Justice versus Law
My mind wanders.
David Weinberger reviews Minority Report:
The premise is ludicrous, even accepting that the police might find themselves with the ability to predict when murders are about to happen. We would prevent the murders but wouldn’t necessarily punish people for the murders they haven’t committed. The inability to see that distinction drives the plot, and drove me to distraction.
Disclaimer: David’s blocking. He sees a way to build a world then is unhappy when someone builds the world differently. I’ve ruined lots of things for myself that way, but I’m not sure it’s a necessarily bad approach. There are things that work with that approach. It is perhaps a good place to start. I’m not going to try and develop the thought here. This is just a note to a future self.
Disclaimer: I’m not planning on seeing Minority Report. Bladerunner has been the exception that proves the rule about PKD adaptions and I’m not sure Steven Spielberg has done a good film since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It would take a several very good reports from people I strongly trust to get me in the cinema. (Or perhaps chance.) So this isn’t about the film.
Disclaimers aside, science fiction, courtroom drama, and police procedurals are ways of talking about justice versus law. They each have tools and methods to recommend them. I wonder though if we are bound to misuse these tools, ironically confusing intent with artefacts. Give someone a hammer and they are liable to see all problems as nails. Give them then a screwdriver and it won’t help if they can’t differentiate between a nail and a screw. I suppose though there are no answers in art, only questions. If I am not happy with answers supplied to questions, then follow on questions should be asked.