Ode to Fight Club

It's a slow day at work. I've been up since 6:30 AM. I don't have much else to do than blog or apply for jobs. I'm doing both, cause I'm definitely not studying.

Over the weekend I watched Fight Club. It's been a while since the last time I've watched it, probably about a year?

It's always a very thought provoking movie that has caused me to write several academic papers (yes, as in for class) about the current state of the American society in 21st Century America.

Before I start lecturing, I should give my history with Fight Club. In my senior year at the Prep, I took a banned books class. It wasn't really banned books, but it was more "controversial" books. That class might of been the only class I've ever enjoyed reading for school. We read some great books like Fight Club, Harry Potter, Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, and American Psycho. My teacher used to call it "cool books class."Couldn't be more spot on. At an all guys school, what could be cooler than reading "real" books, not the traditional "academic" books.

Anyway, so I hadn't read or seen the movie yet. I just wasn't really into movies. I'm still not compared so some of my friends in COM/CFA, but that's also because film is their major, so that makes a difference.

I read the book. If you haven't, do it. It's great. Particularly if you haven't seen the movie. I think it's always better to read the book beforehand - how many times does someone say the book was better than the movie? Almost always. One just takes more time than the other. Sometimes much more time depending on your ADHD.

The book/movie totally change your mind about life. At least for me. We've set ourselves up in this convoluted system where our possessions own us. We aren't free. "The things that you own end up owning you," as Tyler would say. Think about it. We've become so into our cell phones and furniture and iPods and iPads and HDTVs and our nice pair of jeans and our cars and so on and so on. We've enslaved ourselves. We work just so we can buy stuff we don't really need.

The character of Tyler Durden is an interesting man, even though he isn't real. He has a unique way of thinking that's radical yet feels true. People have these dreams but never follow through. For example, if you really wanted to be an athlete, you would have to commit everything you had to it. I'm sure most guys dream of playing professional sports, but don't commit to it. Tyler represents the thinking that we were meant to have - Do what you want to do. Don't have any reason to hold yourself back. If you want to get in a fight, why not? If you don't want to get married, who cares? Instead, do whatever. Keep evolving however, don't settle.

The concept of the "white male" is really what's under the microscope - and it has really evolved, and now they don't really have an identity. As everyone kind of "melts" into the Melting Pot concept, there is no more class that's more powerful than others. In history, it was traditionally the white male. No longer is that the case. Everyone's catching up - and in some areas certain demographics do better. So these relatively "successful" men have no concept of what to do anymore - no longer are they the most powerful people in the room. Not only that - add in the rapid development of divorce - children raised by single parents can really intimidate the masculinity (or femininity in the opposite sense) of the child and leave them without an identity. All they have is their possessions from their money. No personal sense of purpose or accomplishment. Is your life seriously about working as a waiter your entire life? What about a police officer? Or maybe a secretary?

The problem with Tyler's lifestyle is that it's flawed. No one can just afford to stop everything they're doing and sever ties with their situation. In Tyler's ideal world, there is choice. You have the choice to let go everything you have and pursue something serious. Unfortunately it isn't that simple. Tyler is the extreme of one side. We need to find the happy medium. Tyler's everything we want, but without paying the price. It's an interesting sacrifice. There's so many things I would love to do (travel, live on the beach, drink clean water) and I can't because I'm fighting the system to succeed. As is everyone else. I don't usually "read" into movies and books, but I really believe that Fight Club is a great social commentary that really let's out a message under the guise of a sleep-deprived narrator. Anyways, let's go get that life we want. The pursuit of happiness.