Fight Club

The first rule of Fight Club is "You do not talk about Fight Club". The second rule is "You DO NOT talk about Fight Club." I guess we'll have to break both rules. Fight Club is a dark action movie that centers around a nameless protagonist (Edward Norton) and his associate Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). These two, fed up with the corporate world, start an organized fight club to vent their frustrations through the act of violence. Their club catches on, and eventually spreads all over the country. Pretty soon, the fight club becomes more than a tool venting, but a weapon of change, as the club starts to commit crimes in order to bring down the corporate world. The most interesting struggle, however, is the struggle for control between the narrator and Tyler, which ends in a shocking, dramatic twist ending.

Fight Club's main theme is the struggle between the corporate juggernaut and the masses. In the beginning of the film, Norton's character describes how he has become a slave to the corporate titans, as his house is, in his words, "an Ikea catalog". He works for a highly prominent, unnamed car company, and he describes his frustration for working for such a seemingly cold, heartless company. There is also the struggle with the "coming of age" between the narrator and Tyler. Both have pretty good jobs, and by society's vision of the American Dream, should be completely content. But both feel empty by their jobs and the effects of consumerism. Their parents told them going to school and getting these jobs would satisfy their every need, but instead, it has left them broken. These feelings represent the postmodern view of the broken promises of the modern age, and Generation X's sense of betrayal.

This film left me with many questions that I believe could stir great conversation and debate.

1. How does consumerism affect our relationship with our society and the Kingdom of God? Are we truly slaves to these corporations?

2. If corporate domination and consumerism are breaking our society away from the Kingdom, should we consider Tyler Durden's approach if "By any means necessary"? Is violence the answer to save us from corporate control?