Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Fight Club

In the movie Fight Club, the narrator leads a very lackluster life. He is an insomniac who works for a car company in an office building. He is obsessed with furnishing his apartment and buying a nice wardrobe in hope of satisfaction in life. He attends support group meetings because he says the crying helps him get better sleep at night. One day, the narrator meets Tyler Durden, a soap salesman. Tyler is very chaotic and hates the consumer culture. One night, the narrator and Tyler came upon the idea of fighting as a hobby. If felt good to them, and others saw them fighting outside the local bar in the parking lot and became interested. "Fight Club" was the name they gave it, and its popularity grew rapidly. Fight Club was moved to the basement of the bar and was expanded to every night of the week. Ever since the narrator started the club with Tyler, he felt more alive than he had ever been. Others joined the club for the same reason; to feel alive. Fighting was something that let people express their evil side or be involved in something evil.

In Fight Club, the members want to be part of something evil. Just like in today's society, things that are evil get attention and really interests everyone. It seems like nowadays there is more bad news than good news in any newspaper or on any news channel. It is always the negative news stories that get the most attention and coverage. Even tabloids and sensation magazines would much rather have a story about something something controversial a celebrity did than a story about what celebrity is donating to a certain charity. For example, I think more magazines would sell with Paris Hilton getting a DUI on the front cover than a picture of George Clooney doing some community service. People are much more interested in reading about other people's problems than about how good their lives are.

I feel that we like what doesnt happen to us. Just like in Scream, people live the thrill through the movie. They dont want to die like in the story, but they want the excitement and drama that comes with it. Whether we realize it or not, we all want evil.

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