»Matrix caused DC sniper killings«

I just heard this on the news today. The Matrix is being blamed for the DC sniper killings. Apparently, the younger sniper had seen The Matrix over 100 times. They're saying he looked up to his older partner as Morpheus (both are older black men with visions) and that he may have believed he was living in some kind of a matrix. I swear, I am not making this up...

If this is true, it is rediculous. And I don't think they will blame the Matrix for it. It's just too rediculous. They wouldn't blame a movie for some kid's outrageous thoughts. Just lock this kid and his father up for a very very long time, nevermind the influences.

It's sad how people can be made to believe the wrong things by simple literature. Certainly children can be very taken by imagery in television. I myself remember fondly that I used to put plastic toy swords down my back and pretend to be He-Man as a child. However, to actually believe I was He Man would suggest I had some kind of mental disorder. This is not such a crazy idea when we see that there were some instances of people believing they were Superman and jumping out of windows.

I think if someone takes something too far and decides the are actually IN THE MATRIX literally, then they are badly misled. If they are actually prepared to kill people for that belief then either someone is taking advantage of that child's naivity or they have a disorder of some kind. Most likely both.

I don't think the Matrix can be blamed for idiots. You might as well blame God for the people who blow themselves up in His name. I think there is a limit to how much you can shift the blame from the perpetrators. It's not like The Matrix literally says killing policemen will free you from the matrix. Reservoir Dogs is much closer to saying that killing policemen is not a bad thing and I don't remember murders being linked with that movie.

Fatpie42 wrote:

It's sad how people can be made to believe the wrong things by simple literature. Certainly children can be very taken by imagery in television. I myself remember fondly that I used to put plastic toy swords down my back and pretend to be He-Man as a child. However, to actually believe I was He Man would suggest I had some kind of mental disorder. This is not such a crazy idea when we see that there were some instances of people believing they were Superman and jumping out of windows. I think if someone takes something too far and decides the are actually IN THE MATRIX literally, then they are badly misled. If they are actually prepared to kill people for that belief then either someone is taking advantage of that child's naivity or they have a disorder of some kind. Most likely both. I don't think the Matrix can be blamed for idiots. You might as well blame God for the people who blow themselves up in His name. I think there is a limit to how much you can shift the blame from the perpetrators. It's not like The Matrix literally says killing policemen will free you from the matrix. Reservoir Dogs is much closer to saying that killing policemen is not a bad thing and I don't remember murders being linked with that movie.

Other than the God thing, Fatpie42, I agree with you. A mental disorder is most likely a must if you think you live in the Matrix (or A Matrix). More common these days are to blame movies and computer games for causing violence. Stupid. Crazy people have always been crazy and done crazy things. I bet that crazy people saw Clint Eastwood in his western movies back in the mid to late 60's and got a gun and blew away "bad guys" right and left. They were influenced by Clint. Sure, but they could have been influenced by Daffy Duck too, or the Sandman.. I think it's silly to blame literature and movies for what crazy people do. Some nutz in Southern USA are blaming J.K. Rowling for teaching their kids witchcraft and thus they burn her Harry Potter books in public. I say 'HELLO!' Crazy is what crazy does.

An emotican to illustrate:

X54 wrote:

he may have believed he was living in some kind of a matrix.

But... we are living in a matrix... aren't we?

Anyway

I think it's rediculous, people should be able to know that what they see in movies isn't reality, and make up their minds for themselves, regardless of outside influences.

And if this kid thought of the older guy as Morpheus, did he think of himself as Neo? It would make sense, like he was The One helping Morpheus fulfill the prophecy he believed. I wonder if the older guy added to this by telling him that he was the one and it was a prophecy and stuff like that, or if it was all in the kid's head.

Learn how to spell : Ridiculous

This is probably a typical case of mixing up cause and effect.

Did he become crazy BECAUSE he saw Matrix 100 times and identified with a role?

No, he identified with a role and saw the movie 100 times BECAUSE he was crazy.

Logjaamx wrote:

Learn how to spell : Ridiculous

Learn how to not be an ass. English is not my first language.

DefenderOfTheUniverse wrote:

English is not my first language.

But English is an Universal Language? Isn't it, Mr. DefenderOfTheUniverse ?

knnknn wrote:

DefenderOfTheUniverse wrote: English is not my first language. But English is an Universal Language? Isn't it, Mr. DefenderOfTheUniverse ?

Ms. DefenderOfTheUniverse to you. Just because I defend it doesn't mean I know its language.

Learn English grammar: a universal language.

X54 wrote:

Learn English grammar: a universal language.

'a', 'an', who gives one. Don't be so picky, yo.

Anyway, yeah. There's absolutely no reason to blame the media for the transgressions of the whackos.

The very act of blaming video games or movies for murders is inane. If that were a viable excuse, I could well steal a truckload worth of stuff and claim that old gangster movies were telling me to 'pull the perfect heist'.

And you know what's the hilarious part? Chances are, nobody even thought about giving the sniper's Claim of Influence any thought beyond proof of insanity... until, that is, it started to smell like News.

Thankfully, I haven't heard too many complaints about movies being the cause of the Decline of Western Civilization. But here's something...

Anyhow, let me tell you a story about how the news media and the people who report to it make everything a conspiracy.

I live in Iowa. We have crime here too, and not all of it involves corn and pigs ... but just a few years ago, I read something that made me want to vomit.

A mother had written in and complained to the Des Moines Register regarding the video game Conker's Bad Fur Day. She had bought it for her fifteen-year-old son. Now, think with me for a second. Fifteen. Hold that thought.

She wrote about thinking that the title (with box art including a spray-paint style subtitle reading, "NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 17 YEARS OLD" across a black background and an "M" rating-M for mature) was "just a cute game about a squirrel."

Red flags about intelligence already.

Next, she went on to rant about the horror of it all: quote, "this is like Disney selling pornography."

Newsflash. Video games aren't pong anymore, haven't been for nigh-twenty years. In your example, you're taking one extreme, the Disney corporation, and going to another extreme, i.e., the pornography industry.

Comparing that to a range from a middle ground of, say, video games to a slightly higher ground of animated violence and profanity that is common on elementary school playgrounds, well, there really is no comparison.

Okay, she was horrified. But what about? Language, actually, and violence.

Remember with me for a second how old her son was. Fifteen. Well, when I was in school, when I was HALF that age, I had already heard all the 'objectionable' words in that game (I rented and completed it after reading the editorial, to judge for myself). Now, when you consider that these times are a-changin', as our sixties songs enjoy telling us, you would probably concede that the world has gotten more lax about language as it has progressed.

This leads me to conclude that, since I was mature enough to handle it when I was his age in a time that was far less rowdy than our current era, then I must conclude that he is far less mature than I was at his age.

This, then, would be a parenting issue.

The moral? Don't blame the entertainment biz for your own lack of parenting skills. That'd be just dumb.

The less polite moral:
Stop it. Just stop it. The only thing you're going to do by sheltering your precious little angel is impede their natural progression from a child to an adult. While this progression should be taken slowly, you can't keep your children 'safe' forever. Sometimes people have to do things themselves, learn things, fail once in a while. Don't waste your time and my sanity by attempting to put everyone else under your "Mommy/Daddy Knows Best" rule, either. This includes all the inane rating systems (The Matrix gets an F for violence!) and the stupid protests and demonstrations ("Stop the hate! Boycott all video games!). People, get lives of your own. Don't work to make mine miserable.

Being a parent isn't about Saving the Day. It's about being there for your kids.

apparently he wrote "free your mind from the matrix" all over his cell...look for the pictures on google and you will see what i mean

hes not the only one as well

i watched a documentary a few weeks ago on british tv called "the matrix defence"

it gave 5 or 6 different cases of people who killed and used the matrix in thier defence

thanlfully none of thier excuses went down too well and all of them were locked up and given psychiatric treatment orders

one woman killed her neighbour after chasing her down the street because she thought she was part of a "matrix group" which included a homeless guy who fell asleep in the back of her pick up truck and who she thought was a hitman sent by the "matrix group" to kill her

another was a guy who killed,chopped up and dumped his landlady around san fransisco because "she was trying to suck him into the matrix"

Um.... I know everyone thought the grammar/spelling thingy was over and were probably breathing a sigh of relief, however....

"An universe" seems perfectly correct grammatically. The use of an or a is chosen by whether the next word has a vowel as the first letter.

Examples

An apple
An untied shoelace

A discovery
A house

so since 'u' is a vowel you can say "an universe" QED

Fatpie42 wrote:

so since 'u' is a vowel you can say "an universe" QED

Only if it was pronounced "oo-niverse."

Since it's pronounced "you-niverse" it needs "a" to go with the "y" sound.

One of the reasons English is so messed up, is that it often disobeys the rules they teach you at school.

An unusual answer?
A Uniform language?

It's more to do with the sound than the spelling!

Check the Pronunciation guide in any dictionary (eg.

I don't normally correct english in forums - we're not at school now - but I don't like to see someone incorrectly correct a mistake.
It's hard enough learning a language without someone feeding you the wrong information.

Write how you like, but start picking fault with people (particularly those who are not using their native language) and you're asking for it.



Oh and the psycho guy / matrix thing... I think we're all pretty much agreed on the real reason...

Crazy people tend to be either awesome or freakin' dangerous.

I know how to pronounce universe already thankyou very much!

X54 wrote:

...he may have believed he was living in some kind of a matrix....

So whatever your beliefs, we're agreed this guy is definately crazy.

1) He's not living in a matrix but he thinks he is - That's crazy

2) He's living in a matrix but didn't have an exit ready - That's really crazy

Marl64 wrote:

Quote:

2) He's living in a matrix but didn't have an exit ready - That's really crazy

Hee Hee Heee!

I suggest a delayed 'exit' set-up by his damn lawyers....'The Matrix made me do it'...seems like a delayed exit to me!

'Get-out of the Matrix unscathed clause - and pass the buck'

i bet his lawyer tried to use that as a way to get a reduced sentence, mabye he told the dude to write that all over his cell walls, just thoughts, i have nothing to back this up. dont sue me for slander.

Asian Smith wrote:

Quote:

i bet his lawyer tried to use that as a way to get a reduced sentence, mabye he told the dude to write that all over his cell walls, just thoughts, i have nothing to back this up. dont sue me for slander.

Well if you're going to go down then so am I! My thoughts entirely!
Has the Matrix trilogy ever given you the urge to go and chop-up your landlord? Not likely!

Quite frankly he isn't mad because of the matrix, but this obsession with the matrix is almost certainly because of a real mental problem.

Personally I disagree with the death penalty anyway so I certainly don't think they should give it to mentally ill prisoners.

if indeed the sniper did shoot those people as a direct results of watching the matrix then i believe the film should be examined.
i am a big fan of the matrix and i can truthfully conclude that the matrix has had a negative psycological effect on a person.

I have also watched a program on channel 5 titled "The Matrix Murders" in which 3 students performed serial killings motivated by the matrix.

i understand that to kill a person and blame it on the matrix is rediculous, +

every person who gave the reason that the matrix "made me do it" has subsequently been found to have an underlying psychological problem

and i have no doubt its the same for people who blamed computer games and music

scapegoats are to easy to find...its easier than looking for the truth

columbine should have at least taught us that much

Yeah, I agree with Anomoly, this is just a scapegoat. It's easier that actually taking time to find the root of the problem. The basic thinking is, this kid shot a lot of people, he watched "The Matrix", which shows scenes of a lot of people getting shot, therefore "The Matrix" is to blame. Ok, we've figured out why this kid did what he did real wasy, no reason to actually think about the real problam and maybe prevent it from happening to other youth. It's kinda sad when you think about it.