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In the movie Fight Club, the real name of the protagonist (Ed Norton's character) is never revealed. And while some feel the only reason behind this is to give the character more of an "everyman" quality, I say, do not be deceived. Because it's obvious to anyone with working eyes that "Jack" is actually someone whom many of us grew up with, someone who might've been present at all your childhood breakfasts of Sugar Frosted Chocolate Bombs. You see, "Jack" from Fight Club and Calvin from the greatest comic strip ever, "Calvin and Hobbes," are in fact the exact same person! But laugh now, for by the time you finish reading this page, I will prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ed Norton is indeed playing the part of grown-up Calvin. Part I: The Hobbes-Tyler Connection We start with the most obvious bit. Picture this: a hyper, self-absorbed child initially concocts an imaginary friend as the ideal playmate, to whom more realistic qualities soon become attributed. This phantasm becomes a completely separate personality, with his own likes, dislikes, temperament -- and the imaginer and the imagined clash and argue constantly, though remaining fast friends. This pattern continues to the point where the child begins to perceive what was originally mere fantasy to be _reality_. This is evident in that both Hobbes and Tyler also began to function as scapegoats for their creators. For instance, consider that Calvin often blames broken lamps and other assorted household mischief on Hobbes, and that Jack is inclined to believe that Fight Club and other various anti-society mischief is brought about by Tyler, not himself. Calvin claims Hobbes pounces on him every day after school, Jack believes Tyler beats him up next to 40 kilotons of nitroglycerin in a parking garage -- the list goes on and on. The relationships between the two sets of friends are the exact same. Now then, filling in the time-gap between Calvin and Jack, we can imagine the story as something like this: Once Calvin reaches the hostile environment known as the 7th grade, the constant teasing from the other students and the frustrated concern of his parents finally becomes too much, and a reluctant, disillusioned Calvin is finally forced to grow up, or at least begin to. This decision is sealed by one of the hardest things young Calvin will ever have to do in his life -- un-imagining Hobbes, an act which to Calvin is essentially no different from murder. After being Calvin's best friend for over a decade, Hobbes is packed away in a box, or tossed carelessly into a garbage bag, perhaps even stuffed under the same bed that once contained so many monsters. This is all of course, very painful for Calvin, so much so that he represses it all in shame. So little did Calvin suspect, that while he was busy learning to tie ties, asking someone out to his first dance, deciding what "dinette set defines him as a person," and basically growing up, Hobbes is in fact doing the same thing, in a dark, hidden corner of Calvin's mind, waiting for the moment when he can be free again. It's worth noting that during these 20 or so years, Hobbes never bore a grudge against Calvin nor wished any ill upon him. Back in their prime, though they bickered constantly, the pair truly did deeply care for each other. And Hobbes, knowing this, resents being put away, but he does not hate Calvin. Rather, he hates the society that MADE Calvin put him away. Hobbes, being inside Calvin's mind, sees and experiences all that Calvin does -- and truly despises all of it. He witnesses a bright, superbly imaginative kid (with a genius-level vocabulary, I might add) reduced to nothing more than another nameless cog, and fighting off the tears wept for his best friend, resolves to one day set him free. Even though he had done everything he was supposed to have done, and wound up completely miserable. Which is when Hobbes, newly adjusted as "Tyler Durden" (after all, grown-up Calvin would no longer accept a jungle animal walking, talking, and eating canned tuna), re-enters Calvin/Jack's life. He's going to show Calvin everything he's done wrong, whether Calvin likes it or not. Given the evidence, it's VERY likely that Tyler is indeed an updated version of Hobbes, twisted after so many years trapped inside Calvin/Jack's brain. Look at Tyler's relationship with the only woman in Jack's life: Marla. Imagine, please, the following: Somewhere between the end of high school and beginning of college, uptight, grade-obsessed Susie Derkins loses her way. The pressure to get good grades, the pressure to succeed, simply becomes too much for her, and she snaps. Free from the protective bonds of her parents' guidance and the bland safety of her suburban home, she loses her moral bearings entirely and sinks into a dark, seamy, grim world of sex, drugs, and eccentric Albert-Einstein-like hair. And, her transformation being so complete that she no longer even remotely resembles the upright citizen that her parents and society, not necessarily she herself, wanted her to be, she also changes her name. Like Calvin, she has become a misfit, one of society's lost lambs. But the two have changed so much that they no longer recognize each other! Also I'd like to point out that the pink dress Marla wears in one scene slightly resembles something that "Binky Betsy," Susie's favorite childhood doll, might wear. All right, so it's a BIT of a stretch, but it could happen! And regardless of whether Marla is indeed the twisted, fallen-from-grace future of Susie "Straight-and-Narrow" Derkins, the fact remains that the two girls play similar roles in the lives of their respective male counterparts, AND with their imaginary friends. Which is to say, that while Calvin and Susie mostly teased and tortured each other, HOBBES, on the other hand, actually quite fancied the raven-haired beauty. Accordingly, Jack despises Marla, whereas Tyler takes an *ahem* sort of interest in her that is definitely NOT appropriate for the Sunday Funnies. And it is through the examination of these relationships in which we can find further evidence that "Jack" is the matured Calvin. When first we are introduced to Marla, she is but a tumor on Jack's slowly deteriorating world. She is disenfranchised, morbid, socially apathetic -- and Jack despises her because she is a mirror image of himself, his own female double. On the other hand, Calvin hates Susie because she is his exact opposite: Bright, obedient, demure -- the unruly Calvin has every reason to hate her. However, certain strips definitely infer that Calvin has somewhat of a crush on Susie, and some even imply that Susie shares these latent feelings. But as a cootie-fearing grade-schooler, Calvin may only express these strange feelings through attention-getting antagonisms such as constant snowballs to the head, ransoming her dolls -- AND through his separate, conveniently more mature other personality -- Hobbes. Unlike Calvin, Hobbes has never been bashful about showing his affection for Susie. Calvin's imaginary tiger-friend has called her a "cutie," worn swim jams to impress her ("Girls flip for guys in jams"), and even claimed he would betray their club's secret code if she gave him a tummy rub (which is one of the key differences between Tyler and Hobbes). Naturally, all of this confuses and frustrates Calvin beyond words, even though Hobbes is really nothing more than a product of his own mind! Perhaps Marla puts up with Jack/Tyler's apparent nonsense for so long, because it's the sort of thing she became used to as a child? And perhaps, in the end, Jack finds solace in Marla because it's the exact same connection he should've made long ago, in his suburban youth. Part III: GROSS: Precursor of Fight Club A lot of people think that the creation of something like "Fight Club," by which I mean the actual club and not the movie, would be a frighteningly revolutionary thing. Because when you boil it down, the fighting-club that Jack and Tyler start is really just an odd sort of boys' club -- no ovaries allowed -- where men can be men, and the so-called stronger of the sexes can take solace in the fact that, even in o...
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