There never is any reason for Anderton to kill his intended target. Nor is there ever any reason for him to meet this man at the date and time, other than the protagonist's own morbid curiosity. He goes to meet him out of a choice that seems preposterous, finds a whole bunch of reasons to kill the man, and still doesn't. When he refuses to kill the man, the man essentially kills himself, and the whole precognition aspect of the story seems incredibly contrived. For some reason, every time Anderton's wife, Lisa, shows up, her slimness always has to be brought up. It was weird and annoying. In our society we have no major crimes, Anderton went on, ‘but we do have a detention camp full of would-be criminals.’”

John Allison Anderton’s day begins with the arrival of a snot nosed kid by the name of Ed Witwer. He has been assigned to Precrime to eventually replace Anderton whenever he decides to retire. The system is based on three Precogs who can foresee the future. They are able to see a crime before it is committed. When two or more agree, it is called a majority report, but if one disagrees with the other two, that is a minority report. Anderton designed the system, but even he has some qualms about the validity of what they do. In the short story, the precogs can see other crimes, not just murder. In the movie, the precogs can only clearly see murder. You have to be taken in--if Precrime is to survive. You’re thinking of your own safety. But think, for a moment, about the system.’ Leaning over, Lisa stubbed out her cigarette and fumbled in her purse for another. ‘Which means more to you---your own personal safety or the existence of the system?’Anyway, Anderton automatically latches on to the idea that Witwer (who is newly appointed to be Anderton's assistant) is gunning for his job as head honcho... and look, his wife is there too. She's in on it! They been bangin' for weeks, that whore and her young boyfriend Witwer! They want him out of the way! Oh, no? Just in his imagination? Well, can't put nothing past a woman. Anderton don't trust nothin' that can bleed for a week and not die. Just sayin'. Three mutants, known as precogs, have precognitive abilities they can use to see up to two weeks into the future. The precogs are strapped into machines, nonsensically babbling as a computer listens and converts this gibberish into predictions of the future. This information is transcribed onto conventional punched cards that are ejected into various coded slots. These cards appear simultaneously at Precrime and the army headquarters to prevent systemic corruption. [1] Precogs [ edit ] I think the story really works because no one, who already hasn't committed or is planning to commit a murder, believes him/herself capable of one. Anderton, like most such people, just can't see himself as a murderer.

and I'm not even going to try. Why? Because I loved the movie, even though I hate Tom Cruise. Maybe "hate" is too harsh. Let's just say I've never liked him and have only tolerated watching his movies, all the while wishing it was someone else in his role. The concept of the minority report. Anderton brings up being the Police Commissioner for thirty-something years at every turn, but how in hell is it possible that he doesn't know what a minority report is?!

Anderton is the commissioner and founder of Precrime, the police force that arrests criminals before they have a chance to commit crime. Computers manipulate “gibberish” from three “precogs,” each one seeing into a possible future, and Anderton determines whether a crime will be committed. When two or more “precogs” agree on an outcome, the resulting agreement is a majority report and the police can act on it. The system has been working fine until one day a majority report indicates Anderton will murder a retired general.

The 2002 film Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg and with Tom Cruise as main actor, was based on the story. So the commission of a crime itself is absolute metaphysics. We claim they are culpable. They, on the other hand, eternally claim they’re innocent. And, in a sense, they are innocent.’ If the system can survive only by imprisoning innocent people, then it deserves to be destroyed. My personal safety is important because I’m a human being.’”The existence of three apparent minority reports suggests the possibility of three future time paths, all existing simultaneously, any of which an individual could choose to follow or be sent along following an enticement (as in Anderton's being told he was going to murder an unknown man). In this way, the time-paths overlap, and the future of one is able to affect the past of another. It is in this way that the story weaves a complicated web of crossing time paths and makes a linear journey for Anderton harder to identify. This idea of multiple futures lets the precogs of Precrime be of benefit—because if only one time-path existed, the predictions of the precogs would be worthless since the future would be unalterable. Precrime is based on the notion that once one unpleasant future pathway is identified, an alternative, better one can be created with the arrest of the potential perpetrator. In September 2023, it was announced that David Haig was adapting the story for the stage, to premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith the following spring. [4] We're set up to think Anderton is the protagonist because he's the one being sought after for a possible murder. But when he finds out that there really is no minority report, that the precogs' reports cancel each other out instead of having a majority report, he still doesn't seem to be remorseful for any of the people that he has put into the internment camps throughout his years in Precrime. When someone suggests to him that Precrime should instead let the accused future muderer know about his/her possible crime to see if he or she changes his or her mind, he's very blaise about it. The only reason the precogs' reports change is because Anderton knows that he's being accused of a future murder to which he believes he won't commit but then after realizing why he might commit murder he changes his mind. When Anderton pulls the latest cards from the Precogs and finds his name among them, stipulating that he is going to kill someone next week he doesn’t even know, he knows that he is being framed. He has no choice but to go on the run and hide until the week has passed and, in the process, prove the error of the forecasting, but if he does that, he also proves the system is flawed. There are people who most definitely don’t want that to happen. He soon finds he can’t trust anyone, and maybe the very person he trusts the least is his only hope at discovering and exposing the truth.

He then sees THAT report and realizes that if word gets out that the precogs are false-predicting, it would shut down the Precrime division - because that would mean that they are totally imprisoning innocent people (not to be confused with 'people who just haven't committed a crime... yet') - and everything he had worked for would be gone...Namely, that in any story with a character knowing the future (specifically his own) there needs to be the feeling of inevitability. That all events are unavoidable, even when actively avoided. If the outcome foretold is to come true in the story, then the protagonist needs to do everything in his power to make sure it doesn't happen. Landrith, James (April 12, 2004). "The Minority Report: In Print and On Screen" . Retrieved 2007-03-25. sigh* You're probably right. I'm often a terrible person who dislikes books. But you see, I feel like good SF should have more than a sci-fi-y setting or situation. I feel like it should be a little more than that, and have meaning. And the easiest way to prevent a murder from happening is to not go to the building where the guy lives at the date and time you're supposed to kill him. The ONE woman in the book was portrayed alternatively as an untrustworthy whore or a loyal wife. Apparently, there was no middleground.