Fight Club is one of my favorite movies. I always saw it as a critic of consumerist American society. My wife, who also loves the movie, sees it in the same light.

I had no idea it had been adopted by Incels. I fail to see how it could be seen to be the birth of the Incel movement, but I must admit I am very ignorant of that subculture.

Fight Club is one of the few movies I liked better than the book. I found the book great, too. Chuck Palahniuk, IIRC, has also said he likes the movie's changes to his story better than his original. High praise from him, and for him for being so humble!

I'm not sure what you mean by "the violence is unrealistic" as there are a lot of different types of violence. The main violence, fighting, is not so unrealistic to my amateur boxing eye (although I'll admit I always fight with gloves). Most guys off the street don't know how to throw a punch (see roughly 1 billion videos on YouTube) and at no time in Fight Club is there any organized training to improve anyone's technique. So you can see a lot of punches land without someone getting KOed.

When you are fighting you don't feel the pain so much. That was - to my mind - one of the things Fight Club got right. When you're fighting your world is focused and intense and it is you and the other guy. That was one of the main appeals of Fight Club. Unless you get really clocked (been there!) you don't feel the shots as hard as they are. After the fight? Definitely.