main character, Tyler Durden. The situations that he faces can be related to real-life ethical issues that are relevant today. Fight Club illustrates many ethical notions that tie strongly to the culture of the organization and the situations that arise. The culture that exists around the fight club is founded on principles of brotherhood, loyalty, and secrecy.
These attitudes are stressed through the concept of group norms, where all members are to abandon their individualistic ideals to conform to the society of the club. In order to gain acceptance to the group, individuals must endure a period of hostile treatment. The treatment is not questioned by the members because of their desire for acceptance. This submission to the club shows deindividuation because members are not referred to by name unless they pass away. The roles of the members overpower their sense of individuality and they begin to lack a sense of their true selves.
They do not object to this environment because of the authoritative gap between Tyler and the rest of the members. The fight club members do everything that Tyler says to do, even if the actions are not ethical. The obedience to authority displays the lack of control that any one member of the group possesses. This obedience closely resembles that of the historical ideology of Nazism. Adolph Hitler fulfilled a void that was needed at the time, just as Tyler Durden did for the members of fight club.
However, he gained a dangerous amount of power that created a cult-like following. His destructive actions were far beyond unethical. His propaganda led to the mass genocide of millions of people, leaving only “members” who he believed possessed the “right” qualities of the perfect human race. Hitler’s followers were deindividualized just like the members of the fight club led by Tyler Durden. Relating to the deontological theory of ethics, the fight club’s value of brotherhood is so deeply valued by the members that they are ollowing the morals that they feel are most important. The lack of individualization does not appear to affect the members because they focus more on the loyalty that they all possess for the organization. In the cases of both the Nazi party and the fight club, the responsibilities of the groups are diffused among the members because of the lack of individuality and emphasis on the group as a whole. The authority figures, Hitler in the Nazi case, and Tyler Durden in the fight club case, are psychologically distant from the repercussions of their decisions.
Hitler instructed his regime to do malicious things, however, he was so far detached from the actual events themselves, that they did not seem to affect him personally. These events may have not seemed as brutal to him because he was not the one directly following through on his orders. Like Hitler, Tyler was detached from his actions because of his multiple personas. His persona as the narrator temporarily blinded him from seeing the results of his actions. The theory of multiple ethical selves typically refers to the difference between personal and professional life.
However, in Tyler’s case, the multiple selves represent two completely different personas. His personal persona is an insomniac who has very little motivation and whose job is to travel to accident sites to perform product recall cost appraisals (Pinto case reference? ) His second persona is explained best by Tyler saying, “All the ways you wish you could be, that’s me. I look like you wanna look…I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not” to the narrator. He is a “charismatic extremist of mysterious means”, while his first persona is dull and leads an uneventful life.
Throughout the film, these two personas are kept completely separate because of their differences. Two actors are required in order to clearly and accurately portray the differing personas. The plot sequence is enacted in a way that the viewer would perceive the two personas as completely different people. Through various scenes, the narrator comes to realize that he had fabricated his second persona. Upon this realization, the narrator must accept the fact that he is the force behind the complex plans of destruction.
He quickly focuses his efforts on the reversal of his alter ego’s plans that turned the fight club into the disparaging “Project Mayhem. ” The ideas behind this project were based off of the principles of equality, minimalism, and anti-corporate America. The targets of the destruction were all of the major credit card company headquarters. The reason behind these plans was to eliminate the debt records, thus allowing everyone to “start at zero. ” Tyler thought that with no debt record, problems surrounding materialism would vanish.
The reversal process would take the narrator on an arduous journey across the country. He follows Tyler’s paper trail, uncovering the plans little by little; all while realizing what was upon him. The narrator, in an attempt to foil the plans “Project Mayhem” had set into place, turns himself in to the authorities. This however, is a feeble attempt, leaving him by himself to fix the problem. The narrator then finds the plans that Tyler had drafted and calls the targeted companies. After exhausting all possible options, he was left with nothing. He was forced to become a spectator of Project Mayhem.
Although his intentions were to stop the plans altogether, he failed entirely. The narrator demonstrated a utilitarian approach in his effort to stop the madness. The implications of the buildings collapsing are far greater than just the loss of the physical property. Many people will be without jobs to support their families, and it would cause a great deal of emotional distress for not only the building employees, but also the entire surrounding community. A similar situation occurred in 1982 when Chicago was faced with a crisis involving Johnson and Johnsons Tylenol distribution.
An unidentified malevolent person laced a numerous amount of Extra-Strength Tylenol with cyanide. This tainted Tylenol was then distributed throughout the Chicago area. When Johnson & Johnson was confronted with the situation, it had to weigh several very important decisions that would severely impact the company’s future. Instead of the usual corporate mindset, CEO James Burke abandoned financial woes in an effort to honor the company’s credo. Within this credo co-founder Robert Johnson states, “We believe our first responsibility is to doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers, nd all others who use our products and services. ” Keeping this in mind, J&J used the media to promptly alert all of its patrons of the potential danger. Investigations quickly began to determine the source of the contamination. The ethical implications of this contamination were very high. Jim Burke employed a utilitarian approach to responding to the situation. It was the greatest good for all involved, which prevailed over the financial sector of J&J that became the plan of action. Burke and his colleagues proactively corrected the accidental distribution.
Once word got out of the crisis, all Tylenol was pulled off the market in an attempt to stop consumption immediately. Production was halted internally to further bottle security. All of these measures taken embody Burke’s utilitarian approach. Coupled with his proactivity, Burke established J&J as a forerunner in handling ethically challenging corporate decisions. The narrator’s approach mirrored Burke’s in several ways. Just as Burke responded with swift efficiency, the narrator impeded on Project Mayhem. Both kept the greater good in mind when weighing options.
Although each situation was unbeknownst to the respective figurehead, both intercepted the circumstances to the best of their situational ability. The consequences had already begun in both scenarios; for J&J, seven cyanide-related deaths had already occurred, and for the narrator, homemade explosives had already been planted. While both the narrator and Burke had the right intentions in mind, there was only so much that each could do to hinder what had already taken root. Even though Fight Club is a fictional portrayal of a modern-day cult, many of the ethical dilemmas are easily applicable to real-life situations.
Concepts like groups norms often appear in business environments among employees who may feel pressured to act according to “the way things are. ” It is within these groups that diffused responsibility is created, stressing the group mentality rather than individuality. From these issues stem the occurrence of deindividuation. With the spotlight on the group as a whole, it is easy for one to lose their sense of responsibility and identity. Ethical dilemmas of all types are omnipresent not only in the workplace, but in every facet of everyday life.
