An Eye-Opening Experience Josh Weiss

On November 18, 2000, a group of my friends and I returned home from my birthday dinner at a local steakhouse. Upon our arrival, it was suggested that we watch the movie Fight Club. As if it were meant to be, we discovered that Fight Club was to be aired in a matter of minutes on one of the multitude of Home Box Office channels. We proceeded to watch the movie, and as the credits rolled, I felt as though I had been granted the gift of vision after years without sight.

Through its creative and inspiring evaluation of traditional social norms, the 1999 film Fight Club has had a monumental effect on my life. To most, Fight Club is merely a movie with a hearty amount of violence and a Hollywood heartthrob, Brad Pitt; however, upon closer inspection, this cinematic masterpiece is so much more. This film brings to the attention of the viewer just how materialistic mainstream society has become. To quote Brad Pitt's character, Tyler Durden, "Murder, crime, poverty; these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with five hundred channels, some guy's name on my underwear... Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes; working jobs we hate so we can buy [junk] we don't need."...