Movie podcast breaks first rule of Fight Club 1,843 times in first episode

Podcasting history was made this week by the very first episode of the recently debuted film podcast, Reelity Bites. (No, the name doesn't work particularly well, but all the other reel/real puns were taken. In fact, every other potential film podcast name was taken. Yes, even that one.)

In the inaugural ep of this podcast which, in a novel twist, is hosted by three 30-something friends, the film Fight Club (1999) was referenced some 1,843 times, only 257 of which were during the reading of a promo for Stamps.com.

(If you're looking for a more detailed breakdown, Owen mentioned the movie 752 times, Colin referenced the Fincher flick 595 times, and Gregg lagged behind with only 496 mentions, though to be fair he was doing double-duty hosting and producing,  and thus constantly checking the levels and asking everybody if the levels seemed okay and saying he was just going to adjust the levels a little bit.)

Fight Club, which was released when the co-hosts were an average age of 15, has been deemed by these film analysts to be the movie to discuss in this, the year 2018.

And they're just getting started.

They don't wholeheartedly endorse the film's message, they said during the episode, or at least not as much as they used to. They have come to see it from different angles than they did in their teens, and are trying to apply the meaning of its challenges to consumerism and conformity in fresh ways to our modern, millennial, gig-economy world.

But how do they catch all these nuances, and yet manage to miss its central message: do not talk about the fight club?

In fact, it's not just the first rule, it's the first two rules; it's simply that important.

I'm playing with fire here as it is, in just tangentially referring to it.

I'm not saying you can't discuss it at all. You just have to do it correctly. You have to make the minutes count. If you're going to break the rule, do it quickly, do it incisively, and get off the topic before Brad Pitt notices.

One instance in which I would argue they did not make the minutes count is when they spent seven minutes (of the podcast's four hours and 13 minutes) discussing the importance of Steve Buscemi's performance in the film.

Steve Buscemi does not appear in the film Fight Club.

Why don't they know that there are a) other films, and b) other films that come from before 1999?

The most passionate debate was comparing Fight Club to Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and comparing both of those in turn to The Matrix (1999) — films that would seem to have very little in common besides having been released while these gentlemen had plenty of time on their hands.

So please. If you must podcast, do so, but please respect the rules. Both of them.

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