Brad and crew are guilty of hypocrisy

Rating: Null/10 (29 August 2009)

This film may be one of the most popular films of all time, but it has had a very bad affect on a generation. The makers of this film believe this was about corporations selling out. In fact in the trivia section Edward Norton and Brad Pitt state they hate the VW Beatle and destroyed one in the film because they felt that "this kind of corporate selling out was exactly what the film was railing against, hence the inclusion of the car; Brad is quoted as saying; "It's a perfect example of the Baby Boomer generation marketing its youth culture to us." What hypocrisy. What do they think they were marketing to a new younger generation? Something more harmful and damaging than a car that represented "Love & Flower Power".
We lived in Orange County, CA. when this film came out. Our son and his friends were in their teens. This film was a hit and a cult following to them. Because of this film and Ed and Brad were these kid's heroes. Following the film it became a weekend activity by a lot of boys all over Orange County to go to the parks at night and fight. The fights were recorded and then put on the internet for all their buddies to see. The hospitals began to see an increase of boys being injured fighting. The police got involved and began investigating. Our son was caught fighting one night. The court prosecutor wanted to make an example of our son and others to try and put an end to this fad which was promoted by this film. My son was prosecuted with a felony and spent 90 days in jail and has struggled with the emotional scares since.
The hypocrisy of this is that the statement the film makers thought they were making and railing against is exactly what they ended up marketing and promoting themselves. But their product that represents a new young culture hurt a that generation far worse than what the Baby Boomers promoted. Ed, Brad,Dave and the crew have a lot to answer for. I applaud those who were smart enough to recognize the hypocrisy and dropped out of the project.