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Minority Report(ed)
A Review
by Bob Kao and Noi Talchai
7/25/02
Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise was a pretty white movie. We had hoped that the “minority” in the title means it has something to do with people of color, although we already knew that was not the case from the previews. But we still hoped.
The story takes place in the year 2046 when a Precrime unit has been established in Washington, DC to prevent murders before they are committed. The backbones of the system are the three pre-cogs who are supposed to be able to see the future, allowing Precrime agents to arrest criminals before the crimes take place. Not only are the three pre-cogs white, they’re freakin’ pale as hell. Not only is being white a prerequisite to being precognizant and thus having the ability to save the United States of America, but one has to be the whitest of whites to do so.
Of course, this system functions flawlessly—until the pre-cogs see that our pretty boy Tom Cruise is the next murderer and has to be stopped. All of a sudden, the system must be faulty because a good-looking white guy is being accused of murder. This can’t be true…he must be being set up! This leads to the core of the movie where Tom Cruise tries to prove his innocence, yet still manages to kill the innocent guy in the process.
It is interesting to note that Spielberg justifies Tom Cruise inhaling drugs throughout the movie as a way to cope with the misery he has suffered with the abduction/death of his son. Yet, we don’t see black people hooked on crack (in movies or real life) given this benefit of the doubt. What’s with the white privilege here?
“Minority Report” does have its share of token people of color—the Asian FBI agent, and the black man and black woman in the Precrime unit, among others—for a whopping total of probably less than half an hour of screen time combined. Considering that Lexus, a Japanese company, designed the futuristic car that was featured in the movie, one would think they could have had some sway in fostering more “diversity” in the movie. Alas, we live in a capitalist world where Lexus—along with all sorts of companies that shamelessly had their products featured in the movie (including Gap and its sweatshop products)—only cares about product eure and money.
Minority Report 2 - Cheap Laughs
