The Murder Matrix: Influences of Movie Violence on Teens and the Mentally Ill

While researching stories of violence with some connection to movies, I came upon an article on ABCnews.go.com by Eric Choy and Susie L. Morris about some male youths who were plotting an extreme act of violence, but were caught before they could act on their plans. According to the article, the plan was to “kill three of their peers, then embark on a random shooting spree…when the teens were apprehended…they were in possession of guns, swords, and 2,000 rounds of ammunition, police said” (Choy, Morris). As they never had a chance to act out their plans, people may question if they were serious. Personally, teenagers in possession of guns and 2,000 rounds of ammo sounds deadly serious and I am very thankful they were caught.



Author Greg O'Bierne
Photo from Wikimedia Commons



I found this article interesting because it mentions the movie “The Matrix” as an obsession of one of the boys and a possible factor in their violent plans. In other articles, such as this one on Trutv.com by Katherine Ramsland, and this Boston.com article by Mark Schone, the Matrix is said to be one of the most often cited movies in defenses by people who commit violent crimes. The list of “Matrix” defendants includes:

• Josh Cooke, a 19-year-old who murder his adoptive parents.

• D.C. Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo.

• Tonda Lynn Ansley, a 36-year-old bartender who shot her landlady three times.

• Vadim Mieseges, a 27-year-old who killed and dismembered his landlady.

The common thread of these crimes is that they all declared a sense of ‘unreality’ such as in the Matrix where the world was just an evil illusion created by a computer. Combine this suggestion that the world is nothing but a dream with pre-existing mental illness, and you have a deadly cocktail where people are evil illusions in which there is no harm, or perhaps even justice served, in killing them. Had the movie not had the chance to make such a suggestion to already fragile minds, would they have murdered? We will probably never know the answer to this, but again as in past post, it is a possibly worth serious consideration.

The article by Choy and Morris also makes another interesting point: mental illness does not necessarily have to play a factor, especially with teenagers. In the case of the boys who were caught before they could commit any deadly crimes -  

“Dr. Thomas Van Hoose, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas' Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas [states] exposure to violence in the media often desensitizes viewers to the effects of real violence. ‘Couple [it] with the immaturity of teenagers, their self-centeredness, and their often unrealistic views of death and you can get a deadly combination of motives and actions that can lead to tragedy’” (Choy, Morris).

I really liked that quote because as soon as I saw it, as I felt it was a very accurate portrayal of why teenagers are particularly susceptible to suggestions of violence. It was a list of weaknesses of the teenage condition.

I hope you will take the time to read each of the articles cited in this post, especially if you have young children and teenagers. They combine to create a sobering picture of factors that can work in conjunction with media violence for bad outcomes.