Minority Report Movie Discussion Questions

Matthew Issa
2-24-15
6th Hour

1.

In our society today, I do not think that it could accept one standard punishment for all
crimes committed. I personally think that it depends on the situation and a persons
punishment should be based off of what happened. For example, I think that robbing a
bank is different and should have different consequences than committing murder. Also,
it should depend on the events within the crime, such as what else went on while a person
was robbing a bank or committing murder. Therefore, the justice system that we (the
U.S.) have right now is good because punishments are determined based off of the events
and other peoples thoughts (the jury), rather than one standard punishment for everything.

4. In the movie, Dannys preventing the ball from hitting the ground changed its future, to
me, because I am more of a soft determinist. This prevents the hard determinist outlook because
they do not believe in free will whatsoever. Danny, or any free will advocate, may respond by
saying that the balls future was changed because everything is based off of free will, therefore
there are no fixed laws of nature and we completely determine our own futures. I personally
believe that we do have some free will to change our futures, but in the end we will be where we
are meant to be. This belief comes from my religion.

6. In the movie, John Andertons and Leo Crowes situation affects the free will case by
supporting it. The situation between the two states that free will is a strong factor in life because
the situation started with the prediction that John would kill Leo and ended with Leo forcing it
on himself. This situation affects the hard determinism case by going against it and somewhat
agrees with the soft determinism case. I personally believe in free will being a factor in our lives.
I believe it is an important one.

7. I do not think that any person should be dehumanized for any reason whatsoever.
Therefore, I do not agree with dehumanizing three children for the purpose of a system intended
to benefit society. Whatever system we create should not dehumanize humans. We are all human
and should be treated equally. I believe that we are not robots created by man, but living,
beautiful creations crafted by God.

8. In the movie, it is said that the precognitives disagree with one another at times on
predicting the future. With that being said, I think that this does hamper the deterministic
foundation pre-crime is founded on. This glitch with the system indicates that we do have free
will, in my opinion. The system in the movie functions because of the three human
precognitives, but humans are not perfect, therefore the system will not be perfect (not my
original thought) at predicting the future because we have free will to choose. The future is a
mystery, in my opinion.

11. In the movie, the situations with Leo Crowe and John Anderton and Lamar and John
Anderton prove that the system of pre-crime doesnt work to a big extent. They do this by
proving that the future can change if we want it to and we do have a choice, always. I believe in
free will and what is meant to be in the end, therefore I consider myself a soft determinist more
than anything. I believe we dont know what the future holds, and our choices will somehow lead
us to where we are meant to be in any situation. My father was Greek Orthodox and my mother
is Catholic, so they both came and come from two different religious branches within
Christianity, and I consider myself closer to Catholicism more than anything.