My Fight Club

"No fear. No distractions.
The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide,"
(Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, 1996).

Okay, so I watched the movie Fight Club with my husband the other night. Now here are ALL the disclaimers before I write about anything else. #1 This movie has several disturbing scenes that do not meet my approval. #2 I could not have watched this movie in a theatre since I'd be subjected to stuff I rather not view. I probably would have walked out. #3 DVD's are useful. We were able to skip the profane and enjoy the storyline.

Disclaimers aside, WOW! It has been such a long time since I've watched a movie whose message scintillated in my brain many hours after the final credits flickered by on the television monitor. I am not sure where to begin in dissecting the many impressions overloading my mind.

Thus, here is one. Our lives are controlled by advertising. Advertising has the ability to overwhelm us with fear, distract us from deeper purposes, and consume us with things that really don't matter.

Tyler Durden: Do you know what a duvet is?
Narrator: It's a comforter...
Tyler Durden: It's a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?
Narrator: ...Consumers?
Tyler Durden: Right. We are consumers. We're the bi-products of a lifestyle obsession.

For Tyler and the Narrator, the two main characters in Fight Club, it was the duvet. For me it is Evenflo versus Graco; Kitchen Aid versus Bosch; or Maple versus Thermofoil. For you, it may be something else. In the end, it is "All meaningless, a chasing after the wind," as King Solomon aptly stated in Ecclesiastes so long ago.

There are days I get overwhelmed. Like maybe I should buy a freezer and a fantastic mixer so I can compete with all the domestic goddesses out there. Competition. Keeping up with the Jones. Trying to fit in. Is it necessary for me?

Or the other day I was terrified about my car seats. The brand we purchased didn't claim that they were "side impact tested". And I started to REALLY freak out. What if we ended up in a horrific accident. Would my children survive? Would I live my life in guilt because I didn't purchase the right car seat? Fear. I was riddled with fear of the unknown and uncontrollable."Rain, if we were side swiped by a semi, nobody would survive, regardless of the car seat," my husband concluded. Hmmmmm, true...

I pause my thought process for a moment for a mid-composition aside. This is not to say buying a freezer or investing in a $200+ mixer or purchasing a car seat with a high safety rating is BAD. The question is WHY are we doing it? If our motivations to spend money are fueled by an insatiable desire to compete, to improve our image, to quench illogical fears, and to distract us from meaningful life, then we have a problem.

Some days, I desire to go "Zen". Pitch my bulky furniture. Chuck out all technological devices except a land line and a wall clock. Keep a minimum number of appliances. And decorate only with natural elements such as fresh flowers or bamboo. How would life feel in such a space?


In end, it doesn't matter what our external space looks like. What matters is the condition of our internal space, our heart, our soul, our mind, our spirit. Are we content internally? Do we have peace that passes all understanding? Is our living ignited by a passion to die to our selfish desires daily? And are we willing to let the Holy Spirit of God internally transform us, no matter the cost, so we exude with beautiful virtue?

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. (Galatians 5:22-25, NLT)

I guess this is were my internal beliefs digress with the solutions offered in Fight Club. While I agree that materialism is cancerous to North American lives, I do not agree with the violent, lawless acts offered as justice in the movie. Granted, we need to critique the external forces that attempt to control us such as advertising, media, societal norms, and even our socioeconomic status. But then we need to FIGHT the evils with good, a GOOD that is sourced beyond us and found only in Christ. That's my kind of Fight Club.

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