'Fight Club' Fans React With Fury to Claim Brad Pitt Film Is 'Red Flag Movie'

A film fan on Twitter has learned the hard way that the first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club.

When writer and filmmaker Sam Perez first took to Twitter to ask a question that referenced the 1999 Brad Pitt movie, he could never have anticipated what would come next.

Tweeting via @HosteenCholo, he wrote: "Hey Film Twitter, I got a question.We all know red flag movies, Fight Club, The Joker, etc, that we all can spot on sight, but is there any green flag movies? Movies that you hear someone say that makes you instantly trust or like a person?"

A red flag has traditionally been used as a warning of danger. In this modern context, a "red flag movie" refers to an individual's preference for a particular film as being indicative of negative underlying character traits.

Perez posted the seemingly innocuous tweet in the hope of sparking a discussion about positive and life-affirming movies.

However, much of the debate that followed instead focused on his description of Fight Club as a "red flag" movie, which many fans took issue with.

Video game developer Dave Oshry was among those to criticize Perez's choice of words, writing: "Remember before Twitter when it was okay to like Fight Club?"

Film critic and writer David Bailey was similarly scathing in his response, writing: "Interestingly my red flag is people who assume anyone who appreciates Fight Club is part of the fairly small portion of its audience that misreads it as a serious call to arms."

YouTuber Justin Whang was critical of the description, though he did at least play along, with his own example of a green flag movie.

"We do not 'all know red flag movies' like Fight Club and Joker," the streamer wrote. "But to answer the question, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2."

Others, like IGN editorial producer Mitchell Saltzman, were less forgiving.

He wrote: "LOL f*** this, Fight Club's one of my favorite movies, and if you're gonna judge me based on that just that, I don't want anything to do with you. Red flag movies, get out of here."

Film writer Donald Clarke also rejected the concept.

"No. There are no 'red flag movies' (or books or records) either. And I speak as someone who can't stand Fight Club," he tweeted.

Fellow writer Dennis DiClaudio, meanwhile, made his own distinction, writing: "Liking the filmcraft of Fight Club is fine. Using it as a pillar of your personality is not."

Fans, for the most part, were dismayed at the description, with several people describing the tweet as a "red flag" in itself. At the time of writing, Perez's tweet had been shared on the platform nearly 8,000 times.

"You know, to distrust someone based on the type of fiction they enjoy is an insane thing to do," @TheStrxggler wrote.

"Now if they make that fiction their whole personality, that is a horse of a different color."

"God, film twitter discourse is exhausting," podcaster Kat Cosgrove wrote.

"Liking Fight Club is not a red flag. Idolizing Tyler Durden is. Shut the f*** up."

Despite the backlash there was a contingent on Twitter who seemed happy to engage in Perez's debate on "green flag" movies including Chance the Rapper and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

"Anyone that can understand the deep cinematic qualities of Hot Rod can be trusted around your family," Chance responded while Gordon-Levitt picked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as his green flag movie.

Based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, Fight Club chronicles the dark misadventures of a discontented white-collar insomniac (Edward Norton) who, after teaming up with an anarchic soap salesman by the name of Tyler Durden (Pitt) decides to form an underground fight club.

First released in 1999, David Fincher's film initially divided critics and underwhelmed at the box office but has gone on to earn cult status since and with it critical reappraisal thanks to the film's layered and timeless themes around topics like toxic masculinity, capitalism and the anti-establishment movement.

Newsweek has reached out to Perez for comment.