The First Rule...Remixed

Ryan Kissell

4-28-11

English 121

Pop Culture Essay Remix

The First Rule...Remixed

Do you ever find yourself worried over something unimportant? Something that shouldn't really matter but for some reason it does? Do you worry about how you look? How other people judge you? What type of car you should drive? What dining table defines you as a person? Is that couch THE couch? The couch that will solve your couch problem forever and be the only couch you will ever need? If you answered yes to any of the above, you have been tricked. We have all been born into a world with the blinds pulled shut, in need of someone to pull them back so we can see the true nature of society. We have been fooled by a system whose main purpose is to make you worry about these things. In the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, Tyler Durden claims that “We are consumers, we're the bi-products of a lifestyle obsession.”

In the novel, Tyler is the antagonist, or protagonist depending on your stance. He does not stand for the material lifestyle. “...you're not how much money you've got in the bank. You're not your job. You're not your family, and you're not who you tell yourself.... You're not your name.... You're not your problems.... You're not your age.... You are not your hopes.” - Tyler Durden, Fight Club, Chapter 18. In Tyler's eyes we all tell ourselves who we want to be, who we think we should be, but even this is a lie. A Lie instilled upon us from when we first entered the world. For Tyler, you have to find who you are on the most personal level, you have to have everything taken away from you, hit rock bottom, then become free to live your life as you see fit. “It's only after you've lost everything, that you're free to do anything.”- Tyler, Fight Club, Chapter 8. Would you agree?

When the movie version was released in 1999, it was not received well by critics. “This movie is not only anti-capitalist, but anti-society, and indeed...anti-God.”-Alexander Walker, The Evening Standard. Perhaps many critics are not ready to fully embrace Chuck's beliefs. The movie and novel are quite extreme, but I think it's necessary to convey a message that things are not right with the world, you can't attack the capitalistic society in which we live without catching some heat. However the important theme of independence is what should really be taken from the story. Do not look for magazine ads and television to tell you how to live your life. Stop sipping on the Starbucks coffee and watching sitcoms. Find out who you are and just run with it. Let your freak flag fly. “Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned ....... Tyler.”