SNIPER'D

The WaPo discusses Lee Boyd Malvo's defense. He was brainwashed, blah, blah, blah.

Unfortunately, it seems like his lawyers are dropping the claims that Malvo (and Muhammed) were brainwashed by The Matrix and the video game, Halo. I say that I'm disappointed, because I get a real kick out of the people who try to blame the world's problems on movies and video games. However, the second article does indicate that the Matrix and Halo defenses will make an appearance!

For some laughs, here a sample of the arguments.


Fradical says:
Last evening, Friday, December 14, Stone Phillips reported on Dateline NBC that the Beltway Sniper investigation found that John Lee Malvo, aged 17, prepared for his sniping spree by training on an XBOX shooter game, Halo, switched to "sniper mode." Phillips reported that John Muhammad had Malvo train on this game to break down his inhibition to kill because it switched Malvo from two-dimensional rifle range targets to virtual human targets. Killing humans would then be easier.

Certain children near Washington don’t have parents today, and certain parents in Paducah don’t have children today, because the video game industry, even after Columbine, whose killers trained on Doom, has targeted American kids with violent games that train them to kill. These games are nothing more than adult-rated murder simulators that make killings foreseeable and likely.


Laughing yet? It's odd to blame Columbine on a game like Doom, when the parents were aware that Kleibold and Harris were in possession of illegal firearms and bomb-making equipment. I guess that they must have been playing another video game, in which undisciplined spoiled brats walk all over their parents without any fear of the consequences of their actions.

It's important to note who wrote the above section. Jack Thompson is also suing the publishers of the Grand Theft Auto series, Take Two Interactive, for a $100 million because two minors, who shouldn't have been in possession of an M-rated game in the first place, went on a killing spree that mimicked the game's content. Jack Thompson is the man responsible for the Ice-T Cop Killer Controversy, too. It's also important to note that Thompson has yet to blame any attacks on the parents of the minors involved. He does not sue the firearm industry. He doesn't sue the US government over it's "murder simulator", America's Army. Jack doesn't provide any answers, he just smells money anytime a young child spills blood.

But let's laugh some more....

Boston News has a terrific article about the number of people claiming "The Matrix" defense:

When Lee Boyd Malvo, teen half of the alleged D.C. sniper duo, goes on trial for murder in Chesapeake, Va., tomorrow, his attorney confirms that he too will weave "The Matrix" into his insanity defense. Malvo told FBI agents that they should "watch `The Matrix"' if they wanted to understand him, and jailers found lines of dialogue from the film scribbled on paper in his cell. Even the Columbine killers were "Matrix" fans.
[...]
"The concept behind the movie isn't new," offers Dr. John Kennedy, director of the University of Cincinnati's Institute of Law and Psychiatry. "But there may be a certain group of individuals who wouldn't have heard about the concept except for the movie, who are ripe for hearing that and running with it. They're people whose lives are so fractured or without meaning that `The Matrix' is a way to explain that without saying, `I'm sick,' or, `I'm different.' It's a much more soothing explanation than admitting you've got a problem."

Kennedy's theory is borne out by the stories of the two killers who've already pled not guilty by reason of "The Matrix." In May 2000, Vadim Mieseges, a 27-year-old Swiss exchange student and former mental patient, confessed to skinning and dismembering his landlady and stashing her torso in a dumpster in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The reason, he said, was that she was emitting "evil vibes" and he was afraid of being "sucked into the Matrix." A judge accepted his plea of insanity, and the case never went to trial. His preexisting paranoia, it seems, had turned lethal under assault from crystal meth and "The Matrix."


I definitely recommend reading the full article, because it cites more cases that are just too stupid to believe. These cases have just as much merit as the argument that John W. Hinckley, JR's assassination attempt on President Reagan can be blamed on Scorcese's Taxi Driver and an obsession with Jodie Foster.

I think that Chris Rock said it best... " What happened to crazy? Can't kids be crazy no more?"

Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler were very crazy, very efficient killing machines. And without the expert training of "video games".