Slater/Tyler Durden???


Although, I thoroughly enjoyed the Dennis Leary character, and I think it made Cambell's character's perspective connect more with the audience,... but did anyone else notice that it bites totally off of the Brad Pitt character, Tyler Durden, in the 1999 Fight Club? Just think about it, in Fight club, Pitt was the alter ego, and imaginary friend of Ed Norton. Everything Norton wished that he could be, confrontational, bold, stylish, free. The same is true for this scenario. Cambell's character, Dr. Hurst, was the most non-confrontational person ever, dry, conservative, while the Dennis Leary character is his imaginary friend, persuading him to be more confrontational, and to say what is on his mind. Also, the wardrobe of the Dennis Leary character, Slater, was strikingly similar to Tyler Durden's in fight club. Red leather Jacket, with stylish collar, and stylish flower shirt. Wild Sunglasses, spiky hairdo. Don't get me wrong, the characters work for both movies, and add a lot of value in both situations, but I wonder if the writer stole the idea shamelessly, or to be more politically correct, drew inspiration from the Tyler Durden character. Thoughts?

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The parallels between the alter egos are obvious, but you have to look at the protagonists' motivations for creating them. Ed Norton's character is seeking an escape; he hates the life that is characterized by consumerism, individuality through color swatches, and attempting to be a man when he has no one to model himself after. Tyler Durden is his idol, and remains so until he abandons the narrator and goes too far with the narrator's initial beliefs and desires. Slater is basically a personification of Dr. Hurst's anger and fleeting wishes of escape. Dr. Hurst listens to Slater infrequently; Slater's presence is more of a reassurance than anything else. He quickly realizes that Slater isn't useful to him. He realizes that what he values are the things for which Slater has disdain; Slater is a person that needs fuel to stay angry (i.e. he wants to know the man with whom the wife was having an affair and how they did it), whereas Dr. Hurst is compassionate and gets succor from taking care of his children. Also, the manner in which the alter egos are presented differs. In Fight Club, the alter ego is a surprise and a threat to the narrator's life. The latter is somewhat true in Secret Lives Of Dentists, since Slater's ideas and suggestions would destroy the life Dr. Hurst has created for himself, but it is always clear that Slater is not real, but rather is who Dr. Hurst could be should he want to.

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"Ed Norton's character is seeking an escape...Slater is basically a personification of Dr. Hurst's...wishes of escape."

So you're saying their reasons for creating the alter-egos are pretty much identical?

And to add some more fuel to the discussion, Ed Norton's doctor in Fight Club and Campbell Scott's doctor in Dentists are essentially the same character. You could swap the Valerian root dialogue from Fight Club with the influenza dialogue from Dentist's and not miss a beat.

Also, there's the daddy issues at the heart of both films. In Fight Club it's about as subtle as a sledge hammer, but in Dentist's, it's more subtle--Hurst's poor relationship to his father is the cause of his devotion to keeping his family together.

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Slater had more of an alter-ego realism; as he wasn't that realistic.

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Coulda' bloody put spoiler tags on the topic dude, *beep* hell

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