CineTV Contest - Favorite Song in a Movie: Where Is My Mind by the Pixies

When it comes to movie soundtracks, there is such an overwhelming spectrum of distinct songs, or also just tunes and musical bits and pieces, that at first I didn't even think about participating in this contest, hosted by #cinetv and #risingstar. But then I looked at the details of the contest prompt and thought: why not? There is a specially minted RisingStar card S38 Video Vic, which is not among the prizes to be won, but it could be bought (maybe) with the winnings of the first three places. Though there is quite a bit of competition... there's no reason not to jump in and try it. Right?

What IS My Favorite Song from a Movie, Really?

As I said, there are dozens of great songs from good movies I could think of. But the first one that popped into my mind is actually good enough to be considered my favorite. It is Where Is My Mind, by the alternative rock group Pixies. It was released in 1988 on the band's debut album, but like many of my contemporaries I haven't even heard of it (or of the Pixies for that matter) until it appeared in the 1999 movie Fight Club. Underlying the final scene of the film and taking it into the rolling credits, it beautifully captured the emotional release of the movie, while setting the mood to contemplate its underlying message. Since then the song and the film have been inseparably intertwined in my memory.

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Mental Breakdown, or Simply a New Perspective?

Looking at the title of the song, since the lyrics are more about a scuba-diving experience, it obviously deals with the loss of your mental capacities. "Where Is My Mind?" also applies to the protagonist of the movie, whose split-personality disorder becomes the basis of the plot. However, the overall story is far from the psychological imbalance of the main character. Much rather, it encompasses the entire socio-cultural conflict of an entire generation (Generation X, of which I am part of), as it finds itself on the doorstep to the 21st century and its own adulthood. For me, the main message here was this: Get used to adopting different - very different - perspectives, because you'll need it for whatever is coming! Though at that time I had no idea what that would be, I knew it was going to be highly impactful. Weirdly, it was the end of the movie that offered some clues, while Where Is My Mind was playing.

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The End of Debt

For those who aren't familiar with Fight Club, the culmination of what starts out as a club of guys meeting to beat each other up is a coordinated attack to bring down banks and credit institutions. The collapsing skyscrapers in the final scene illustrate the successful implementation of this plan. Previously the protagonist even explains the reason for this kind of attack: "If you erase the debt record, then we all go back to zero." Sounds great, in fact, super optimistic, if you think about it. Even back then you could figure out without any in-your-face revelation on some YouTube channel, that it was not really money that made the world go round, as much as debt. So getting rid of all that would level the playing field for all of us. What a great idea! Also, what a revolutionary one, as it would create a brand new world with unprecedented opportunities! A distant pipe dream? Or the harbinger of some major change? Where IS my mind, really?

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Blockchain Tech on the Horizon?

Of course, even as I was enjoying Fight Club, getting ready to face Y2K, I realized that the plot was not without flaws. After all, those banking and credit companies were probably well prepared for such an attack. So they probably wouldn't be storing their sensitive debt information on papers filed away in high-rise offices, but instead in a data center... or preferably in several data centers, dispersed over many locations. Hmmmm... what a radical idea? But if that is not a precursor of what evolved into the blockchain?

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The other flaw I realized even back then, was the notion of new debt. Let's say all those banking institutions collapsed as shown in the film. (Little did I know that less than a decade later many of them actually would collapse, without any explosives, merely as a consequence of their own doings.) What would keep others from emerging to take their place? What would keep the central banks, governments, and major economic players from moving around interests, inflation, various fees, and circulated currency, in order to reinstate the same system of debt? Maybe debt is just a symptom of the problem, and not the rot cause? Maybe a whole new financial system is what is really needed?

Looking at today's world, where in Europe you "get" (that is pay) negative interest for your money in the bank, while HBD savings offers you 20% APR; or many countries worldwide are planing their version of CBDCs, while El Salvador made BTC their legal tender, I would say it looks like we are in the middle of Fight Club's last scene, rolling in the extreme-slow-motion that is our reality. In this regard, I can only go back to the feeling and assumption I had back in 1999. Where Is My Mind? is the perfect attitude to have, while having faith in the words of the protagonist: "Trust me, everything is gonna be fine."