Minority Report (Film) Essay Questions

What is the significance of Agatha being taken from her brothers at PreCrime?

When John takes Agatha with him he disrupts the visions that the Precogs have of future murders. Agatha is the most talented of the three siblings, so when she is taken, the Precogs are unable to make predictions. Thus, while John is searching for a way out of his framing, he is also opening up society to greater vulnerability by taking away the most talented Precog.

How does Agatha help John and Lara?

When she travels with John to his and Lara's house, Agatha finds herself in Sean's old room and she is overcome with a different kind of vision than those to which she is accustomed. Instead of seeing the sure future, she imagines a hypothetical future in which Sean had lived. Weeping, she tells Lara and John all about the young man Sean would have grown into had he lived. This emotional vision gives Lara and John a sense of closure, a way of communing with their son who they lost. In this moment, Agatha serves as a kind of spiritual advisor, an angel sent to give comfort to the grieving and despondent couple.

What gift is Lamar given at the PreCrime ceremony?

Lamar is given a golden revolver with bullets at the PreCrime dinner in his honor. It symbolizes the victory of PreCrime, the fact that murder is over and no more unnecessary deaths will take place. Ironically, Burgess turns the weapon on himself after it is revealed that he killed Anne Lively in order to keep the PreCrime program going.

What does the film predict about surveillance in the future?

In the future of Minority Report, people are identified by their eyes. Whenever anyone comes into a building, cameras scan individuals' eyes to confirm their identities. While this is an efficient mode of identification in the futuristic society of the film, it's also an invasive form of surveillance. Surveillance, in the film, is not only connected to organizations knowing where people are, but also to how corporations advertise and target consumers. When people enter stores, holograms of salespeople begin talking to them by name, referencing previous purchases and trying to appeal to them through highly personalized assistance.

Describe John Anderton's inner conflict.

While John Anderton is the sharpest and best cop in the PreCrime department, he is plagued by neuroses and haunted by his past. At work, he is highly competent, determined to look into the future to help people escape death. When he leaves at the end of the day, he is a drug addict, going off into dark alleyways to buy neuroin and watching old home videos of his missing son and estranged wife. While his job sends him running bravely into the future, John spends much of his time steeped in the past, guiltily grasping for a way to rewrite the trauma he has gone through.