Steven Spielberg’s Interpretation of Philip K. Dicks’s Minority Report

The text “The Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick is a commentary on the concept of innocence and one’s freedom of choice. It is often said that stories change significantly when becoming movies. The movie by the same name Minority Report directed by Steven Spielberg is based off the same ideas and concept the unpredictability of life and choices. It is a prime example of how the short story and movie differ even if the basic concepts remain unchanged.

Although society is responsible for accepting the historical master narratives that connect African Americans to criminality, more individuals are beginning to realize the issue that internal racism causes. Documentaries, like 13th, are increasing in popularity, causing vast audiences to notice that many of the historical master narratives regarding race and criminality are imprecise. This specific documentary exposes how the media inaccurately depicts African Americans as criminals, and therefore, society should not always trust the media’s representation of individuals. By portraying how African Americans are criminalized, this documentary also offers solutions as to how the problem of mass incarceration can be solved; through not only educating police officials and training them to approach situations in a colorblind manner, but also adjusting structural components, such as laws that require extremely long sentences for committing petty crimes, the amount of minorities jailed for committing petty crimes will decrease drastically, thus allowing federal and state spending to be directed toward more important

“Monster”, a 1999 novel by Walter Dean Myers, is an incredible story told through the fictional movie script of a boy on trial for murder and robbery. It’s an intriguing read that triggers deep thought and empowers the hearts within all. A book notable for its messages against implicit bias, encouraging the notion of truth within yourself, you can speculate on its events from start to finish and beyond. But it’s worth pondering of its connection to real life. Does “Monster” truly reflect the criminal justice system of our country’s society today? Read on to discover the shocking answer.

Minority Report is a 2002 science fiction film directed by renowned director Steven Spielberg and is set in the year 2054 in Washington, D. C. The film revolves around an elite law enforcing squad; Precrime. The Precrime Division uses three genetically altered humans called Pre-Cogs whom possesses special powers to see into the future and predict crimes beforehand. After each crime is foreseen and analyzed, Precrime police officers are sent to the crime location to apprehend the future murderers and place them under arrest. The future murderers are then put into a sleep state with a device called a "halo". Based on Minority Report, it suggests that humans are free willed beings and have the ability to alter the future that was

The method is more subtle in Minority Report, but it is still present; the show “COPS” is shown on television to emphasize the horror of crimes, so the public will support the Precrime program. Due to these factors the source of power is impossible to be fought against; consequently, corrupt governments maintain

One of the most polarizing policy issues in the United States is the process of using race, ethnicity, and/or national origin by law enforcement as a chief predictor of criminal behavior. In the presence of social media and modern technological innovation, there has been increased documentation on the very problematic ways in which police officers use their position of authority against minorities. The countless cases of murder and police brutality have prompted national dialogue regarding to what extent race should be used in methods of policing. Against a troubled backdrop of incessant clashes with minorities and law enforcement, navigating the situation requires a degree of care that does not diminish the

Walker, S., Spohn, C., Delone, Miriam. (2004). The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America (3rded.). Toronto, Ontario: Thomas Learning Inc.

When certain states in America reach a stage in which someone, typically a minority, has to fear the possibility that they might not leave with their life whenever they are pulled over or interrogated by a police officer, an issue with our police system is clear. When an officer in America charged with a crime of assault or murder has a miniscule chance of those charges being pressed, the problem is even clearer. This issue is significant police misconduct, especially in states such as Chicago, that calls for a reform in the police department’s code, recruiting, training, and procedure. The alarming amount of unchecked police transgressions has evidenced a primitive lack of value for human life in the U.S. that in some states, make simply

Minority Report takes place in the year 2054, crime is virtually eradicated from Washington D.C. due to the Precrime crew. The program uses three gifted humans, known as Pre-Cogs, to see in the future and predict crimes beforehand. John Anderton, the head of Precrime, believes that the system is flawless, however, the Pre-Cogs

For many years’ crime in America has been an ongoing problem with statistics dramatically varying over the past decade (Walker, Spohn & DeLone 2012). American crime statistics show crime is commonly associated with racial aggregation, crimes include: drugs, burglary, larceny, arson and motor vehicle theft, to more violent crimes, such as, rape, robbery, assault and homicide, in which the rate is exceptionally high (Walker, Spohn & DeLone 2012). Further, racial conflict has been an issue in American history for over a century and continues to be an arguable topic (Beckett & Sasson 2014). According to Walker, Spohn and DeLone (2012) it is argued that the American criminal justice system declares they are not racist and that allegations of

The news media as most other print, radio, and television media are in a constant competition for ratings. A direct result of this rating competition is the sensationalizing of the media reports received by the general public. One of the most significant problems resulting from the news media’s misrepresentation of crime is the mistrust it creates between the general public and the criminal justice system. If the public were only to believe what is reported by the various news media, then the assumption would have to be that all the crime in this country is at the felonious level in which someone is usually killed with a gun. According to Bohm and Haley (2011), the distribution of police calls indicates that the majority of crime is anything

American Crime Obsession With crime shows like “Making a Murderer,” “the Killing,” “Luther,” and “The Fall” within reach of every person with a Netflix account, it makes it pretty easy to assume most people have, or will, watch a crime show at some point in their life. Americans are so obsessed with crime and the killers that drive it, which is why we are drawn towards the fictional crime tales. We have been apart of so many involuntary crimes and horrible events which shape our country, yet we continue to take these awful events and seek out more information and news about it. The real reason we’ve become so obsessed with true crime is because of the desire that people have to learn more about the legal system, as well becoming intrigued by watching fictional crime shows.

The Minority Report by Spielberg is about a one man conspiracy to keep pre crime up and running. In the book by Dick, there is a larger conspiracy to destroy precrime. The final results are opposite as well; in the book precrime was maintained and still operational. In the movie, precrime was shut down and destroyed. The methods of precrime are also different. In the book, there are three precogs which mutter an indecipherable language, which a machine interprets into images of a murder. Then a card comes out of the machine with the name of the killer and name of the victim on it. Spielberg made a more modern method out of this. In the movie, images are taken directly from the three precogs brain and then interpreted by a person who tries to find out the location of the murder. Also there are two wooden balls made, one with the name of the killer and the other with the name of the victim, on them. The movie also goes deeper into the creation of precrime, how crack babies whom had an odd gift/curse of dreaming of murder became used to prevent murder. It also shows why Anderton joined precrime, to make sure no one else would suffer like he did when he lost his son. The precogs in the book and movie are very different. First off their names in the book are Donna, Jerry and Mike. In the movie their names are Agatha, Arthur and Dashiell. The movie also involves the precogs, or at least one of them, more into the story.

Every television network has a prime time show focused on law enforcement or some form of criminal activity. From Columbo to Law & Order, this genre has stood the test of time. In the opening of Law & Order, there is a brief statement about how all cases are fictional but they added that there story lines are ripped from the headlines. Many hard working, law abiding citizens are fascinated with criminals and the crimes they commit. One explanation maybe that deep in our subconscious we would all love to get away with the perfect crime, secretly we have all had the thought of making a hated co-worker disappear rob a bank, but not get caught. In the 90’s, there was a movie where Tom Cruise was a future police officer. It was called Minority Report. In it, he was in charge of the “pre-crime Unit”, which consisted of 3 psychics. The sole purpose of this unit was to predict a

In this paper I will be reviewing the movie Minority Report directed by Steven Spielberg released in 2002. In the entire review of this film, I will be discussing some specific aspects such as few scenes from the movie, some technical aspects and the intended audience of the film. In addition I will add my own opinion to all the aspects throughout this paper. Finally I will round off my review by concluding why this film is worth of watching both for personal entertainment and academic purpose.