the clerk

I read a interesting book a few years back called "The Wrath of Cochise". It was about the Apache wars in the mid-late 1800's.

The interesting thing about the book was that it gave the point of view of the Apaches. They were a warrior tribe, it sustained itself not by hunting but raiding! This was a culture that was built around a warrior ethos, which would celebrate a young man going on his first raiding party.

The Apaches looked at the white man with contempt, working all day to manufacture goods, the goal of accumulating wealth was alien to them. A totally foriegn concept.

This movie is kind of like that, the acknowledgement of the spirtiual emptiness of captialism.

Absolutely

True
But then the character of Tyler truly believes it to be true

First off, the entire thing is fiction, so there's no right answer here. Second, this is not, or at least should not be, a discussion of Tyler's overall characterization. This should be a thought exercise about that one scene, and how it might play out in the real world.

I know that many, many people want to do some certain thing with their life, whether it be write a book, go back to school, learn to play an instrument, start a band, start a small business, travel to a foreign land, and yet they don't do it. They are afraid of the risks. Their life is not what they want it to be, but they are comfortable with the predictable routine and are afraid to risk finding themselves in a worse situation down the road because of a failed attempt to create a better situation.

What would happen if someone did what Tyler did to such a person? On one hand, it is a scary situation, though I think PTSD is going to be a rare result. Most people are sturdy enough to get past a robbery or assault without PTSD. Rather, I think the person would do some deep thinking and realize that they are being forced to do exactly what they want to do. I honestly think it would be more of a wake-up call to get one's life in order than something that leaves a person cowering under the bed. Again, as it's fiction, there's no right answer, but I think the odds are overwhelming that Hessel enrolled in school and took a different, better path through life for having met Tyler.

Okay, you win, but my point stands. We aren't talking about you but a fictional clerk.

I don't think it's useful to argue about how a fictional clerk might react in a movie. My point was just that not everyone wilts like a flower at the first sign of violence.

Shell shock went from being prolonged exposure to artillery fire to PTSD which includes being in a car crash. By the time we get to Gen A they'll need therapy for being startled. Kids need some hardship to develop mental muscle and walls so that every little thing doesn't send them spiraling out of control.

Your a moron who thinks in Tyler's dumb fantasy, reality is that the clerk is suffering from PTSD as he was assaulted by a crazy madman who talks to himself and terrified.

But the point is Tyler isn't cool. Tyler is a complete monster. He sounds cool. He looks cool. You might think he acts cool, until you see what's going on underneath. Tyler represents every bad instinct, every hurtful thought, every violent impulse. His "cool" is a sound byte meant to distract you from the awful things he means to do for no better reason than because he can. He's a sociopath. Ego unleashed.

He represents selfishness, and violence. He's anger and chaos and fuck the world. He isn't about lashing out at authority, or trying to forge your own identity. He's about destructively acting out at everything you've labelled as hurtful, at everything that makes you a "victim", just so that you don't have to take real responsibility. Tyler isn't working from home because he's responsible, he's working from home because he's a terrorist.

it's a negative experience for the clerk and likely very traumatic. Most people do. It's the point of the scene, it establishes Tyler's lack of morality and twisted view of things. There always has been, but the movie makes it pretty clear the entire time that Tyler is a bad person who should not be emulated. Most normal people agreed the first time that yes, Norton/Pitt are traumatizing the store clerk and his little monologue about the clerk being better off for it is insane and backwards. I'm just saying, it's not a controversial take, it's the correct and agreed upon take of the film and the film itself supports that narrative.

It's like you're watching the villain of a movie do something bad and wrong and you're going 'yikes, I don't know about this one guys, that guy seems bad and wrong!' it's like... yeah.