I would confidently agree that ‘What Would Jesus Buy?’ had both a valid point and was a complete exaggeration. It was purposely done to be over the top to make a loud and clear statement that Americans are unconsciously caught in a trap of evil consumerism. The problem with American consumerism is that it is rooted deep into our souls. We are raised to get excited about December 25th for all the wrong reasons. Building up excitement for spending money on loved ones is socially normal. And sacrificing for one particular special gift is praised as a honorable act. What about the other side of the story? How can American consumerism claim to be justified in any way?
The only two solid arguments for American consumerism would be that is gifts are a love language for some people and is also a good part of American economy. And even then, one non-biblical modern human interpretation of love language isn’t enough weight against recent generations of materialism. Yet how much is needed for our survival? How much production keeps our country alive?
‘Fight Club’ was similarly an extreme exaggeration of how to rise up against the evils of American consumerism. The message of action through violence wasn’t to be taken literally. All of the violence was meant to drawn in an audience and embed the ultimate message of straying away from American consumerism and foreshadowing possible last minute conclusions. The fighting violence in the movie takes away from the true message which also proves its separation of literal violence especially since only one character in the movie actually dies. Furthermore, this form of culture jamming will only prove successful in time. Any smartly constructed efforts to use the medium against its self is worth praising. The balance between capitalism and social responsibility is hard to find, but once its found it can make positive changes to improve our world.
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