"Like so many others, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct.
Narrator: Uh, yes. I'd like to order the Erica Pekkary dust ruffles.
Operator: Please hold.
If I saw something clever like a little coffee table in the shape of a yin-yang, I had to have it. The Klipske personal office unit, the Hovetrekke home exer-bike, or the Johannshamn sofa with the Strinne green stripe pattern. Even the Rizlampa wire lamps of environmentally friendly unbleached paper. I'd flip through catalogs and wonder: What kind of dining set defines me as a person? I had it all. Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles and imperfections. Proof that they were crafted by the honest, simple, hard-working indigenous peoples of...
Operator: Please hold.
Narrator: Wherever. I was holding.
We used to read pornography. Now it was the Horchow collection."
This scene from Fight Club strongly addresses the idea of materialism. The man in the clip is controlled by his need for Ikea products and as a result, suffers isolation from society. The text in the scene depict how a simple furniture catalogue can become the basis of one's life. As the scene progresses, it becomes clearer and clearer how the man's Ikea products consume all of his thoughts, time, and energy.
[UPDATE]
Background information. The narrator has no friends, no family, suffers from severe depression and insomnia. As you can notice he talks to the automatic voice on the phone, apparently, because he feels lonely and miserable.
13 comments:
As a person who has never seen Fight Club, I found this clip very interesting. I was very unsure of what was going on and what the overall point of it was due to not knowing the overall context of the story. It is of interest that the character is so engrossed with the IKEA catalogue that it is overtaking his entire life. He seems to be comparing furniture to things that go on in his life. Does he have other interests? Does he have friends? Why did he choose the IKEA catalogue to be engrossed with?
I found it interesting that he says he has become a slave to the IKEA nesting syndrome. He is saying that he cannot stop going back to IKEA because of all the nice things; IKEA has become an obsession, perhaps meaning the American materialistic nature has become an obsession. He just wants more and is never satisfied because when something new and better comes out, he has to have it.
I thought this clip was very intresting. I'd like to start with the video itself first. It seems to be very dimlit, which I feel represents the inside of his mind, because he is looking at what he wants to purchase from IKEA, and it instantly becomes part of the room, with the price of that product and the information.
The things that he talked to about were quite interesting. What exactly is the IKEA nesting syndrome? I feel like it might draw refrence that American's have become so engrossed in IKEA for home supplies that its almost a syndrome in which they must buy there supplies from there. I also thought that when he said something like "things made by children for who knows where", kind of shows that we never realy care what it takes to get our products. We just want to make sure that we get them. We just don't appreciate enough sometimes!
I have never seen Fight Club so I have no idea what is going on. The tone of the man's voice is so boring and monotone like ordering out of this catalog is nothing special. It is a usual occurance to him and he is no longer excitied. He doesn't seem to have a great deal of patience because he said "I was holding" in a dispising way. He doesn't have any pants on which I find interesting even after he is done in the bathroom. He just doesn't seem to care about much of anything. He wasn't excited, he didn't care that he looked bad and he was liking peanut butter off of a knife...yuck. I think that is the way America has become.... somethings we just don't care about.
Just focusing on the materialism of the clip, it of course shows many similiarities to our own world today. We hear about the new North Face, new nailpolish, the new shoe. Even if it is kind of ugly, say the UGG or wearing bright feathers, which belong to another species, in our hair which stick out every wear, we do it anyways.
I cannot say these things without admitting that I have several pairs of uggs and sperrys and wear leggings in place of pants.
But as a person who follows these insane trends that come and go as fast as the wind, and that eat at your pocket like no other can.
You have to want the new trend or the new color of boot and its all you google, or think about until it overtakes you and you end up buying that instead of paying your phone bill.
At my high school, this very thing happened. Everyone would have to have a North Face backpack, jacket, their hat and gloves. Ugg boots in every style. Sperrys in every color. Etc.
When he mentions that he used to read pornography, but that ordering from the IKEA catalogue took its place, it shows that he has developed an addiction to it. Everyone has some weakness, but it's obviously easier to fall prey to them when you have so much money. It seems like he enjoys purchasing the next best thing that he sees, so it never ends because there are going to be more unique things in every catalogue he gets.
It almost seems as if he doesn't have many people in his personal life if he spends so much time ordering things on the phone and filling his apartment. And that just goes to show how easy it is for people to replace the important things in life with materialistic things because they believe it will make them just as happy. Maybe money is really destroying our country instead of allowing it to progress.
I agree with Alex completely on this post. I have never seen the movie and at first, I was completely lost about what was happening in the video. It is an eyeopening video to realize that a person can be caught up in minuscule objects such as the petty furniture that he keeps buying to fulfill his happiness. It is also interesting that he spends so much time concentrating on the furniture in the catalogue that he has nothing to eat, except for mustard.
I also agree with Angel when he talks about this being a representation of the inside of this man's mind. It is like this is constantly what he thinks about every time he enters a room, or a building. This is his addiction and something he could not live without with the lifestyle he is living at the moment.
I think the opening line is very important and somewhat sets the stage for this individual's personality, "like so many others, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct." It is apparent he does not relate with others on positive interests but a negative obsession with materialism. Also, when he asks "what kind of dining set would define me as a person" shows that he has become so engrossed in this materialistic life that he lets it well, define him. I agree with Angel's comments on how the dim-lit room portrays the inside of his mind because based on only what we see in this clip, the narrator's lifestyle does not seem very happy and/or fulfilling (to most people) and really helps strengthen how sad this man's obsession with IKEA really is. Lastly, all the materials in his room were very neat and almost seemed untouched. Based on this, the narrator probably rarely ever even uses these things, just having them is all he wants.
It has already been mentioned that the character replaced his pornography with IKEA catalogs. What I find interesting is why he may have done that. I mean, what everyone said about his addiction to materialism is true, but I believe it goes goes deeper than that. Since he has no friends or family the man is forever alone, so his usage of pornography makes sense, especially because of the instant gratification. But theses things are transitive in nature, so it would appear that he swapped for something more stable. Whenever he returns home, his furniture is always there, no matter what. It is just something that he was able to fix his life around and try to derive some small amount of pleasure from.
Not ever watching fight club makes me wonder more about this character. If he really is anti social or not. After he names off all the different furniture, my first thought is that he replaced all his friends with different pieces of furniture.
Ambria Small- Moving from city to city, with no family and friends to talk to, and an obscure sense of reality, he has become dependent upon expressing himself on furniture to give him some constant in life. He jumps from apartment to hotel to another apartment, filling it up quickly with clearanced furniture instead of essentials like food. Having some form of indicating who he is has placed over the priority of food, clothing, and keeping contacts.
Unfortunately, I've never seen Fight Club. However, I could tell right away that the narrator was a very antisocial person. What gave it away was his tone of voice, which had a very bland, monotonous tone to it, not like one you would generally talk to people with. I also agree that this shows copious amounts of materialism. Instead of making friends, he simply buys items until he feels happy and content, like his life is complete.
This clip from Fight Club truly showed that money cannot buy happiness. Even though the guy in the clip had everything he wanted from Ikea, he still wanted more to fill the void of being lonely. His sadness is shown through the monotone narration and the bland color scheme. Even though he asks what “table defines him as a person,” all the items that he buys do not show any personality at all. They only add to the blandness that has become his life. As a viewer, we are meant to sympathize with the guy (even though he seems rude to the woman on the phone) because he is lonely
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