The Crank forwarded me a couple of interesting e-mails from a reader concerning links between the “Matrix” movie franchise and certain high-profile homicide cases, including the Columbine massacre and the Washington sniper rampage. Apparently, Diane Sawyer of “Good Morning America” had strong opinions on this topic the other day and it was in the news again today. As I wrote in detail yesterday, I really did not like “The Matrix Reloaded” and am almost loath to defend it. However, common sense dictates doing so, albeit with qualifications.

Needless to say, any defense in an intentional murder case which tries to place the blame on a movie is garbage. Every sane criminal defendant should be held personally responsible for his or her voluntary actions and insane criminal defendants clearly are not made so by movies. That is the short, simple answer here.

That said, the “Matrix” films do seem to have a certain, particular appeal to violent, loner types. The whole series is built on the premise that the real world is illusory and that we are secretly being manipulated by malign forces which distort our reality in order to exploit us. It is fundamentally a paranoid world and the movies do superficially glorify highly-stylized violence and anti-authoritarianism. It is hardly surprising that this world held appeal for monsters like Malvo and the Columbine murderers. Yet, I believe this says more about the cinematic tastes of psychopaths than it does about the irresponsible nature of the films.

I do not absolve movie-makers of all moral responsibility for their product. (I am always amused by the contrast between how Hollywood-types portray their films depending on the context of the conversation. Listen to them talk at one of the zillion annual awards shows and you will see so many of them get up and talk about the magical, life-changing world of cinema without which we could not eat, breathe or survive. Listen to them talk when anyone criticizes the impact of pervasive violence, profanity or promiscuity in films and their reflexive answer is that these are “just movies” and that they have no real impact on anyone. As usual, the truth probably lies somewhere in between. But I digress).

In the end, the “Matrix” films, much as I disliked the most recent one, are not particularly immoral films. While they do give off a “Doom”-like video-game vibe, the largely bloodless violence in the films is almost entirely directed at machines (albeit machines that look like humans) and the main plot involves humanity struggling for freedom from oppression. Any person with a functioning moral sense can see that they do not advocate the kind of unflinching slaughter of innocents committed in Columbine or around the Beltway. Anyone without one will be drawn to commit acts of evil anyway.

I am a little troubled by the overwhelming popularity of the Matrix series, which I see as somewhat hollow, however I see no basis for using the films to justify violence or as a defense to acts of wanton murder. Nor do I see them as necessitating any kind of government intervention or legal remedy.

The best remedy might be if simply less people went to see them.