Matrix defense

English The + Etymology From the plot of the film The Matrix (1999), whose protagonist is woken from an illusionary simulated world into the dystopian reality. Proper noun Matrix defense 1 en US legal A legal defense in which the defendant claims to have committed a crime in the belief that they were not in the real world, but in a simulated reality. en 2012 C. Stephen Jaeger Enchantment: On Charisma and the Sublime in the Arts of the West University of Pennsylvania Press 9780812206524 41 There is now a legal strategy called the "Matrix defense," which has been an effective form of insanity defense. The film evidently had a part in inspiring Lee Malvo, the Washington D.C. sniper, and it has been mentioned in connection with the Columbine High School killings, which happened less than a month after the release of The Matrix. en The Matrix