Colorado Shooting Renews Questions Over Movie Violence

 Reports indicating the alleged¹ gunman in last week's mass shooting in the U.S. state of Colorado may have fixated on Batman movies have raised new concerns about possible links between movies and violence.  . 

Long before James Holmes allegedly opened fire in a crowded Colorado movie theater, there was debate over whether violent movies spur violent acts. 

Dr. Jay Reeve, the president of a mental health facility in Florida, says it would be wrong to blame movies entirely².  Reeve, who has studied the effects of movies on behavior, says people predisposed to violence are attracted to violent movies.

"Folks are walking into these movie theaters with certain kinds of vulnerabilities, with a certain set for things and in a way, the movie just is another vehicle for them to express something that, you know, my guess is they would have expressed anyway," he said. 

Investigators³ said a teenager convicted in the Washington-area sniper shootings that killed 10 people in 2002 was fascinated by The Matrix, a science-fiction thriller⁴.

John Hinckley, the man convicted in the 1981 attempted assassination⁵ of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, appears to have followed the plot from the movie Taxi Driver.

And in the aftermath of a 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, investigators said one of the two teenaged gunmen had a journal reference to the Natural Born Killers⁶ movie.  Also, families of victims questioned whether both gunmen were influenced by The Basketball Diaries, another movie with graphic⁷ violence.

University of Michigan psychology⁸ professor Rowell Huesmann, says people can be influenced by a movie. "Violent movies can increase the risk of a person behaving violently," he said.

But he says a wide range of factors, such as mental health and aggression⁹ at home, have to be taken into consideration. "Yes, I would say violent movies, violent TV, violent video games do cause an increase in the risk of violence but it would be a mistake to think that by themselves these cause the violent acts.  It's usually they have to be combined with other psychological factors in the person," he said. 

Criminology professor James Fox at Northeastern University in Boston says most people have no problem separating fantasy from reality. "There are millions of people who are interested in, fascinated and sometimes even obsessed¹⁰ with violent entertainment and of course they don't go on rampages," he said. 

He says for some criminals, it could be that violent entertainment is a reflection of their personalities¹¹ but not the cause of their actions.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

5 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

6 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

7 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

8 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

9 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

10 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

11 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。