Minority Report

In a time when civil liberties are under attack, Minority Report tries to make a statement on ethical implications of how far "authorities", in this case, the "PreCrime Unit" should go in order to attain security. This movie introduces a troubling moral ambiguity, considering PreCrime's success rate (no murder has been committed in it's six year existence). It asks what we should be willing to sacrifice in the name of security, and how much faith should be placed in a "flawless system".

In a time when civil liberties are under attack, Minority Report tries to make a statement on ethical implications of how far "authorities", in this case, the "PreCrime Unit" should go in order to attain security. This movie introduces a troubling moral ambiguity, considering PreCrime's success rate (no murder has been committed in it's six year existence). It asks what we should be willing to sacrifice in the name of security, and how much faith should be placed in a "flawless system".

Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, who also wrote Blade Runner, Minority Report looks forward to a shimmering future, where the success of the PreCrime unit is gaining national attention. PreCrime is a seeminly flawless system in which murders are foreseen with the help of the "Precogs," a kind of genetically engineered psychics, floating in a pool of water. The system succeeds in preventing murders by arresting the criminals before they commit the crime. The would-be murderers are given "halos" that put them in a comma-like state as punishment.

The PreCrime Unit has been in its experimental stage for the past six years in Washington DC, making it the world's safest place to live in. While the program is about to go national due to the Attorney General's encouragement, Federal Agent Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) begins to investigate flaws in the system.

John Anderton (Tom Cruise) an agent for PreCrime has his own secret life, filled with a desire for revenge, and a hidden drug addiction. He still believes wholeheartedly in the system of PreCrime, until he is told that he is guilty of a murder he hasn't committed. He is forced to run, all the while trying to prove his innocence. How do you prove your innocence when the system considers you guilty before you can prove or disprove anything?

Minority Report raises the question of how far we should trust a system, just because it protects us from things that we can prevent, much like a "preemptive strike missile defense shield" or curbing our civil liberties so we might catch a terrorist.

There are few Hollywood action movies that have an actual a plot. There are even fewer action movies that have a plot line that makes a statement. Minority Report has set itself apart, allowing the audience to ask questions of how a supposedly flawless system could be wrong from the start. It allows us to look at our own justice system and the one that is forming right now and question, does curbing our civil liberties really ensure our safety, if so from whom?
While these questions are asked in the context of an overblown Hollywood thriller, they are still important. I encourage you go and see Minority Report, but not because of the special effects. It presents a future that we are rapidly approaching, and without a powerful resistance, we may someday find ourselves attempting to dismantle our own version of "PreCrime."