What's Up With the Ending?
He Needs That Like He Needs a Hole in the Head
Don't you hate it when you accidentally almost destroy society? Our main character sure does. He finds out that not only are he and Tyler Durden the same person, but that means that he's behind the whole Project Mayhem plan to fracture the foundations of capitalism and send society into a primitive state.
Despite everything in the movie leading up to this, our narrator decides that he has to stop it. His corporate-controlled mindset takes charge. He does an about-face and decides to try and save society instead of blowing it up.
Too late, dude. He manages to dismantle one bomb, but he doesn't have time to stop the others. He does, however, manage to kill the Tyler Durden half of his personality by shooting himself in the face. In a world where this guy is two people, that crazy method manages to work. You know you've hit rock bottom when you have a hole in your face.
Strange Days
After eliminating Tyler, Marla shows up. Our main character realizes that the Tyler-side of his personality loved her, so he must love her too. He tells her so, and she instantly forgets what a lunatic he is and not only seems to believe him, but she takes out a Kleenex to stanch the bleeding from his face wound.
"You met me at a very strange time in my life," he says to her (now that's an understatement), and the two hold hands as the bombs set by Project Mayhem detonate and buildings fall around them. They're able to look out the window of the building they're in and watch them all crumble.
While we're left on a note of romantic hope, we have to wonder what the world is going to look like after this, um, terrorist attack. Are our narrator and Marla going to be the Adam and Eve of a brave new world?
The penis that flashes right before the credits roll remind us that Tyler is at the helm of everything…so we doubt this is going to be happily ever after.