Cults,Consumerism, and the Construction of Self: Exploring the Religious within Fight Club

This article explores the manner in which the creation of new religious movements is depicted in the Fight Club narrative, not only through sardonic, stereotypical ‘cult’ imagery, but also through an academic lens; the narrative fits perfectly with the psychopathology model of cult recruitment as recapitulated by Stark and Bainbridge. The nature and motivations of new religious groups, even to the most worldly student of religion, can seem alien and mysterious to the rational contemporary mind, making the possibility for an empathetic methodological approach remote indeed. However, the presentation of the new religious movement created within the Fight Club narrative is unique in its familiarity to the modern consumerist West. The article also highlights the fascinating insights of the Fight Club narrative into the power of consumerism in a post-modern world, bringing to light ideas of the ‘religion of the market’ and the resulting fundamentalisms created by unstable belief systems and transient notions of self. Focusing particularly on the prominent demographic of ‘Generation X’, this analysis of the Fight Club narrative offers a detailed portrayal of the potential religious crises facing the consumerist West in its entirety.