Ted K (2021)

[Flack]

Ted K opens with a group of snowmobilers zig-zagging their way through snowy Montana mountains, the sound of their loud engines echoing throughout the valley. After a day of fun the snowmobiles are tucked away at a winter lodge and the weekend warriors return to the city, but soon there is another sound -- that of Ted Kaczynski chopping his way through the wall of the cabin's walls with an ax. In just a few short minutes, the cabin's contents are destroyed -- light fixtures are smashed, furniture is chopped, and most importantly, the parked snowmobiles are viciously murdered.

While telling Kaczynski's transition from college professor to radicalized terrorist might have been too much for any two hour docudrama to cover completely, Ted K may have oversimplified things a bit too much. As the film tells it, Kaczynski was just a guy who really hated noise. Left alone to enjoy life in his 10'x12' cabin, living off the land and eating rabbits, the world might never have heard of The Unabomber. Unfortunately, noise pollution is a direct affront to Kaczynski's need for solitude, and he spends a lot of time and energy exacting revenge on local foresters, vacationing snowmobilers, and perhaps most of all, aircraft. Jets and helicopters really grind Ted's gears, and he spends plenty of time and ammunition firing shots at them as they pass overhead.

Kaczynski was by no stretch of the imagination normal. He got along with few men, and no women. On multiple occasions we see him calling family members (his mother and his brother) and berating them before begging for money. He spent his days hunting, fishing, and running around the woods in a loincloth like Tarzan. As technology continues to encroach on Kaczynski's world, he does the only logical thing and declares war on... the world? Armed with a typewriter, a pair of iconic sunglasses, and an ever increasing knowledge of explosives, The Unabomber is born.

The bombs are more of a means to an end. What Kaczynski wants more than anything, something completely lacking from every corner of his personal life, was to be heard. After gaining the attention of the technology sector, the media, the authorities, and the general population, Kaczynski mailed his now infamous 30,000 word manifesto to multiple media outlets, where it was published and his hatred of all things technological was exposed. Kaczynski's war against the world was neither scalable nor sustainable, and so perhaps having his voice heard was the goal all along.

As most people know it was Ted's brother David who recognized his brother's radicalized viewpoints and writing style and contacted law enforcement, who tricked Kaczynski into coming out of his cabin long enough for them to apprehend him. Save for a still shot of Kaczynski's new home, the super maximum penitentiary in Colorado where he has been held for the past 25 years, the story ends there.

Kaczynski's war against technology was a success. Just kidding, I now have light bulbs that need IP addresses. In hindsight it seems like he could have done himself more justice by touring around the country and talking about the evils of technology, or maybe selling wooden iPhone cases, I don't know. If there is any justice at all it's that it was a human being, and not technology or forensics, that led to his arrest.

Link: The Unibomber's Manifesto (Washington Post Archive)

[pinback]

touring around the country and talking about the evils of technology

Or even just a Ted Talk!

SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT

[AArdvark]

Statler and Waldorf: Ooh ho ho ho ho ho ho!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Statler and Waldorf: What dedication to the premise! Even the movie itself is a bomb! Ooh ho ho ho ho!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Flack, have you seen the movie "Tread" about the Killdozer guy? I did watch that one and it's very good, and I imagine much of the same territory is covered with this [REDACTED] as well.

Sorry to pussy out with the redacted - they don't let him use the mail any more but he still lives in my state. :/

[Flack]

I have NOT seen Tread but I will be tracking that down! On one of our many trips to Colorado we stayed in a resort in Granby and I picked up a Killdozer magnet, thinking it was a band. I can't remember who told me the story but... I mean, you can only push a guy so far. Especially if he has access to moving equipment.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Yeah, I don't want to spoil anything but "we've all been there."