Mass shooting in Las Vegas. 50+ dead

[A Theist]

Good flick. Maybe Hollywood should stop making so many movies that glorify violence before its actors and directors, like Quentin Tarantino for one, take a vocal position against guns. Same with the gaming industry. Stricter legislation against violent content from Hollywood and the gaming industry.

I dont see how that would do anything. People who already have psychopathic personalities and a tendency towards violence, are going to be encouraged by anything to eventually act out. If it isn't movies or video games, it'll be something else. You can't compare movies to weapons, because the weapon is what they use to kill people, not the movies.

I was actually being sarcastic and simply pointing out the hypocrisy of Hollywood's most vocal opponents to guns who, on the other hand, either direct or act in some of Hollywood's most violent movies. But, as far as Hollywood or the gaming industry having some influence for a culture of violence there could possibly be some merit to that. The Columbine killers i.e., who were teens that were bullied in High School, were of the gifted variety who hated high school jocks, were also gamers and fans of the movie, "Natural Born Killers". There's been some attempts to tie the influence for those killings to that movie.  Another movie that gained attention and was also used in murder defense cases was "The Matrix", and as you stated, may have influenced people who already have psychopathic tendencies. It was released just weeks before the Columbine shootings....

In cases of apparent copycat crime, victims’ families sometimes have sued movie or record companies on the theory that they are responsible for the crimes their products inspired. The overwhelming majority of such suits have been unsuccessful. Sometimes they fail for First Amendment reasons. Other times, they fail due to the plaintiffs’ failure to prove a causal connection between the movie or song, and the crime, that would be sufficient for legal liability.

But now a new form of causal connection between a movie and reality seems to be emerging–and one that is more subtle than copycatting. According to several defendants and their attorneys, it seems that the very philosophy of “The Matrix” may have somehow interacted with the psychology of certain mentally ill individuals, in such a way as to cause them to commit their crimes. These individuals did not copy “The Matrix”; instead, they seem simply to have believed the philosophies espoused in the movie to be true.


Not Guilty By Reason Of the Matrix?
Two defendants in criminal cases, by incorporating their strange beliefs about “The Matrix” as evidence of a mental disorder, have successfully asserted pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. In each case, the “Matrix”-based plea was accepted by the judge.
One was Vadim Mieseges of San Francisco, who dismembered his landlady in 2000. He subsequently told police that he had been “sucked into ‘The Matrix.'”
Another was Tonda Lynn Ansley of Ohio, who shot her landlady. Like Mieseges, she claimed to have believed her killing had not been real, but a dream. She commented, “They commit a lot of crimes in ‘The Matrix,'” suggesting that, just as in the movie, her killing must have been only “a bad dream.”
Meanwhile, Beltway Sniper suspect John Lee Malvo is also said to have been obsessed with “The Matrix.” In jail, he wrote a note stating “Free yourself of ‘The Matrix.'” The idea of the real-as-unreal seems to fit well with Malvo’s psychology. According to reports, he laughed when allegedly confessing his shootings–as if he didn’t believe that he had killed actual human beings.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2003/06/06/...trix-quot/

I also have a friend who's only child that was a decorated war veteran of Afghanistan who committed suicide after the very same manner from a scene out of the movie, "A Few Good Men". He dressed up in his uniform and took his 9mm pistol and shot himself, just as was done in the movie.

As far as Hollywood and the gaming industry having an influence on the so called "culture of violence" in this country, I believe it merits study.