Did 'Fight Club' Inspire Real-Life Bomber?
Filed under: Drama, Fandom, Newsstand
Nearly two months ago, a homemade bomb exploded outside a Starbucks coffee shop in Manhattan, causing property damage but not injuring anyone. The bomber was finally arrested yesterday, and now the police are saying that the alleged teenage bomber "was launching his own 'Project Mayhem,'" reports The New York Times, "referring to a plan hatched by the protagonist of Fight Club, played by Brad Pitt, to sabotage corporations by destroying property."
The accused, 17-year-old, Kyle Shaw, "had started an underground fight club modeled on the one in the film, [Police Commissioner Raymond W.] Kelly said, and had bragged to friends that he was behind the bombing." A search of Shaw's home turned up news clippings about the explosion, a box of sparklers -- the bomb was reportedly constructed from fireworks explosives, a plastic bottle, and electrical tape -- and a DVD of Fight Club. A former high school classmate remembers that Shaw "wanted to watch the movie in our English class in the 11th grade. We were discussing existentialism in class, and he suggested we watch the movie as an example. We ended up watching I Heart Huckabees."
Based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk and directed by David Fincher, the 1999 film also starred Edward Norton. It would be easy to say that if Shaw was really a fan, he should have remembered the first and second rules of Fight Club. But even before that, he should have remembered: it's only a movie.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-16-2009 @ 1:22PM
Drewbacca said...
They made him watch "I Heart Huckabees?" (No wonder he wanted to blow sometihng up)
Reply
7-16-2009 @ 1:27PM
JimeneX said...
You, sir or madam, win
7-16-2009 @ 3:16PM
Reuben said...
I gotta tell ya, I absolutely love I Heart Huckabees/
7-16-2009 @ 4:23PM
Lectoid said...
| The accused, 17-year-old, Kyle Shaw, "had started an
| underground fight club modeled on the one in the film, [Police
| Commissioner Raymond W.] Kelly said, and had bragged to
| friends that he was behind the bombing."
The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about fight club.
Reply
7-16-2009 @ 4:55PM
Drewbacca said...
Some people absolutely love anal sex with corpses. it doesn't mean you're right or wrong.
(Although for the record, I'm pretty sure anal sex with corpses is illegal in my state)
Reply
7-16-2009 @ 6:08PM
Bubbameister33 said...
His Project Mayhem sucked.
Reply
8-15-2009 @ 4:04AM
Big rubbery one. said...
idk.... but that statement just made me crack up and almost spit the toothpaste out of my mouth.
7-16-2009 @ 6:49PM
Jim said...
Sources close to the investigation have indicated that Mr. Shaw was upset because for many years, Starbucks has been trying to convince the coffee drinking public that a small coffee was, against all logic, a 'tall'. When questioned by police, Kyle said that he could have accepted if Starbucks wanted to call a small drink a 'short' - at least there would have been some logic going on. However, being a short young man himself, Mr. Shaw felt that Starbucks' reckless sizing system was completely biased against short people, logic, and logical short people.
Reply
7-16-2009 @ 6:55PM
Jon said...
Good now maybe they will get this out freaking movie out on Blu Ray already : )
Reply