The meaning behind the name 'Tyler Durden'

[doubleit]

For a film/book so full of symbolism, the name Tyler Durden must have some sort of significance. According to Roland Barthes proper names are the prince of signifiers with rich connotations both social and symbolic, so I can not help but wonder about Mr. Durden.

Any thoughts? Google hasnt come up with much. I've heard it was ripped from a disney cartoon but i cant find anything to back that up.

[billythrilly7]

Tyler is taken from Ty Cobb.

Ty Cobb = 4000+ hits.

Hits = punches
Fight Club

Durden was taken from Durden Enterprises. They produce plastics.

"We live in a world where everything is plastic."
Tyler Durden

There you go.

[doubleit]

Tyler is taken from Ty Cobb.

Ty Cobb = 4000+ hits.

Hits = punches
Fight Club

Durden was taken from Durden Enterprises. They produce plastics.

"We live in a world where everything is plastic."
Tyler Durden

There you go.

Hmm. Im not sure if I buy that. Perhaps if Durden Ent. was soap related, but plastic does not play a major role in the film, and just because Tyler mentions plastic does not mean its a major part of his character.

Other ideas?

[billythrilly7]

Tyler = from the occupation "tiler of roofs."

The house they lived in was always leaking. It should have been fixed, but Tyler didn't fix it. The ultimate in irony.

Durden = *An old English word signifying a coppice or thicket of wood in a valley

The house was made out of wood. And the valley was his souls. The house was a wood valley that was leaking. As was his soul.

Tyler Durden

There you go.

[Salazkin]

I'll buy that. :rolleyes:

[scripter1]

Do you guys actually ENJOY the movies you watch

or do you just analyze them for crap like this?

Sheesh, I mean talk about being taken out of your film!

[Ravenlocks]

Um, it's possible for a name to have significance. Appreciating the layers of a movie adds to the enjoyment.

Having said that, I think billy should just 'fess up and say he has no idea.

[refriedwhiskey]

Billy having fun in his way. The joke's on anyone who thinks he's serious.

Tyler Durden. Does it mean anything? Maybe it's the kid who beat up Chuck Palahniuk in Jr. High School. Maybe Palahniuk picked it out of a phone book at random. Maybe it's an anagram for something. Unless we hear it from the author's mouth, it means nothing.

[Pen Dragon]

Jesse Bookbinder is a name I'm still trying to unravel the mystery surrounding. I allot 3 minutes of thought every 9 months to it. Been doing that since 1975

[kintnerboy]

Tyler is the name of a boy who picked on Chuck Palahniuk's sister.

Durden is the name of an old co-worker Chuck did not particularly like.

Fight Club has one of the best dvd commentaries ever, you should listen to it sometime!

[TwoBitHack]

I thought he was supposed to be named after Spielberg's dog. Or was it Lucas' dog?

[refriedwhiskey]

Wow, I was close.

[dclary]

This is easy...

Anytime a character has the acronym JC it's a symbol of Jesus Christ.

So... Tyler Durden... TD.... The Devil.

[Jake Schuster]

On a reading during a book tour, a member of the audience stood up and said, "I know why you named your main character Jane Bowman. It's because you're sexist. 'Bowan.' 'Bow-to-man.' Now don't deny it."

I told her exactly how I found the name. I was thinking of a well-known British photographer named Jane Bown, and searching for something similar, I quickly turned over a CD on my desk. The name "James Bowman" leaped out at me and I used it.

She refused to believe it. There's one in every crowd. (Dumbest question I ever got at a reading: "Are you John Grisham?" When I stated the obvious she asked the second dumbest question: "Are you sure you're not John Grisham?")

Point is, sometimes it's just chance that gives us a name. Writer David Cornwell found his on the side of a van: "Le Carré". The "John" probably came afterwards. :)

[Ravenlocks]

Jake, are you John Grisham?

[Jake Schuster]

...and that makes three.
:D

[wcmartell]

I want Billy to keep running with it - I'm laughing my ass off.

Meanwhile, I'm going to look for the significance of the names in PORKY'S.

- Bill

[whistlelock]

I thought the name came from a favorite movie and a co-worker that got fired.



but, most names aren't significant in modern literature. It's too easy to spot and kinda overly clever when it is there.

[dclary]

My bad guys in my first film were Howard, Nash, Ron, and Russell.

Yeah, I was kinda pissed ABM beat out FOTR for best picture.

;)

[Hairy Lime]

Most meaningful name I've ever put in a script was an exterminator named Benji.

[Salazkin]

It unscrambles to truly redden!

And we all know what that means. BWOO HAA HAA HAA HAA HAA!! :eek:

[billythrilly7]

It also unscrambles to...

"Ned Ryerson" from GroundHog Day.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-03-18/screens_roundup43-1.jpg

Weiirrdd.

Tyler is anti-Ned.

And then after reaserching Ned Ryerson this is what I also found out.

At the Chilmark cemetery on Martha's Vineyard where John Belushi is buried a gravestone in the name of Ned Ryerson exists. Murray was on SNL with Belushi. Ramis directed a lot of movies with Ackroyd, Murray etc. The name of the character could have come form this gravestone. Is this really where Belushi is buried rather than the fake stone in the front of the cemetery?

So Tyler Durden is really a symbolic representation of John Belushi. Belushi was about excess as was Tyler Durden.

John Belushi = Tyler Durden

There you go.

[dclary]

:|

[Salazkin]

:rolling:

:)

:|

:(

[refriedwhiskey]

Ned? Ned the head?!

[billythrilly7]

Bing!