It’s a scary thought to consider the possibility of someone
knowing the inner workings of your mind before they manifest into reality. In
fact, many things about this future are intimidating and cause one to be
fearful. Imagine “driving” home in your car and being re-routed to an alternate
destination based on wherever those in charge want or need you to be. And there
is no off switch; you have no control over the situation. Unless of course you
want to pull a Tom Cruise and bust out of the window and risk your life in oncoming
traffic. Or imagine walking into a store where there is a scanner that detects
your identity and immediately begins to speak to you personally about your
purchasing history. It’s creepy, and an invasion of privacy. Not to mention the
invasion of privacy that occurs when tiny electronic spiders enter your home
and interrupt your daily life in order to scan your eyes to ensure your
identity. But, is it all in part to keep the people safe? And if it is, does
that make it okay?
The most promising argument that I found in the film for the
implementation of the pre-crime initiative was this basic conversation: “Why
did you catch that ball? … Because it was going to fall.” Basically, if you
know something is going to happen, and you can prevent it then why wouldn’t you?
But, the problem here is how do you know for certain that it will happen? We
realize in the movie that it comes down to the split second and people have
free will and the ability to choose differently and to not commit an act that
they may have thought about. It goes back to people being in charge of their own
destiny. People are capable of making the right decision in the end despite previous
negative or violent thoughts. The pre-cog tells the chief, “You know your own
future, which means you can change it if you want to.” In a world where people
with good intentions attempt to rid the smaller society of DC from murder,
there is the ever-present reality that the system is flawed because it is
human. This reminds us that although we are prone to be flawed and we don’t
always make the right choices, that there is always the possibility of the
opposite. In this movie they allow that possibility to outweigh the risk. We
are left with a remotely uplifting ending for a change.
Image #1: http://www.tomcruise.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/tom-cruise-minority-report-leap.jpg
Image #2: http://3dguy.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/billboard500.jpg
Image #3: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikAxOpiUmu_dsIOAv-xaSeHi-H9dmVncxOc2LmSGxikUlQyiieTThOc9BaXr98h8nipmhJsawyvn75OXc211rcsB2x_Ke3ru2tN34dq3mS2TJwL2YTeekeF4uSaNL_tINVos4iL7GL_wDY/s1600/minority_report.jpg
Image #4: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.switched.com/media/2011/03/precogbooks.jpg
Excellent points McKinsey! I too think that an invasion of privacy would eventually become detrimental for all citizens who would suffer from being exposed 24/7. With the magnitude, and lengths that this film portrays differing levels of invasion privacy, I am certainly glad that I did not live as a member of that society. While it is true that if some things are preventable you should prevent them, I would have to add it all depends on what you would be stopping, and what significance and implications would arise if you took actions. I guess in a sense, this concept of stopping things before they happen, best fits for negative things, because some things just aren't significant enough or worth changing.
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