It should also be noted that Fight Club came out the same year as the Columbine Shooting happened, so like The Matrix, it also arrived at an inopportune time and was an easy scapegoat and example of the things that caused society’s ills.
The subversive, anti-establishment message espoused by Tyler Durden in Fight Club was viewed as a dangerous and irresponsible thing to be in a Hollywood film.
And rather than take a nuanced look at the satirical nature of the story, the response was to condemn it.