I see God in...Fight Club?

“Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God dammit, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.”

so, after going on a diatribe about how Hollywood is trying to cash in on spirituality, I'm hoping to bring in some insight from...the less obviously "spiritual" movies. I know most of you are going to think I'm insane by using Fight Club as an example, but I really do think it brings to light some pretty poignant insights about our culture...

I won't go into plot detail at all - you can find that out on your own, no doubt - but what I do want to say is that the film showcases the dark side of North American consumer culture so well. Our obsession with self-help programs that "empowers" the individual above all else, new age, and simulacra...have rendered us spiritually disabled. of course, the film takes an extremist course, everything about is extreme and borderline ridiculous...but it's almost like the narrative is laughing back at us saying: "don't you recognize yourself in all of this? you're just as guilty as I am".

although it doesn't go into great investigation as to why we've become so disconnected of meaning and purpose in our lives, it is still a relevant and deeply disturbing view into the darkness of our own souls - and plus, brad pitt and edward norton are just awesome in it...it's probably safe to say that this film turned the former from "pretty boy" to "serious actor".

do check it out if you haven't already. =)