What Makes Steven Spielberg’s Films So Popular is How They Seek to Resolve a Traumatic Loss of Authority

Minority Report Movie Analysis

            Every filmmaker has a characteristic that makes him or her unique when compared to other producers. The flow of stories and the themes presented through a film also determine whether a producer gets popular amongst his or her audience or not. One of the film producers who has gained substantial following across the world is Spielberg, whose works have become popular worldwide based on how they resolve traumatic authority losses[1]. The producer has been consistent in highlighting how people or governments deal with the problem of traumatic loss of authority through his movies. The concept of loss of authority as depicted in most of his films can be described as the process through which an individual loses control or power, which makes him or her command a significant population. Secondly, the concept of traumatic in his context can be used to depict sudden or distressing loss, meaning that his films are well known in how he arranges the scenes to address sudden loss in how those in power control and deal with other people.

Due to his consistency in presenting this trait in most of his films, this paper will discuss how Spielberg brings out this element through his Minority Report film. This fictional film was shot in 2002, but it predicts societal issues that will happen in 2054. Through the story, the author tries to examine the possibility of free will exist in the future using complicated storytelling characterized by different cases of murder mystery. The director does an excellent job in comparing determinism and free will, thus making this its central theme[2]. The other notable themes presented through the film include the role of media in the future and the role of the preventive government in taking care of its citizens and broken families.

The film, “Minority Report,” gives a detailed explanation on why those in authority should try maintaining their status quo, mostly, if he or she believes in it. In this movie, the police commissioner, Anderton, is responsible for the Pre-Crime Unit whose primary responsibility is to stop crime using highly sophisticated technologies. Primarily, the Unit adopts the prelaw technique to capture and arrest criminals before they engage in their planned crime. Specifically, the Unit’s efficiency depends on pre-cog mutants’ services, namely Mike, Jerry, and Donna, that can predict and name individuals who are likely to commit crimes[3]. After these mutants name the would-be criminals, the concerned officers are sent to apprehend them and take them into a confinement area where they are detained and prevented from carrying out the crime.

The Unit has cut crimes by approximately 99.8 percent through its operations, meaning that the pre-cog mutants have been offering the Unit with the right information, making it easy for them to deal apprehend criminals long before carrying out their crimes. Things continue working well for the pre-Crime Unit until the mutants predict a plan by Anderton to murder Leopold Kaplan, the General of the Federated Westbloc Alliance. At this point, two opposing forces emerge, one under the leadership of General Kaplan whose key intention is to apply the Minority Report to discredit everything good that has been achieved through the Pre-Crime Unit. His mission is to make sure that the Unit is abolished and have the police revert to their old days to do their work without the mutants’ help[4]. The two engage in a power battle where Kaplan starts working on bringing down the Pre-Crime Unit. At the same time, Anderton fights to see that any force does not bring down the Unit because this will make him lose his authority or powers to apprehend and detain criminals before engaging in any criminal activity. In this case, Anderton works on staying in authority while Kaplan works towards gaining authority and controlling what happens in the police force without the influence of the mutants and the Pre-Crime Unit.

Anderton appears insecure about his position at the agency and fears losing the position to his assistant. At the beginning of the film, Anderton appears highly insecure in both his appearance and position in the agency. He thinks that his assistant, who is young, confident, and handsome, will suddenly overtake him, get his position, and leave him without any authority. He is so insecure that he goes to the point of thinking that the assistant is secretly plotting to overtake him and become the new Police Commissioner. He is also thinking that the Senate is involved in a plan to remove him from his position by using Witwer[5]. His insecurities go past the workplace to his family as he accuses his wife of being involved to remove him from power. The fear to loose authority makes Anderton not to be at peace with any person seems to be better or better than him in the workplace because he does not figure out how life will be when stripped all the powers that he has and the control that he dictates as the head of the pre-crime Unit[6].

The three pre-cog mutants predict that Anderton will commit a crime, meaning that he will automatically be removed from power. Through the prediction, Anderton understands very well that he will be stripped of his authority in the agency, be apprehended, and detained before committing the predicted crime. The prediction deems him officially guilty despite not having committed the actual crime, and this threatens him more because it means that he will be stripped off his powers, and his position be given to a different person who does not have any criminal thoughts or who has not been implicated as a potential criminal by the mutants[7].

There is a twist in the mutants’ accuracy and proficiency by a person who thought they were accurate in their predictions. The twist in the plot of the story is done just because the main protagonist in the movie has been implicated by a system that he has been using. Still, he thinks that someone else has doctored the system to implicate him as part of his or her plan to strip off his authority in the agency. Specifically, Anderton thinks that Witwer rigged the system to implicate him as a potential criminal due to his plans to overthrow him and take his role in the agency. The police start apprehending him on account of his potential crime of killing General Kaplan, making him highly concerned with his safety first, thus resolving not killing the person that the mutants have predicted that will kill[8]. His fears of losing authority make him get deep into the case and finds out that the person implicated by the mutants is actually General Kaplan, who has all along been fighting towards bringing the Pre-Crime Unit down. His new realization makes him change his focus from his personal safety to saving the Pre-Crime Unit.

To gain power and authority over the police force, Kaplan had developed multiple strategies to destabilize the Pre-crime Unit because he had identified its strengths and abilities. In line with this, he was looking for every possible way to make the Unit appear faulty and have the army gain its power and take control in dealing with criminal activities. His plan cannot be complete without doing off with Anderton, who appears to be the backbone of the pre-Crime Unit that has come up with a set of some strict checks and balances that have led to 99.8% of crimes being eradicated.

While it is evident that the two will end up fighting as they struggle to be in authority, the film has a rather exciting ending because while Anderton thinks that Kaplan is planning to overthrow him from authority and kill the agency, Kaplan actually believes that Anderton cannot and will not kill him. He argues that having mutants predict that you will commit a crime does not mean you will actually do it, and this finding by itself makes the Pre-Crime Unit, which will definitely mean that Anderton does not have a job. Anderton is not happy with the direction that Kaplan is taking because he knows it will make him powerless; as such, he plans to kill him to keep his authority irrespective of the consequences that it will have on him. He is ready to kill him and flee to a different planet as long as the Pre-Crime Unit will continue being functional and credible. Some of the reasons he gives for wanting to kill Kaplan is that the military will not be able to stop him from pursuing him just because they have the minority report, making him follow the majority report, thus murdering him at the rally[9]. After the murder, Anderton prepares to leave the planet and go to a different planet where he is not undermined or where he will not be convicted for killing the general to make the Pre-Crime Unit remain functional[10].

The film’s final scene shows Anderton and Lisa jointly leave the planet to a totally different planet. However, just before leaving for the off-world colony, he takes some precious time. He makes Witwer understand that there were three consecutive minority reports, each with a different time-zone preview[11]. In the first report, Anderton tells Witwer that he had planned to kill Kaplan after discovering his plans to degrade the pre-Crime Unit, while the second report responds to the fact that Anderton would get time, go through the precognitive data, and change his plot to kill Kaplan. The third report is made of Anderton’s final decision to kill Kaplan and flee to a different planet jut to ensure that Pre-Crime continues operating without being challenged[12]. From his discussions, it is clear that two of the minority reports accepted that he would kill Kaplan, thus giving the perception of a majority report as opposed to the minority report. In his final word, Witwer is warned to stay vigilant because he is likely to go through the same predicament as Anderton went through.

To conclude, Spielberg does a good job in demonstrating how people deal with the traumatic loss of authority through Anderton and Kaplan’s case. The movie demonstrates how people are willing to do anything just to remain in power and authority irrespective of the consequences that they may follow them later. From the movie “Minority Report,” the director uses his artistic skills to demonstrate how people deal with the traumatic loss of authority, with the killing of Kaplan by Anderton being the major approach that people resolve authority-related issues world. The story’s systematic flow in the movie shows how things change from when Anderton is in power to when his authority is threatened, making it an exciting piece to watch and learn how people from different parts of the world solve authority-related issues.

Throughout the movie, the director presents a situation where the hunter becomes the hunted as the army comes up with a plan to apprehend Anderton and detain him for being detected as a potential killer. While the army intended to have it gain authority and overthrow what the pre-crime Unit was doing, Anderton perceives it as a fight against his position and authority in the agency. Anderton goes by what will make his Unit remain in power despite being sure that a different person will head it. He does not want to take the option that will endanger the existence of the pre-crime Unit. Finally, through the film, it is evident that Spielberg has mastered presenting solutions to people who go through the drastic loss of authority as they use all means possible to stay in power. The director has also demonstrated how people tend to have multiple options when dealing with authority losses, but opt to take the decision that will eliminate their threats completely irrespective of the consequences that might follow them later. Anderton was fine killing and fleeing to a different planet as long as the army did not gain authority over the Pre-Crime Unit that had demonstrated its prowess in fighting crime.