Okay — let’s break this down. The fan theory imagines that, years after the events of “Calvin & Hobbes” — namely, Calvin’s unfulfilling, bleak adulthood where he’s so desperate for companionship that he hallucinates a whole guy and starts a fight club under said guy’s identity. Again, it’s important to note that Calvin does have a vivid imagination, though it’s probably not totally out of the ordinary for a six-year-old to truly believe that his beloved stuffed tiger is not only really alive but also his thoughtful, loyal best friend. All of this makes both projects much, much sadder, though.
Keith Buster takes this thought to the extreme in his blog post. “This makes the reality of ‘Fight Club’ all the bleaker, because it depicts what happens when you take someone weaned on dreams and limitless possibilities and jam him into a cramped cage confined by rules and regulations,” he wrote. “It probably only took poor Calvin a few years in the adult world (or growing-up world) to fully make the sad change.”
Considering how popular both of these properties are, it stands to reason that there are people out there who are fans of both “Calvin & Hobbes” and “Fight Club.” Clearly, Buster is one of them. It feels somehow wrong, though, to look at a sweet series like “Calvin & Hobbes” and surmise that it could turn into something as depressing as “Fight Club.”
