Fight Club

Tony Stark said:

He took a job as a movie projector just so he could splice pornography into family films. This is not impulse, nor SP. Yes, an SP wants people to live, but in a very impulsive way. They wouldn't plot these things deviously like Durden does. ENTPs are all about the visionary big plan, whether they are currently successful or not. An ESTP would not get distracted by all the things Durden does that don't contribute to the plan. The plan could easily be an ENTP plan, as it is seen as a vast improvement over the current situation. I think it's more than just wanting people to "live." You have to admit Tyler is a plotting NT, and extroverted. If he's not ENTP, he's ENTJ.

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Big bad wolf said:

I would be willing to back ENTJ for Durden. Changing perspectives in others is a big Ni give away, and creating a system is what NJ's do best. Fight Club, could definitely be categorized, as such. An ENTJ might be more likely to actually "do" the reprogramming and Te dom could lead to a complete disregard of being swayed away from it. Plus, he was intended to represent most of what The Narrator wasn't, an outgoing, charismatic guy, that was "harder" and "had it together". So...an ENTJ, comfortable in his ESTP mask, would be my best shot. Especially, since I believe the "ESTP projection" was intended as a symbolic representation of the type of person, socially speaking, that was someone others would deem "worthy" of listening to and following.

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You know, the ENTJ line of thinking made me think of something else. Perhaps you could type things like this:

The Narrator - INTJ (maybe INFJ)
Tyler - ESTP

The narrator has a vision for what he wants, but he clearly doesn't have the social skills to attain them. He creates Tyler to do all of them. This is a bit more clear in the book where it is more explicit that Tyler was created so the narrator could get Marla. He creates Tyler (an ESTP) to carry out that vision. Hypothetically speaking, this could be a very dangerous combination: a charismatic ESTP guided by a visionary (and disgruntled) INTJ.

After all, I know that ENTPs and ENTJs can be charismatic, but I just don't see them as having the charisma to do the things that Tyler does. I suppose an ENFx might, but I have difficulty believing that Tyler is an NF for reasons I can't place my finger on. ESTPs can be very convincing people who don't have all of the moral or logical restrictions an NT or NF might.

Plus, Tyler's way of dress is very un-NT and very un-NF. It's flashy and stylistic, which is a signature of an ESTP. An NT's clothing will tend to be purely functional without much thought about style. An NFJ might be inclined to dress up, but mostly as a way of getting other people to like them. Tyler's clothing seems more about grabbing your eye and getting peoples' attention than it is about saying "this is a really likeable person".

Tony Stark said:

I was too quick to write off INTJ for the narrator. The dry humor is very INTJ. I don't know INTJs well enough to know if the angst is, but maybe so. If it is, it's rarely on display like this. I haven't read the book, but in the movie, the narrator apparently has no clue what he wants - he's still dumbfounded by the extent of Tyler's creation, even in the end. INTJ still doesn't sound right, at least in the movie, because of the cluelessness and angst.

It would make sense that the narrator would create an ESTP as a charismatic alter-ego, but that defeats our argument, because he's not going to get it right, or blow it way out of proportion. For sake of argument, though: Tyler's dress is an anti-style, consistent with his contrary take on everything. From the 70s disco style on the plane to the dirty, ratty 1950s women's bathrobe he probably picked up at the Salvation Army. He wears other people's once fashionable, but hopelessly out of style discards. I don't see it as a way to say "look at me" as a statement of "I can say and do whatever I want, while you are conforming to societal norms" You could even say it is functional to his purpose. It's also an ENTP's nature to be contrary.

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All the reading about Beebe and archetypes I've been doing gave me another idea.

First of all, the narrator. Think about his work environment. It's dehumanizing and focused on efficiency (which aren't necessarily things that an INTJ would hate as much as the narrator does). Plus, I think he feels genuine empathy for people like Robert Paulson. I think he's an INFP.

Now, the mistake we made is assuming that Tyler Durden was a complete separate personality. I think he represents the "arms" of the narrator's shadow personality: Ni and Se. I understand what you're getting at in terms of dress, but still don't think that his way of dressing could be motivated without an Se component. Combine that with Ni's diabolical vision, remove any T or F component to balance things out, and you'd get Tyler Durden.

I think that what made Tyler go away at the end wasn't the narrator's attempt at suicide. Rather, I think it was the fact that he "owned" Tyler. He realized Tyler wasn't a separate entity, but was a part of himself.