Hanging up Bill Rothes's phone, Murphy sat on the couch in the living room, his face unusually serious, his brow furrowed tightly, he got the news that couldn't be worse - the magician had killed again!

The Los Angeles police received a report at noon today, in a park in Burbank and Malibu, found a paper box suspected of explosives, the police immediately sent a large number of police to cordon off the scene, and dispatched bomb disposal experts and bomb disposal robots, only to find out that it was a false alarm, the box was full of colorful magic balls, and the magic balls were full of black letters - I am the agent of chaos!

There were no bombs, and the Los Angeles police breathed a sigh of relief, but the words on the magic ball made them nervous again. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Subsequently, the police conducted a carpet search of the park and the surrounding area, and found the body of a man in the pool in the northwest corner of the park, the deceased had been shot through the head with a bullet, and there was a colorful magic ball in his pocket, which also read "I am an agent of chaos"!

Another man was killed by a magician, which was definitely not good news for Murphy.

Even, the media may set off a storm of public opinion far beyond the current one, completely drowning "Dark City" in the wave of criticism.

"Who the hell is it?" Murphy was also very curious, "It's so crazy to do things!" ”

The police also didn't get too many valuable clues this time, and it wasn't that no one was influenced by movies and did some crazy things in the past, but he had never heard of someone like this who had a plan and didn't leave too many traces.

Could it be that the film "Dark City" will really create a real-life version of the crazy magician?

Although he is not a good person, the murderers have committed crimes one after another, and in Murphy's opinion, it can be described as madness.

What's even more troublesome is that this guy doesn't have to commit murder, but he and his movie are dragged into a huge whirlpool.

The next day, more news reached Murphy through the channel of lawyer Robert.

The man who was killed was Griffin Beckerman, who was also a Catholic, and had publicly attacked Murphy's "Diego Rose" about Catholicism many times on his Twitter and Facebook in the form of his real name.

In addition, the bullet that killed Griffin Beckerman was from a Glock pistol, and the magic ball on his body and the handwriting on the ball were exactly the same material as the one thrown in front of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, so it is almost possible to conclude that the two cases were committed by the same person.

Other than that, the Los Angeles police still don't have much clue at the moment.

The occurrence of this case also made the police and the outside world further confirm that the murderer was a fan of Murphy!

But Murphy has too many fans, and as a so-called native Los Angeles director, he has hundreds of thousands of die-hard supporters in the City of Angels.

Soon, when the Los Angeles Police spokesperson was interviewed by media reporters, he released very unfavorable remarks about Murphy and "Dark City".

"The influence of the movie "Dark City" can be seen behind the shooting at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood and the murder in Burbank Park, where the killer is clearly imitating the behavior of the film's villain, the magician......"

The police's rhetoric has undoubtedly pushed "The Dark City" to the forefront, and some media outlets that are leaning towards Catholicism have begun to eagerly discuss how to limit the violence in Hollywood movies and how to reduce the negative impact on audiences.

Perhaps the Catholic side did see a good opportunity to increase its influence in Hollywood, especially in the Southern California area, and some newspapers that supported the Catholic Church even fired directly at Murphy and "The Dark City".

"If you ask me why the criminals chose to shoot the audience in front of the theater where 'The Dark City' was shown, I can only say that it has nothing to do with the movie itself."

"That's the answer given by a Los Angeles County Police Department officer in response to a reporter's question, 'Do you think the suspect in the shooting was influenced by the movie?'" Similar questions were asked by some reporters at the beginning of the release of Murphy Stanton's "Dark City", when there were concerns that the image of the magician in the movie was too real for young people to imitate. ”

"At that time, Murphy Stanton's answer was 'young people have their own judgment,' and this phrase became the centerpiece of some media criticism of Murphy Stanton, and the grandiose, large, and intensive propaganda campaign he and Twentieth Century Fox created for 'The Dark City' was considered by experts and police to be an indirect inducement to crime."

"The way Dark City is promoted is completely brainwashing and viral. It constantly plays up the confidence, evil, and darkness of the villains in Murphy Stanton's films, and even the male protagonist, who is the representative of justice, transforms from a hero to a 'loyal traitor struggling in the mire of New York City'...... I believe that most movie fans go to the movies to see how the villain turns New York upside down, and they expect a murderer who can kill the male lead, because Murphy Stanton's films for more than a decade have made them love neuroticism, revenge and anarchy. ”

"This also profoundly exposes a problem of Murphy Stanton, his films never focus on the bright side of human nature or society, but can only see the little darkness behind the light, and use the dark side to magnify the dark side infinitely, so that fans will be instilled with the values of being more inclined to the villain, which is the most terrible thing about Murphy Stanton's films, he directly affects and distorts the value orientation of the audience."

In the promotion of "Dark City", the filmmaker made extensive use of viral marketing such as posting wanted lists for the film's villains on the Internet to increase the attention of the film. On the other hand, this deepens the dividing line between the film and reality, and this kind of publicity caused panic among fans as early as 1999 when "Blair the Witch" was investigated, and 47 percent of the fans surveyed believed that the footage of "Blair the Witch" was real. ”

"What's even more terrifying is that Murphy Stanton has never been responsible for this, but is complacent about the negative impact of his film."

"It's time for us to reflect, and that reflection should start with self-exclusion of The Dark City, rejection of Murphy Stanton's films, exclusion of scenes of extreme violence in Hollywood films!"

Perhaps things are just as Murphy guessed, while the police are trying every means to hunt down the criminals, the Archbishop Márquez-Costello of the Diocese of South-Central California sees an opportunity to fight back, and even a golden opportunity to restore Catholicism in Hollywood, and frequently launches public opinion criticism against Murphy's "Dark City", and gradually expands the scope of criticism to Hollywood.

On the other hand, Murphy has had a smooth ride in recent years, and there are indeed many people and the media who don't like him, and he also stands up and steps on his feet by the way, anyway, it doesn't cost much.

"In the hands of Murphy Stanton, the face-painted villains of Hollywood films have been transformed into three-dimensional and complex terrorists like magicians, who believe in anarchy, and before they become thugs, they are also victims of a cruel material society, but they have taken the opposite path."

"This path is more in line with the choice of normal people, it is far easier to fall than to adhere to justice, take the murderer of the shooting case imitating a magician as an example, he can put people to death for some free speech on the Internet, even if it is a manslaughter, maybe he doesn't need money and power, but he plays with everyone with these two things, maybe he is not afraid of death, he is not afraid of failure, he only wants to destroy this world of ours."

"Such a person is the most terrible, he takes crime as an ideal! And Murphy Stanton and his film noir played an enlightening role in it! ”

While many media outlets blame Murphy and Dark City, there are others that are more objective in their analysis.

"Ever since the first filmmakers discovered the commercial entertainment nature of cinema a hundred years ago, violence has been inextricably linked to cinema and has evolved into an exhilarating art form under the leadership of renowned directors like Quentin Tarantino and Murphy Stanton."

"Looking at Murphy Stanton's more than a decade as a director, we can see a very obvious pattern: no violence, no film. The violent elements in the movie satisfy the restless hearts dissatisfied with reality, so that the audience's dark complex and desire for destruction are temporarily satisfied in the virtual world of the movie. ”

At the same time, Murphy Stanton's film noir also made the audience familiar with crime, learned to commit it, and even hooked on it. We should admit that movies do have an inescapable responsibility in the increasingly rampant social violence of all kinds, and if you have seen "Dark City", who of you has not been fascinated by the magician's extreme madness and sophisticated planning? Who would dare to say that after reading it, they don't have the urge to detonate a bomb somewhere and come out like a magician? ”

These criticisms and well-intentioned public opinion, as if they had been agreed, jumped out one after another, appearing in front of Murphy and the public, and it was difficult for people not to pay attention.

Based on the news from various channels, Murphy has confirmed that Archbishop Márquez Costello, who was said to have been reprimanded by the Vatican, is ready to use a sharp counterattack to return to the face and prestige he lost before.

Murphy certainly won't sit still, and the CAA and Twentieth Century Fox have prepared a television interview specifically for him, and while it can't undo the negative impact of the shooting, it can't completely throw the blame on him and "The Dark City."