20 Hidden Movie Frames You Probably Missed In Famous Movies
2. "Subliminal" Tyler Durden - Fight Club
David Fincher's Fight Club is absolutely filled to the gills with subtle imagery and ideas, but nothing more so than the extremely brief flashes of Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) we see before he actually meets the film's protagonist (Edward Norton) on a plane.
Durden flashes up for a couple of frames in four different scenes, such as Norton's character's trip to the doctor's office, his testicular cancer support group meeting, and when he's at work.
Even if you're eagle-eyed enough to actually catch these scenes the first time, you won't have any context whatsoever to understand their meaning, that they're representative of the protagonist's crippling insomnia and the split personality he has created for himself.
Though you'll probably never miss it again once you know it's there, more casual observers are still blissfully unaware. Given that Tyler is himself a projectionist who splices porno frames into kids' movies, it's an especially delicious irony.