A Dystopian Analysis of the Minority Report

In the movie the Minority Report, Tom cruise plays the character of John Anderton, a man working for an organization called pre-crime. Pre-crime uses three pre-cognites to predict murders before they take place. The men working for pre-crime attempt to capture murderers before a crime actually takes place. The movie is set in Washington D.C.

Minority Report is an excellent representation of a dystopian society. In a dystopian world, propaganda is used to control the citizens of the society. Propaganda is used throughout the entire film to show that pre-crime is an effective way to lower the crime rate in the United States. In the beginning of the movie, different forms of advertisements are shown. There is one billboard, specifically, stating that pre-crime has been used for 6 years and has decreased the number of crimes by 90% in the United States. An advertisement like this is used in the film to convince, and in some way, brainwash the population into believing that pre-crime is beneficial and that it should be accepted by the population. Even thinking about it, wouldn’t anyone think that such a program would be an effective method in lowering crime rates? Not actually. Half way through the movie, it was discovered that pre-crime had a default. The pre-cogs are thought never to make mistakes but if the three don’t agree on a prediction, it becomes a minority report. This means that the visions aren’t always reliable and can sometimes have innocent people captured for a crime that they weren’t going to commit in the first place.

Another characteristic of a dystopian society shown in the Minority Report is the illusion of a perfect utopian world. In the movie, pre-crime is a perfect utopia. It is shown as a wonderful organization, preventing murder crimes from happening. This is actually an illusion because the pre-cogs have a flaw in their predictions, making pre-crime ineffective and unreliable. Pre-crime was used by Lamar (the head) immorally to kill Ann Lively, the pre-cogs mother. Lamar used the program in a dishonest way to murder her after wanting to gain back custody of her children. He needed the pre-cognites, because without them, the organization wouldn’t exist and Lamar couldn’t risk the loss of the program. It is also discovered throughout the movie that John’s son went missing in a public pool. The abduction of John’s son resulted in the separation of his marriage and his addiction to illegal drugs (even though he works for an organization that fights for justice and safety). The illusion of a perfect Utopia, hiding the corrupt society, demonstrates that the world in the Minority Report is a perfect example of a dystopia.

Not only is the Minority Report a dystopian society but also possesses a dystopian protagonist. As previously mentionned, John Anderton is a man who works for the pre-crime organization. In the duration of the film, several characteristics of a dystopian protagonist are presented. Firstly, they often feel trapped and are struggling to escape. John Anderton tries to run away from the pre-cogs prediction of him murdering a man. A dystopian protagonist also helps the audience recognize the negative aspects of the dystopian world through his or her perspective. In this case, John discovers the pre-crimes negative aspect of being unreliable (because of the pre-cogs) and shows his perspective on the matter to the audience.