Minority Report(ed) (2 of 3)

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Foreignness was also used as the butt of a joke for the audience when we find out that the replacement eyes Tom Cruise received in order to avoid retinal recognition turned out to belong to a Mr. Yakamoto. If Tom Cruise were called Mr. Spielberg, it would be a miserable attempt at humor. But it is just so funny that Tom Cruise has the eyes of a Japanese man who, of course, stereotypically exemplifies the ultimate level of foreignness and non-whiteness that just cannot be taken seriously. Somehow, the thought of Tom Cruise having the eyes of an Asian man is just too incongruous with his hot boy image. Hot Asian men? What an oxymoron.

“Minority Report” fares no better in terms of gender. Although conceding that “the female one” is obviously more talented than the two male pre-cogs, this is meant as a joke at the expense of woman, evidenced by the whole theater bursting out in laughter. Perhaps this is merely a joke without undertones, but oppressed peoples have always been victimized through jokes, as this tactic absolves the perpetrator of any serious responsibilities. No doubt Spielberg was perfectly aware of the effect that he was going for.

This is followed by another collective sexist outburst the audience exhibits when the older woman who invented the Precrime program kissed Tom Cruise on the lips. Obviously it is all right (even envied) for old men to kiss younger women (along with a score of other things) in movies and real life, but an old woman exhibiting her sexuality (with a younger man too!) must be a joke. Oh please.

Also, couldn’t Tom Cruise have picked one of the male pre-cogs to help him (oh yeah, the female one was the only one that can help him, how convenient)? The incredibly long scene where Mr. Cruise carried the weak and helpless female pre-cog on his side is probably a warning to women that no matter how smart they are, they still need a man to take care of them. Of course a big reason the audience remained enthralled in the scene was because of the potential of something happening between the two—an example of Spielberg superbly utilizing the heterosexism of his audience. Wouldn’t it have been nice to see Tom Cruise getting it on with one of the male pre-cogs, carrying him in his arms and eventually making out with him in the hotel room? That would have been nice to see.

Minority Report 3 - Giving Spielberg his Due

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