Was Fight Club based on Calvin and Hobbes?

Back in 2001, Metaphilm theorized that the movie Fight Club was just a grown up version of Calvin and Hobbes.

In the film Fight Club, the real name of the protagonist (Ed Norton’s character) is never revealed. Many believe the reason behind this anonymity is to give “Jack” more of an everyman quality. Do not be deceived. “Jack” is really Calvin from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It’s true. Norton portrays the grown-up version of Calvin, while Brad Pitt plays his imaginary pal, Hobbes, reincarnated as Tyler Durden.

It’s quite the essay. This week High Definite created a visual of the Metaphilm’s essay and posted it on YouTube.

13 thoughts on “Was Fight Club based on Calvin and Hobbes?

  1. That’s a huge stretch. Palahniuk has said in interviews that the story is a revision of The Great Gatsby.

    The actual Fight Club idea came from about people’s responses to him after he was jumped during a camping trip – his face was all beat up, yet no one bothered to ask him why.

  2. Ah, so Project Mayhem was an updated version of G.R.O.S.S.

    Does that make Marla Susie Derkins? Kind of puts a really wrong twist on the line ‘I haven’t been fucked like that since grade school’

    …especially if Tyler Durden is Hobbes and WHY CAN’T I STOP THINKING?!?!

  3. I’m just throwing this out here… I always thought Watterson got the idea for calvin and hobbes from the old movie little lord fauntleroy any insight on this?

  4. A better argument might be C&H was based on Snoopy’s WWI flying ace fantasy.

    Which was probably based on James Thurber’s ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’.

    Which was probably based on something I’m unaware of.

    Good ideas aren’t necessarily always original. Good execution is.

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