Elliot Rodger
His 2014 killing spree in Isla Vista, detailed in a hate-filled manifesto, became a foundational text for the violent online 'incel' movement.
1991–2014 (age 23)·American mass murderer·Birthday: July 24·Millennials
Biography
Elliot Rodger's life ended in a planned eruption of violence that left six people dead and fourteen injured in Isla Vista, California, in May 2014. The son of a film director and a mother who worked in the industry, Rodger was a deeply isolated figure who chronicled his growing resentment and misogyny in extensive online posts and a 137-page manifesto titled 'My Twisted World'. He blamed women for rejecting him and more sexually successful men for his loneliness, framing his planned attack as a 'War on Women'. His actions, and the detailed justification he left behind, did not exist in a vacuum; they tapped into and subsequently galvanized a dark undercurrent of online communities centered on involuntary celibacy, or 'incel'. Rodger's name and rhetoric have since been cited by other perpetrators of mass violence, making his crime a grim landmark in the study of how digital alienation can fuel real-world terror.
Millennials
1981–1996
The first digital natives. Grew up with the internet, came of age during 9/11 and the 2008 crash. Highly educated, deeply indebted, slower to marry and buy houses. Redefined work, identity, and what it means to be an adult.
Elliot was born in 1991, placing them squarely in the Millennials. The events that shaped this generation — the internet revolution, 9/11, and the 2008 financial crisis — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Elliot Was Born
The biggest hits of 1991
#1 Movie
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Best Picture
The Silence of the Lambs
#1 TV Show
Cheers
Elliot's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1991Born
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
1996Started school
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2004Became a teenager
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
2007Could drive
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2009Could vote
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2012Turned 21
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2014Died at 23
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
Did You Know?
His father, Peter Rodger, was an assistant director on the film 'The Hunger Games'.
Rodger was of partial Malaysian descent through his mother.
He uploaded a final video titled 'Elliot Rodger's Retribution' to YouTube just before the attacks.
The Isla Vista killings led to the creation of California's 'gun violence restraining order' law, also known as the 'red flag' law.
“On the day of retribution, I will finally be able to punish all of the females for depriving me.”
