Generation Snowflake been attributed to Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel "Fight Club", and its 1999 film adaptation. Both the novel and the film include the line "You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake." In January 2017, Palahniuk claimed credit for coining "snowflake", adding that the young adults of the 2010s exhibit "a kind of new Victorianism". An article published by Merriam-Webster stated that Palahniuk was not the first person to use "snowflake" metaphorically, saying, "It's the stuff of self-help books and inspirational posters and elementary school assurances. The imagery before negation is lovely; we are each unique snowflakes,
Edward Norton breaking through with his 1993 involvement in Edward Albee's "Fragments", at the Signature Theatre Company. In his film debut "Primal Fear" (1996), Norton played Aaron Stampler, an altar boy who is charged with the murder of a Roman Catholic archbishop and is defended by Martin Vail (Richard Gere). The film is an adaptation of William Diehl's novel. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote: "Norton gives a performance that's fully the equal of Gere's – he's as slyly self-effacing as Gere is slyly ostentatious." Alison Macor of "The Austin Chronicle", in review of the film, wrote, "Norton's performance and the well-paced