in thoughts...

woke up much earlier than usual this morning cos my nose was leaking badly. and had enough sleep i guess - went to bed much earlier than usual last night.

anyway woke up and felt like watching "Minority Report". Not really sure why, maybe because watching Tom Cruise in Last Samurai made me think of him in Minority Report.

this isn't the first time i'm watching Minority Report, but i'm still amazed by the story. it's one of those movies that i love for the "woah" factor - with concepts that set you thinking, in ways you never considered. The Sixth Sense is another one.

anyway. Minority Report. Set in the future, where the police, with the aid of technology and "Pre-Cognitives" can foresee murders - premeditated or on the spur of the moment. Difference is that premeditated murders give the police much more time to track down and prevent the murder. The department is given the name Pre-crime.

and thus the question comes - if i want to murder someone, and you stop me from doing it(say just before i strike the fatal blow), ie I din kill that someone, am i still considered a murderer?

Tom Cruise's character, John Anderton explains to Witwer by rowing a ball across the table, which Witwer caught as it dropped off the table.
Anderton: why did you catch it?
Witwer: it was going to fall.

therefore - same analogy - the ball was going to fall - the murders will take place; Pre-crime seeks to arrest these murderers even before they attack, thus preventing the murders. All these is fine until Anderton sees the incoming case - a premeditated murder of Leo Crow, and the murderer is Anderton himself. And this is weird because Anderton doesn't even know this man, but according to the Pre-Cogs he'll kill this man in about 3 days. And thus begins his great escape, and his search to solve the mystery.

I suppose what's wonderful about the story is how it creates this tension, between knowing what's supposed to happen (somewhat like your destiny) and whether you choose to live out that supposed destiny, or defy it. When Anderton was at the hotel where the murder was supposed to take place (at this point he still doesn't know who Leo is), Agatha asked him to leave this place, but Anderton said he has to find out what happens. When Anderton was about to shoot Leo Crow, Agatha (one of the Pre-Cogs that he had with him) kept telling him that he has a choice not to kill. And the greatest irony of this part was that Anderton decided not to kill Crow, but Crow just pulled the gun Anderton was holding towards him, and just pulled the trigger. It's as if a man can't change his destiny, even though he makes a decision to.

but if you look at the story as it develops, you find another messages.

1. That for perfect systems, no matter how perfect, can still have loopholes, which humans will no doubt abuse. When Witwer was at Pre-Crime, he said he was looking for flaws - Anderton replied that the system is perfect. Witwer said that any flaw would be human. and BINGO. True enough.

2. The truth will come out, sooner or later.

3. And yes, i think the take-home message is that sometimes you feel like you can't change destiny, but always remember, you still have a choice, and your choices will affect your destiny, in ways that we cannot foresee, but it will take place.