Utopia and Minority Report

Utopia is defined as a perfect or ideal place. But how can we define an ideal place when every single human on this Earth is an individual with individual preferences and

opinions on what makes a Utopia. This can easily be seen through the comparison of two texts, the first; Utopia, a 1516 novel by Thomas More and second; Minority Report a 2002

film by Steven Spielberg. Two completely different texts, two completely different contexts, and two completely different perspectives on what a Utopia should be.

However they do have one thing in common besides both being Utopian texts, both texts highlight what the author believes are the faults of the respective times they lived in.

More draws our attention to the social hierarchy in England and the uneven distribution of power and wealth towards the higher classes. He addresses this by proposing his own

social order that we now define as a communist society where everyone is born equal and resources are public property and shared amongst the community as a whole. More

also takes a shot at the integrity of the rulers of his time saying "nations will be happy, when either philosophers become kings, or kings become philosophers." Funnily enough an argument with King Henry the 8th would lead to his trial for treason and subsequent execution.

Whereas in Minority Report, Spielberg seems perfectly content to accept the capitalist ways of his time when he incorporates it into his movie with virtually no change to the

social structure of contemporary America.   Dr Heinimen likens capitalism to our basic human instincts; “every creature on the face of the Earth is interested in one thing and

one thing only. Its own survival” Survival can further be extended to prosperity and wealth. In essence creating the opposite of communism, everyone is trying to get

themselves in a better position in life.
If both these texts are Utopia’s then why would the social structures used in both these

texts be polar...