Ikea Fever

In the beginning of the movie Fight Club, nothing truly matted to Edward except obtaining the next great Ikea item. He became a product of their products so to speak. Edward didn’t appear to have any family or friends (with the exception of the “small serving” friends he made on his frequent trips) and he did not seem to have any aspirations to build such relationships. Like many people, Edward had become more attached to his inanimate possessions than the people he interacted with. In fact, he measured his life by his possessions. Edward believed that if he had a complete set of Ikea products that would, in turn, make him complete somehow. It seemed as if Edward was looking for some purpose and meaning in his isolated and dull life but instead of forming a connection or trying something new, he turned to shopping. Instead of creating something new (through a hobby or by forming a relationship) Edward takes what others have made (which in my opinion fits his selfish, passive-aggressive personality.) This act of measuring oneself by what we own, not who we are is a personality trait that is a symptom of American consumer culture. It is a cold fact that many Americans (if not people of other cultures as well) judge others on how they look; which includes the kind of clothes and jewelry that person possess (their material things). Many Americans also place great weight on these first impressions. This is a well known fact in American culture and therefore we, as Americans and consumers, become driven to obtain items that will hopefully produce good impressions. This in turn pushes us, the consumers, to continually go out and buy the latest and greatest things, which is exactly what Edward did. Through this whole process of buying to impress it becomes easy to forget that these objects do not define us, they merely have the potential to express an aspect of our personality. Perhaps this is one reason why America is considered a nation of consumers rather than producers, because we have become more obsessed with the possessions we feel must be obtained than we do with the things we feel we should create. And in turn, we have become a symptom of consumer culture, just like Edward, rather than its creators.

The Best American Nonrequired Reading

I recently finished the first section of The Best American Nonrequired Reading and I wasn’t very impressed with it. Some of the lists were funny I will admit (especially the list of worst racehorse names) but I would have preferred to read a story or two instead. With lists, I didn’t feel like there was enough length to enjoy. I love getting wrapped up in stories and connecting with characters. When it came to reading lists I felt like it was disconnected and I did not feel that it had a good flow. I will admit that the reading did go by quite fast. And I can see how it would be easier to get a high school student to read something they can just pick up whenever they have five spare minutes, but at the same time, I think that when I was a high school student I would have enjoyed a short story a little more. Maybe if there weren’t eleven lists but instead just a couple short ones, I would have enjoyed it more. Or perhaps some of the humor incorporated in the lists was just wasted on me (I found it funny but not funny enough to make up for reading so many lists in a row.) Whatever the reason, I would have to say that out of everything we have read in this class, I enjoyed this section the least.

I must admit though, this section does bring more meaning to the grocery store anecdote.

On the bright side:


Things Worse than Reading 29 Pages Worth of Lists

Having your teeth drilled by the dentist before you’re fully numb,
Falling off a cliff with sharp, pointy rocks awaiting you below,
Discovering that nightmare involving underwear, school, and 1,000 peers was not a dream,
The computer crashing two seconds after you typed the last word of your 20 page essay,
Drinking a little too much and retching on your crush’s new Nikes,
Remembering said alcoholic accident the next morning (or should I say afternoon),
The day after a night shift at the CUB (complete with 9 am classes),
Receiving a pop quiz after said night shift at the CUB,
Watching cougar football (yet another touchdown for the opposing team),
And last but not least,
Reading THIRTY pages worth of lists