The Supreme Court has cleared the way for plaintiffs to sue filmmakers for copycat crimes allegedly inspired by works of fiction . This last notion will be hard to prove, but the fact that the Court did not immediately rule this as an impingement on First Amendment rights sets the stage for a new wave of opportunistic victims. Granted, few tears will be shed for Time Warner, which unleashed gangsta rap, quasi-music that unabashedly celebrates wife beating, murder, rape and abuse. They've set the table for hyenas, and tacitly, if not overtly, nurtured a culture of victimology with a ravenous craving for quick bucks at someone else's expense. Copycats aren't new to filmdom.
Humans are instinctively imitative, especially in the developmental stages.
We hold children's programming to stricter and higher standards, with good reason. But we're talking about adults here, folks. Anyone even partially sane can distinguish between electro-celluloid illusions and reality. Note the plaintiffs are targeting not just companies, but individuals. We may be forced to censor ourselves for our own protection against the very audience we seek to entertain.