Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

You know how all these Matrix nerds claim to be so smart, Ummm

Matrix films blamed for series of murders by obsessed fans

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Monday May 19, 2003
The Guardian

One of the attractions of The Matrix, the film whose sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, opens in Britain next week, was its blending of fantasy and reality. A series of murders in the United States suggests some people have been unable to distinguish between the two.
Josh Cooke, a 19-year-old in Oakton, Virginia, owned a trenchcoat like the one worn by Neo, the character played by Keanu Reeves in the movie, and kept a poster of his hero on his bedroom wall. Then he bought a gun similar to the one used by Neo to fight evil.

In February, he shot his father and mother in the basement of their home and then called the police. His lawyers say he believed that he was living inside the Matrix.

The theme of the films is that computers have taken over the earth, although some humans exist in a computer-simulated world, battling to save humanity. "He's just obsessed with it," Cooke's defence attorney, Rachel Fierro, told the Washington Post.

The local prosecutor, Robert Horan, said: "I don't think the movie causes violence. Millions and millions of people have seen it and not killed anybody." Cooke will now be examined by a psychiatrist.

The Matrix seems to have spawned other imitators. Last week in Ohio, a woman was found not guilty of killing the professor whose house she rented, on the grounds of insanity. Tonda Lynn Ansley, 37, said she had had dreams which turned out not to be dreams. The local prosecutor said that, "in her warped perception", the film played a part in the killing.

In San Francisco in 2000, Vadim Mieseges, 27, killed his landlady, Ella Wong, and pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity. The police who interviewed him said he had made "reference to being sucked into the Matrix".

The young man accused of taking part in last year's sniper attacks in the Washington area has also cited the film.

"Free yourself of the Matrix," wrote Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, one of the two defendants, in his jail cell.

To quote Scream:

"Movies don't turn people into killers. Movies just make killers more imaginative."

That's why people blame these movies then people blame these movies for putting bad images in people heads it sad.But it obvious these people should be locked away for insanity.

well those are truly horrible cases, but the movie cant be blamed. there are crazy people in the world that will use anything as an excuse (particulary when faced with a death penalty). i have never heard of matrix nerds claiming to be so smart, though i am sure some do when they think they have the show figured out. the only claim i have heard of the sorts is that the films are really smart. plus if being a huge fan of a movie and signing up for forums based on movies makes a person a nerd, then we all are, including tex. long live the nerds!!! i saw a shirt the other day i almost bought, it was a stick figure dude with his fist raised that said "dorks united", nice.

Movies and music get blame for this stuff not right.But now a days kids mouths come from that.And know there mothers don't speck like that.Stop and listen to elementary students walk near you and hear what they say very aweful and sad.

Well i agree, people should stop getting the easy way out and blame movies, music and other people for their actions. But in this now and age by someone pretending to be insane they get away with a lot of things. GET RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS PEOPLE!! AND STOP BLAMING MOVIES AND MUSIC!!

P.S-The Matrix Has You!!! lol

But it's parents job to keep kids away from bad things for young people watching these movies can affect them.

People will blame anything, usually minus themselves.

yeah seriously. video games, movies and music. some people are just instable to begin with. if not that, then it's the parents not doing the job they should be doing. out of the billions of people that live on this planet who are exposed to violence through all these types of media, it is only a handfull that actually DO anything that violent. this type of violence can't be blamed on movies when it is clearly the person's instablity or lack of parental guidance.

seriously guys, i went to go see the movie again, and there were all sorts of parents talking small children to view the movie. it's up to them i guess, but the whole movie rating system was to prevent messing with kids heads and minds. same with video games. it's up to the parents to do what's best for the kids, if that fails, then there isn't much else anyone can do.

Originally posted by Tex
You know how all these Matrix nerds claim to be so smart, Ummm

We are not nerds Tex we are GEEKS!!
And I never claimed to be smart

Yeah Nerds are smart>

what a sad state of affairs, I wouldn't blame the movies or music, there is something definately wrong with someone who can do something like that, if they didn't use a movie too blame it on then it would have been something they saw on the news or read in the paper or a book.

People blame anything to avoid jail.

these are not lacks in education, childhood molesting..or whatever. These are some ****ed up people...up there..in the head. And you can't blame movies because sooner or later the true intentions come on top (though matrix would turn a killer into a more immaginative one )
I mean..you have people shooting in highschools with ingrams over there...where did they get that?

plus, a few months after columbine, people were freakin out that school shootings were increasing at an alarming rate, when in actuality, there was a report done by peter jennings saying that school shootings were actually decreasing, but media coverage of them was increasing

i agree with you 100% dexx....people kill people, not movies

*finds t-shirt imprinted with: "movies don't kill people, i kill people!"

you're a person, so i agree with that logo all the way!

yeah....i even feel sorry for htose guyz. After all the killings..they don't even get the originality credit for them. Ppl say they got'em from a mvie...so they get...nothing...oh, yeah: years behind bars.

haha! copyright infringment!

well..ofcourse...that's the REAL crime, no?

that it is!

i think that some of the fault should also go to the parents because if the parents of those murderous kids were paying attention to them, giving them the support they need they wouldnt need to submerge themselves in a world of fantasy as an alternative to the attention they dont get at home!

...agreed

i agree with u Darth Vicious

as do i

i don't....could you immagine yourself going wild, shooting around, after seeing a movie, without parental advisory???..i doubt it.

right, but it's up to the parents to teach their kids right from wrong. it's also up to them to show them appropriate movies and games for their age. you have no idea how many children i saw when i went to go see the matrix reloaded. this movie is definetly not for kids.

mm...it's not exactly an example of 'not for kids' movies....i can name A LOT worse.
but some things are just over education...You don't go around and shoot ppl (reasonless)...that's over what a mom can teach..it's..i dunno..instinct

well it was rated R...

Rated 'M' in Australia. (reccomended for viewing by audiences 15 years and older) which means you can be less than 15 and watch it. 'MA' is you HAVE to be over 15 and 'R' is you have to be over 18.

well..ther are no ratings round here....everyone sees it.

R is for Romanians.

Besides, there was less shooting in Matrix Reloaded. And no one lost their heads or got cut in half like in the Patriot or Blade II. And the slashes that Neo makes with those knives when fighting the Meravingian's men doesn't even show up.

The security around the Matrix Reloaded showing is tight here. I walked towards the theater and had to show 5 employees my ticket.

one of meravingian's men gets bashed in the head ..it shows. And that chinese guy at the end...pretty gets bashed up....(it doesn't show though)
And those tiny drops of blood...after neo blocks the blade with the hand...eeeew

I forgot about that part that was wicked cool.

it was all over then though. once that blood hit the floor, the vampires got thirsty and lost their focus.

hehe...you know..this makes me think..if he can block blades, fly and other stuff..why the hell does he spend any time mearly fighting his opponents ?(besides to create the visuale effects and score at the box office )

there is more violence in the media and the governments of the world commit the most acts of violence but movies and music get blamed for being the SOURCE of more murders than either of these subjects.

Well if you are psychotic for real then no amount of education is going to help. If you are paranoid psychotic with extreme delusions of persecution and other niceties then nothing will help you... not even medication. Do you know how many "functional" psychotics roam the streets adn the country side all over the world. Other than the extreme solution... nothing can be done for these people. So when they see a movie like THE MATRIX or any of the religion based films having to do with God, Christ or Satan and his legions then these people go off the deep end.

They don't have to see movies... They can read books and act out based on their psychosis and needs.

The MATRIX MURDERS did not surprise me. It was coming. I'm quite sure the same thing was happening when TERMINATOR first came out.

if what you say is true, about movies making killers more imaginative...that isnt very comforting! lol!

to prevent another thread, i think il post it here (wow this ones old)

UK - 10:45 on Channel4 tonight 'The Matrix Defence'

'Documentary looking at the legal defence presented by a wealthy suburban teenager who shot dead his parents, claiming that he was influenced by the film the Matrix. The programme reports on a recent series of brutal murders across America where questions have been raised about the impact of the film on the actions of the defedants.'


probably a repeat anyway, but worth a watch

its on right now btw.

Lol, this may become a shock too you but.......Sometimes i beleve in a Matrix or somthing like that.......

You ever seen The Truman Show??! Well i somtimes think Theres cameras everywhere watching me,But i still do mky normal stuff ect,.lolol

and i get a Shit load of coincidences!!!! Its like i see or look at things that ive never heard or seen b4, and i remeber them from somwhere?!!
Its little things like that what pop up every so often.

lolol,dont worry im not gonna kill anybody.