There are healthy fears and useless fears.
Fear of rejection by your peers and society at large is useless.
Fear that your tie clashes with your socks is useless.
Fear that you will not get a credit card is useless.
Fear that you will not find the perfect curtains to match your sofa is useless.
Fear that you will not have enough money to go on vacation this summer is useless.
Fear that your child will not be accepted into the college you pick-out is useless.
Fear that your application to attain an apartment in a posh apartment complex is useless.
Fear that you will end-up with nothing but a newspaper to protect you from the elements is healthy.
Fear that you may end-up with diarrhea and vomiting at the same time, not being able to do anything but barely consume fluids for 4 days and that there will be no one there to take care of you is healthy.
Fear of splattering your brains on the ground if you jump off of a cliff is healthy.
Fear of contracting HIV by having unprotected sex is healthy.
Fear that your child will die if you do not feed it or care for it is healthy.
Fear that you will end-up in prison for 25 years if you kill your boss or spouse (or anyone) is healthy.
Fight Club had some great messages, most especially for posh, spoiled-rotten Americans who want everything now and define themselves based on American films. People who have no identity of their own, except that which they glean from spending too much time and money supporting the over-paid actors and actresses who are practically gods in American society. Are these people more important then the people who pick-up your garbage? Do they work harder? Do they have more education than your banker? Your tax consultant? Your doctor or dentist? Athletes are even worse, in my opinion. They are parasites on society. Sorry Michael and Larry. That's just my personal opinion, because I do not think that a grown person should be paid to chase balls around in front of crowds of people who cannot find anything better to do with their time and money.
It would be a shame if people thought for themselves. If they asked themselves what the basic needs of people are without having a film tell them to do so. If these same spoiled-rotten Americans had ever been homeless, extremely ill without someone to care for them, or suffered from anything more serious than being snubbed by people or turned-down for a promotion, they might actually have their priorities sorted-out rather than having to depend upon a film to tell them what their priorities ought to be.
The Central Messages of Fight Club:
Throw-off the Capitalistic Consumer mentality!
Don't let anyone else define who you are. Be yourself!
Stop wasting your life working at jobs you hate just to amass enough money to buy a bunch of shit that will have to be thrown away in 5-7 years and without which you CAN live! You do not NEED a flat-screen TV. Hell, you don't need a TV at all! You don't need an iPod, a mobile telephone, the newest computer, a microwave oven, a sports car, designer clothing, etc. Stop worrying about what everyone else is wearing, thinking, wanting, etc.
Many nights I lay in my bed and listen to the wind or rain and the church bells for our village church and I am thankful for my bed and the roof over my head. The bed clothing is worn, my pillow is clumped, the room is often cold, but I'm warm and safe. My children are warm and safe.
When you have attained this level of reality, then we can begin to communicate with each other. I do not understand other people and they do not understand me. That is who I am. I cannot change it and wouldn't even if I could. I want to be me, not them! I seem to exist on a whole different plane. My sister is there, too. Why? Because we grew-up and began to realize the difference between what one needs and what one wants. We learnt what is truly important in life. We learnt not to let ANYONE tell us what we should think or feel. We learnt to do that for ourselves.
Films, like literature, should help broaden the mind and provide a new perspective. They are not meant to be substitutes for your own personality or your own ability to decide what is right for you.
These characters are thought-up by a person. Why not try thinking up your own personality, rather than allowing someone else to create one for you? There is nothing more pathetic than looking at both Americans and Germans of today. They all dress in the same style, have similar hair-cuts, walks, speech patterns, etc. They are so afraid of not being "normal" that they never learn who they actually are or what they actually want. They let the film industry and television tell them how and who they should be.