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John Anderton Comparison Essay

453 Words2 Pages

Nataliya Hontar
English 103
Prof. Cohn
7 October 2016

English 103 Writing Assignment Five

In 2002, Steven Spielberg directed a movie titled Minority Report, which was based on a science fiction story by Philip K. Dick (“The Minority Report”), written in the 1950’s. However, even though Spielberg's action thriller is based on Dicks short story, the two are drastically different in terms of narrative and style. Although the film follows the same general plot, which is centered around roughly the same main character, the details are drastically different. Dick’s short story follows John Anderton, a married man that is self-conscious about his age and his balding, who is the creator of “Pre-Crime” and quickly gets entangled in a conspiracy. Spielberg's film also centers around a …show more content…

In the movie, Anderton is completely different man: he is a revered detective at the pre-crime unit (instead of its creator), he is separated from his wife, had a son that died years ago, and is in his physical prime (essentially doing parkour throughout the whole film). As well, while the plots for both film and story are mainly focused on Anderton being the scapegoat in a conspiracy that would end up deciding the fate of pre-crime, the two mediums create vastly different situations. On one hand, in Spielberg's rendition, Anderton is effectively framed for future murder because he was beginning to uncover a dark secret of the pre-crime’s creator. On the other hand, in Dick’s work, Anderton is simply a pawn in an attempt by the Army to usurp power. Moreover, among countless other differences between Dick’s and Spielberg's creations, perhaps the most important is the resolution. In the movie, Anderton manages to help dismantle pre-crime, as he realized how unlawful and unjust the program can be. By contrast, in the short story, Anderton is fighting to keep

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