How Much are Movies Themselves to Blame for Aurora Massacre?

If it's now coming out that the Colorado Killer, James Holmes, was obsessed with being a character in the Batman movie, shouldn't we be having a national discussion on how much Hollywood is responsible for this murderous rampage.  And while we're at it, a lot of the other social ills like the sexualization of teens, out-of-wedlock births and gang violence, all depicted in living color on the silver screen?

On Tuesday, Matt Drudge linked to a blistering attack on Hollywood by Charles Hurt of the Washington Times in response to the massacre at the midnight Friday showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado:

You are devastated that such an “innocent and hopeful place” — here you are talking about the movie theaters that play your twisted movies — would be violated in such an “unbearably savage” way. I mean, really, who could think up such monstrous hatred and nihilistic violence? Umm, have you watched any of your own movies lately?

And, in the selfless modesty that is the hallmark of an Academy Awards ceremony, you tell us that your “feelings” about the massacre are so deeply profound that the mere words of the English language built up over hundreds of years are simply not up to the task of describing them. Wow. You do have a gift for fantasy.

But the real clue that you remain shrouded in guilt-free delusion is when you mention the “senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community.” Senseless? Really? If by “senseless” you mean carried out almost precisely from the scripts of your own movies, then, sure, it was “senseless.”

Glenn Reynolds says:   I say, repeal the Hollywood Tax Cuts! More on that here.