Reflection 1–19th September
“You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your fucking khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.” — Fight Club, 1999
The documentary ‘Escape! From the Cult of Materialism’ was eye opening to me. Through the use of shocking facts, I discovered that I play a huge role in the destruction of the environment by being a consumer.
The definition of materialism is ‘a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values’ (Oxford Dictionaries | English, 2018), which indicates that we as a society are willing to spend our hard earned money on possessions that will not necessarily bring us happiness. We work 9–5 jobs so that we can earn money to buy these things. However we often end up unhappy and in debt due to needing to buy the latest products. We fill our lives with furniture rather than form real life relationships when we already have enough material belongings.
We as consumers, are putting our own wants before the health of the planet. This documentary has made me realise that I am a slave to the industry as I often purchase items that I don’t need, that I would throw away after a while, or upgrade because I feel that it would make me happier.
The plot of this movie, mirrors the plot of Fight Club, where the protagonist slowly realises that you must break free of the cult to reach your full potential and have a purpose in life.
“You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you’re satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you’ve got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.” — Fight Club, 1999
This quote from fight club talks about the endless circle of materialism and possessions that we crave in life — but why? At the end of the day, it is just an item. We are replacing relationships and connections with the outside world, with meaningless items.
References
- Escape! From the Cult of Materialism. (2016). [video] Fair Wind Films.
- Fight Club. (1999). [Film] Directed by D. Fincher.
- Oxford Dictionaries | English. (2018). materialism | Definition of materialism in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/materialism [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].
