Minority Report - Symbols and Themes (spoilers)

I saw this movie for the second time today, and as I think about it I realize there is a lot more to appreciate than the great action sequences and suspenseful, twisting plot. I thought it would be fun to discuss some of the deeper meanings found in the movie.

A prominent "eyes" motif runs through the movie. A drug dealer with no eyes tells John that "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Later in the movie, John gets his eyes replaced with another set of eyes. Before he believed 100% in the system of precrime. He has to look at things from a different perspective, or with new eyes, to get to the root of his problems. Then, when the spiders do the retinal scan on one of his bandaged eyes, this would seemingly suggest that he is now blind in that eye, making him a "one-eyed man." Strangely, it was never brought up whether he was actually blind in that eye or not the rest of the movie. Also, he keeps his original eyes in a plastic bag, but loses one of them. This is another way that he could be seen as a one-eyed man. The rest of the law enforcement people are blinded by their reliance on the precogs--the "land of the blind." The eyes motif appears in a subtle way in sunglasses advertisements that say "See Things Others Don't." These ads appear in two places that I noticed--first behind the agents who are looking down at the balloon man Agatha and John are hiding behind, and second on the billboard with the sunglass man out the window where Crow is shot. Agatha with her precognitive abilities can see things others don't. John comes to see things others don't in his own way.

Another prominent motif is the "water" motif. Water takes on multiple roles in the movie. It appears to represent safety or sanctuary in many scenes. The precogs are kept in safety in the pool of water. In one scene, John escapes by going down the drain in this pool. Water also provides safety from the spider-bots, for a time, in the bathtub. When John is looking at the holo of his wife, it is raining outside, and in the holo his wife mentions rain. It is also raining at the end of the movie when John and his wife are back together, safe and happy. Rain provides safety and escape in the umbrella scene as well. And at the end of the movie, when the precogs are living safe and "in peace," they are again surrounded by water, this time a lake. But water can also be dangerous. John loses his son at a swimming pool, and Agatha's mother is murdered by drowning. Another thought I had about the water is that it reflects things, but imperfectly. The precogs see reflections of the future, but they can be imperfect reflections. When Crow is killed, it does not happen exactly as was predicted. When Lamar shoots himself instead of John, the reflection turns out to be quite imperfect indeed. This idea of imperfect reflections also relates to breaking glass and breaking mirrors, which appear multiple times. For example, a mirror in Crow's apartment breaks when John attacks him--the mirror Agatha is seen in during the precogs' vision.

There are many other things I noticed in the movie, such as the repeated use of religious imagery, but I'll leave it at that for now. Hopefully some other people will want to make contributions.

 

Water and eyes. Apparently the movie is really about crying.

 

Let's not forget the refrences to classic noir films.

"Howard Marks" sounds an awful lot like The Maltese Falcon director, "Howard Hawks."

Also, the back alley surgeon's clinic evokes another Bogey film called Dark Passage, where Bogart goes to some black market surgeon to get a new face.

~PAd

 

Thanks for that explanation, Jeff. Gives me something to think about for a while...

How do the glasses of the precriminal from the beginning of the movie factor into the eye thing?

 

I to noticed much of what you are talking about.

 

I just saw it yesterday. Great movie. SFX make AOTC look like a kid's cartoon.

First is it's very similar to AI. Both are 2 1/2 hours. And with both you think it's over at 2 hours and the last half hour is really great, makes you think about the whole movie and gives the theme of the movie.

Second I think the movie is a representation of our justice system and especially the the death penalty. Everyone except for a few thought the system was infallible. The ones who knew of the fallabilities thought it was better overall for society to imprison a few innocents in order to save countless lives. In our society we accept the fact that there are innocent people in jail. And a lot believe that capital punishment has never killed an innocent person. But some believe otherwise.

 

I think that it is a real disappointment that Spielberg said that he will never do a commentary track on DVDs. I would like to hear his thoughts on the symbols and themes of many of his films, including Minority Report.

 

"How do the glasses of the precriminal from the beginning of the movie factor into the eye thing?"

Hmm, I guess that slipped my mind when I was writing that post. I'm not sure. "You know how blind I am without them"--could tie in with "land of the blind." Of course, this is all just my interpretation of what's in the movie. There may not be definitive right answers.

 

Since I've only seen the movie once, I do not feel I'm ready to assess its religious symbols. But needless to say, Minority Report has plenty of them, just as many other Spielberg films do.

The red Lexus that John eventually takes on an identity of a symbolic mirror to John. Not in the sense that it is repeated in different ways like water or eyes, more as a device. The car itself offers many ways of looking at John. For one thing, the red car stands out immediately in the world of grey, just as John sets out to go against the social order that other people follow in the movie. John, like the car, is a standout.

Also consider how John got the car. In the factory scene, we do not see other cars being built step by step. Of course, this has multiple reasons. Spielberg was creating an action sequence, so everything was tightly edited. He also did not reveal it was a car factory until we see the Lexus being built. But a symbolic meaning analogy arises here--this is the birth of the car. And this is also the point in which John goes completely against his old crew and higher authority, what was once his allies are now against him. This is the birth of the new, determined John.

Since the car is in John's possession since its own birth, the car itself does not follow the rules that we see other cars do. It does not go on autopilots to a determined destination or give signals to show where it is. Why? Because it never entered the social order. The image of John kicking open the window and jumping out of his old, grey car takes on the meaning of him leaving the social order.

Basically, think of what John does in relation to cars in the movie. He goes home in his old car to a sad, lonely place. He jumps out of his car to fight for his life. He takes control of a distincty colored car in midst of personal danger. He drives the car without anyone ever using the car against him, unlike his old car would have done. And the red car itself is rarely shown in urban areas. It appears mostly in more natural spaces, a reflection of it being "pure" compared to other cars. (of course, the use of nature in movies has a long and distinguished purpose) The use of it, probably best described as a device, enhances John's story and change.

 

Good analysis, bs. I instantly noticed the contrast of the red car against the gray world, but had not thought much about the meaning.

 

Very interesting interpretations, all. I'm so glad I found this thread. I saw the movie twice in as many days, and it was a veritable flood of imagery. I'm still trying to sort it all out.

As a note to add to the water theme, in my English class last semester, we did a fair bit of film interpretation and analysis, and my teacher mentioned that rain is often used in films as an analogy for cleansing, or washing away of the past. John Anderton loses his son at a pool, and at the end of the film he is shown with his now-pregnant wife, watching the rain. Immediately afterward, we see the precogs at their new home, surrounded (as mentioned before) by a lake. To wax poetic, the rain also "washes away" the evidence of John and Agatha at the mall. Much of the film as a whole has to do with death and rebirth: The death of John's son and the new pregnancy of his wife; the death of Anne Lively and the continued life of the precrime project; the predicted death of Leo Crow and the "rebirth" of John Anderton as he is forced to escape and remake himself; the death of Lamar and the abandonment of precrime... the list goes on. In the end, all this death is "washed away" by the rain, and we see a rebirth beginning.

It's an extremely effective storytelling method, and a striking theme. Philip K. Dick seems to enjoy underlying themes in his stories and novels; there were plenty in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? And of course, Spielberg is also a master of including symbols and subtle philosophic statements in his films, like A.I. and others. The method is appealing because not only does it make the films more entertaining, but they also become intellectual topics. I could discuss the implications of Minority Report and A.I. for hours, but sadly I don't have that kind of time right now. So there's my two cents. Interpret it as you will.

 

I've only seen the movie once with my eyeballs, , last night.

There was a lot to absorb and this thread is making me see the light. I'm sure I'll see it quite a few more times to check out the nuances and themes, which are quite interesting.

One scene I LOATHED was when he was blindly fumbling for the food and bit into the old sandwich. That was absolutely repulsive. As Hayden would say, I HATED IT!

However, any movie that features Tom Cruise chasing his own rolling eyeballs down a hall can't be all bad, LOL.

 

I was waiting for a thread like this

I loved the movie, but I'm never to good at the analysis of the underlying things...

But this was one awesome movie that moves TPM down to 3rd place on my list of fav movies (AOTC is first )

DVD DVD DVD DVD!!

 

I just started reading Bruce Sterling's Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology and found this interesting quote in the intro. It might be relevant to the man with sunglasses on the billboard.

Mirrored sunglasses have been a Movement totem since the early days of '82. The reasons for this are not hard to grasp. By hiding the eyes, mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws. Mirrorshades- preferably in chrome and matte black, the Movement's totem colors- appeared in story after story, as a kind of literary badge.

 

Apparently the ending of the film was supposed to have been slightly different than the final cut that was shown.

I'm assuming everyone knows the ending so....

At the very end, a voice over or a word screen was supposed to state that after six years, Pre-Crime was shut down. That following year, the number of murders recorded were over 600.

I rather liked the idea of having that in there as it kept the argument that John first made in defense of Pre-Crime to Witwer still alive and valid. It still doesn't answer the question of whether or not Pre-Crime was appropriate but it keeps the case more open than the current ending does.

So, I must ask: do most agree w/Atherton (Pre-Crime is good) or with Witwer (everyman is innocent until they do the actual act)?

 

I saw this awsome movie on Saturday and it was just great. I am not too sure who I would agree with. If I had to make a decision, I guess I would side with Atherton. As far as we know, the only innocent man ever "Halowed" was the guy that was framed for Agatha's mother's murder. I don't think I missed anything, but I need to see this movie again and listen more closely. But some of the people who where caught might have changed their minds at the last minute, though we will never know.

I wonder what happens when you get halowed? Is it just like being asleep? The guy in charge of the "lock up" said that their minds where fast at work, or something like that.

 

Interesting question . . . I think that they could still arrest people, but then they would have to give them a fair trial with a jury of their peers, which would examine the evidence and the minority reports, as well as the person's character and what motives he or she might have to kill the victim. Then (as the possible murder would have been averted by then, anyway) they either punish them for murder, or let them go.

 

I've seen some people complain that the ending to this movie is too happy, but I don't think it's an extremely happy ending. Lots of people are going to be murdered who would have lived if pre-crime kept going.

However, there's one reason why I think that pre-crime was definitely wrong. That is the way the precogs were used. Anderton said near the beginning of the movie that it was best not to think of them as human, but later he found that they were quite human indeed. What makes it much worse is that to take the program national, they would presumably have to do the same things they did to Agatha and the twins to dozens of other children. If pre-crime could be accomplished, say, with a computer instead of human beings to predict things, then I would probably support it, except that I wouldn't lock the people up for life when they hadn't actually committed a crime yet.

Now I'll discuss another symbolic aspect of the film. There was lots of religious imagery, probably too much too talk about in one post. I'll talk about the halos. Halos are obviously associated with angels and heaven. The people who are arrested for future murder wear glowing halos, and are apparently kept in some sort of suspended animation in a huge chamber where a crazy guy plays religious-sounding music on an organ. This, to me, seems like it could be a cynical view of heaven. According to Agatha, the precogs in their pool are "not dead, but not alive either." I think that this description is also apt for those who have been haloed.

 

*jaw drops* Whoa, I hadn't even thought of that . . . Wow. Yeah, I can definitely see the heaven symbology there. You could also tie the water imagery into the religious imagery.

The pre-cogs rise out of the water, offering redemption and life to the future victims. Yet they also condemn those who do not heed their warning to a fate like that of death.

 

Nice analysis folks. Loved the movie myself because of the concept and after reading this thread, some of the symbolism as well.

The mechanics of the movie however needed some work. What bugged me is they never removed Anderton's security clearance after he was accused. They chase him the whole movie and twice his eyeballs pass the security clearance (once when Anderton returns for Agatha and then later when his wife returns for Anderton himself).

You would think the future would be smart enough for this much at least?!

 

I think it's plausible that they wouldn't take the time to remove his security clearance. The first time they didn't have any reason to suspect he would return to the pre-crime HQ. Then after he escaped from there, they concentrated all their effort on tracking down the room where the "murder" was to take place, and then on tracking down John after the "murder." And once he was haloed, there was no threat that they could see. However, there's still a bit of a problem. When he used his eyeball to get in, I would think that this would set off some sort of alarm or at least would immediately notify them of his location. It was implied that if he was scanned anywhere they would quickly know where he was. This doesn't bug me too much, though, because they find him minutes later anyway.

 

Come on, people!

It's obvious... the repeated references to eyes, the bathtub sequence, the friggin' movie poster... Do they have to be ultra-obvious like Jerry Bruckheimer and spell it out in the form of a trailer tagline?

The theme, boys and girls, is:

Justice is blind.


Gee where have I seen that before?

(Hint: In case the Fourth of July festitvities started early and the beer is already giving you a massive brainfart, think of the "Lady Justice" statue...)

 

I found the lack of change in clearance status a bit strange, but government bureaucracy provides a plausible enough explanation for it. The lack of an alarm seems to suggest that the door wasn't connected to the same network as all of the other retinal scanners, either for security reasons, or because they didn't see any need to pay extra.

 

I would have to agree, I did enjoy the movie.. but it was a 'matrix' type of movie... either you get it, or you dont...
But what floored me is that leaving the theater was this group of 'stuck up' (for lack of better phrasing) girls infront of my friends and me... they totaly didn't understand the moive, and were asking questions that the answers had been explained word for word in the movie!
But yes, Justice is Blind, and the world isn't fair.
A few simple themes that were in the movie were ones like: The guy who is a roal jerk, isn't always the bad guy; trust no one; never let true love die; you always have a choice (that one was even stated!!)

PS: Can somebody tell me what kind of crap TomCruse got himself into yesterday, I was at a friends house and saw a small clip, but never found anything else out!

 

Here's something to really think about! Perhaps if we look at the film this way, nothing is neatly wrapped up by film's end:

The prison guard on duty when they finally bring John Anderton in for his 'crime' says something to the effect of, "They say all your wildest dreams come true". He is referring to what goes on in the mind of a convict while in stasis.

Could it be that the entire ending of the movie is an instance of John's wildest dreams 'taking place' while in stasis and that, in reality, he will be imprisoned there for eternity?