Hallowe'en night, the dead are close to us.
They say that.
They.
And they may be right.
We are fascinated with the stupid stuff.
"The witches have cursed the candy supply."
I think maybe not the witches...they're thinking of Project Mayhem. Not an easy mistake to make, unless they haven't seen Fight Club.
And the candy, the pure molded shit we smoosh with our molars and send careening down into our bloodstreams, is big business.
Do we worry about Nestle? They do horrible things. But we buy their candy, and give it to our kids.
The Daily Show did a pretty astute clip regarding the futility of boycotts, or at least the frustration of attempting them:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-27-2009/whole-foods-boycott
But enough about consumerism. In the cold Hallowe'en desert night, we can drive to a desolate area, and sit under the moon. We can make magic happen. But I'll probably stay home, remote control in one hand, bottle of wine in the other. The magic dissipated many years ago. The veil between the physical world and the invisible world, be it thick or thin, I don't think it registers anymore. I don't feel anything.
Maybe tonight can be my new year's. Tomorrow, push away all the chemicals, the people-pleasing, the games, the existential focus on materialism. Why wait till tonight? I think I'll start now.
Showing posts with label Fight Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fight Club. Show all posts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
New thoughts on "Fight Club" (the movie) - SPOILERS WITHIN
Okay, so I just finished watching Fight Club again, first time in almost ten years. (I saw it several times back then, and the DVD has sat on my shelf for many years since. It was time to revisit.)
These thoughts are for those who have indeed watched the film already. It gives away too much if you are planning to see it. There's your warning!
My earlier feeling was that this movie metaphorically described how to get out of rut, out of the matrix, so to speak.
Watching it this time, I really started to wonder what to do with the brainwashing aspect of the Durden plan. The new recruits are head-shaven. Slogans are shouted into their faces over and over and down the line, passed on. You are not a unique and beautiful snowflake. You are not...you are not....
You have no names...
And then, even when he tries to point out that it's not true, that they do have names, it becomes another slogan. His name is Robert Paulson....
Animal Farm...the initial pig who dies, but first gives a big speech, essentially the Karl Marx of the book...his words are perverted by later pigs, until they become as bad as their original oppressors.
Fight Club seems to be doing something similar, though in the end, yes, no one gets hurt by the exploding buildings, but still...
It's happily not simple. Which makes it not a nice neat metaphor after all.
It's making me think about the film's intent more. Yes, it still blows me away in some ways. But most of that comes from the first act, as Roger Ebert describes in his review:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991015/REVIEWS/910150302/1023
I think he is too dismissive in his review, but if I toss aside his desire to turn his observations into criticism and his refusal to try to see a bit deeper his own cynicism, he provides some insights. I don't share his critique of the art, but it is nice to notice that someone else sees the Fascist parallels...
Is Fight Club more about Nazism than about freedom?
I'm thinking it's very possible. And how difficult it is to know the difference between freeing yourself (hitting rock bottom) and deciding that you are a victim (the middle children of society, or whatever).
These thoughts are for those who have indeed watched the film already. It gives away too much if you are planning to see it. There's your warning!
My earlier feeling was that this movie metaphorically described how to get out of rut, out of the matrix, so to speak.
Watching it this time, I really started to wonder what to do with the brainwashing aspect of the Durden plan. The new recruits are head-shaven. Slogans are shouted into their faces over and over and down the line, passed on. You are not a unique and beautiful snowflake. You are not...you are not....
You have no names...
And then, even when he tries to point out that it's not true, that they do have names, it becomes another slogan. His name is Robert Paulson....
Animal Farm...the initial pig who dies, but first gives a big speech, essentially the Karl Marx of the book...his words are perverted by later pigs, until they become as bad as their original oppressors.
Fight Club seems to be doing something similar, though in the end, yes, no one gets hurt by the exploding buildings, but still...
It's happily not simple. Which makes it not a nice neat metaphor after all.
It's making me think about the film's intent more. Yes, it still blows me away in some ways. But most of that comes from the first act, as Roger Ebert describes in his review:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991015/REVIEWS/910150302/1023
I think he is too dismissive in his review, but if I toss aside his desire to turn his observations into criticism and his refusal to try to see a bit deeper his own cynicism, he provides some insights. I don't share his critique of the art, but it is nice to notice that someone else sees the Fascist parallels...
Is Fight Club more about Nazism than about freedom?
I'm thinking it's very possible. And how difficult it is to know the difference between freeing yourself (hitting rock bottom) and deciding that you are a victim (the middle children of society, or whatever).
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