'The Matrix' made me do it...

[J.J. Maxx]

Originally posted by The Boston Globe
JOSH COOKE DOESN'T REMEMBER what he was thinking at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17, when he went up to his room after eating dinner with his parents. He remembers what he was listening to on his headphones -- "Bodies," by metal drones Drowning Pool -- and what he did. "I just kinda looked over at my `Matrix' poster," he says, "and then I looked over at my gun."

The 19-year-old donned combat boots and a black jacket -- like Neo, the hero of the 1999 movie and its sequels. He filled his pockets with shotgun shells. Then he picked up the 12-gauge he'd bought because it looked like the one in the poster of his favorite movie, and he marched downstairs. "I guess you know the rest," he says.

When the police arrived at the house on Adel Road in Oakton, Va., just south of D.C., they found Cooke's parents dead in the basement and Cooke waiting calmly in the driveway. And when Cooke was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, he became the third killer in the United States since the release of the original movie to consider pleading not guilty by reason of "The Matrix."

Read the whole story. (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/11/09/the_matrix_defense/)

Isn't it funny how nobody does anything anymore? It's always something else besides their own, criminal, psychotic actions. :eyebrow:

Amazing.

[Predcon1]

chalk up another point for Lieberman

[Master Ghaleon]

i know, its just wrong how when people kill they blame it on someone or something else. You know when you kill someone with a shotgun, you know when you put your shotgun shells in the shotgun and pulled the trigger. People like that just say that so they can be labeled "insane" So nothing harsh can be done to them other then being put in the looney bin.

[Tsukuru]

Hopefully there will be a judge and a jury that are intelligent enough to see through this baseless claim and convict the psychopaths for the deranged murderers they are. I'm surprised such allegations - scapegoating violent movies, videogames, and TV - are even entertained.

It's sadly a trend, blaming someone or something else for your own failure, misfortunes, and downfalls.

[Predcon1]

Originally posted by Tsukuru
I'm surprised such allegations - scapegoating violent movies, videogames, and TV - are even entertained.


You have to realize that the majority of judges, senators, and representatives are over 40 years old. These are the people who are from an age when the general populace lived by a different set of values (no sex before marriage, etc etc). They come from an outmoded generation where entertainment was bland and "tasteful".

[Dechipher]

That's crazy, everyone knows a movie can't make anyone do anything. It's preposterous.







It was Drowning Pools fault. :P

[TheGeepster]

There are two ways I can see this.

ONE: This boy has a disconnect from reality and needs serious psychiatric help, and needs to be kept away from society (including potentially harmful movies.)

TWO: He was fully aware of how wrong his actions were and deserves the full brunt of the legal consequences of his actions. His argument of insanity may just be a ploy to get off the hook.

Personally, I think it's the second, but I don't know all the details yet.

Either way, he needs to be removed from society for a long time.

[Master Ghaleon]

Posted by TheGeepster:

TWO: He was fully aware of how wrong his actions were and deserves the full brunt of the legal consequences of his actions. His argument of insanity may just be a ploy to get off the hook.


That prolly it. If he walks free, Ill got butcher him up with my Axe. :odd:

So lets say if I go out and rape someone. I can blame it on porn and get away with it?

I say an eye for an eye. He killed someone so he should be killed by the same means.

[cyberkiller6276]

I'll say it again. You cannot blame media for anybodies actions, including your own. Millions of people play video games and even more probably saw the matrix trilogy. But do you see millions of violent people out there, killing their parents with a shotgun? I know studies have shown that TV violence can influence four year olds actions, the way they play, but I'm sure this guy is capable of of differentiating reality from fantasy. Unless of course, as previously mentioned, he's psychotic.

[Melonhead]

My question is: Where do we draw the line about what is our fault and what influenced us?
Music, video games, and movies are now the "real" culprits for all the crimes in our country? What about books that have killing in them? Or art that depicts fighting?

[Carmine]

Yes, this happens to often. And they always go ahead and put full blame on the movies. Of course lets just trash out the whole idea of bad parenting, and not getting their kid help for his mental condition. Yes, 'The Matrix' is responsible. I mean, look at em, they got, like, money! Therefor, we've found the root of the evil to fill our pockets wi... Err, bring to "justice".

[Lilith]

Ah yes, because everytime I look at the Matrix poster on *my* wall I immediately think of killing my parents. Duh.

[Hessian]

Is everyone missing the fact that this kid had a shotgun in his room?

[J.J. Maxx]

Originally posted by Hessian
Is everyone missing the fact that this kid had a shotgun in his room?

You mean you don't?

Warner Bros. sent me one when I registered my DVD of 'The Matrix'.

'Free Shotgun w/ Every DVD Purchase'

[TheGeepster]

I, for one, do not fault the Matrix for this. I'm the kind of guy who often stands out against the glorification of violence within the various media, including video games and movies, but there's far worse than "Matrix" out there as far as violence goes.

And I've never once used the culpability of what the person views or plays as an excuse to let them off the hook. After all, they are the ones who decided upon their actions and followed through.

Is it tragic that violence seems so commonplace today? Sure, but we each have a mind capable of thinking through our actions, and deciding right from wrong.

Besides, I LIKED the 3 Matrix movies. :D

[Ich]

You can never blame anyone else for the decisions you make.

[theplustwo]

You guys should read "We Need to Talk About Kevin."

Very good, interesting, book on the subject. I couldn't put it down.

[PrfectGREG]

Cop: Why did you do it?

Kid: Because I choose too!

[fatcatfan]

Originally posted by PrfectGREG
Cop: Why did you do it?
Kid: Because I choose too!
Precisely. And that's why he's guilty.