Future Shock Film: Minority Report (2002)

In a world where free will routinely faces interruption from government intervention, one agent faces the crossroads between duty to the status quo and revelatory transformation. Directed by Steven Spielberg, released in 2002, and starring global superstar Tom Cruise, Minority Report provided excitement for audiences while still adhering to the sci-fi skepticism presented by this film adaptation's literary originator, Philip K. Dick. 

Host Garret Castleberry welcomes Scott McMurry into the dystopian discourse that foregrounds this "Future Shock Film" season of Special Topic in Media. The dialogic duo explore the dystopian spaces that haunt not only sci-fi film but also the fears and anxieties of storytellers and their audiences. The pair organize their analysis around genre themes concerning presence versus absence, imitation versus innovation, and make a case for what moments situate Minority Report as future shock.

"Future Shock" originated as Season 3 of Special Topics in Media, and the first batch of film conversations comprise a RETRO REWIND mini-series. Following these Retro Rewind film talks, Season 3 will collide with its altered future as we converge with a new season (and NEW university film course!) of future shock analyses.

Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings to pair with Season 3 "Future Shock Science Fiction Film":

Keith M. Johnston. Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury, 2011.

Rick Altman. Film/Genre. British Film Institute, 1999.

Laurie Ouellette and Jonathan Gray (Eds.). Keywords for Media Studies. NYU Press, 2017.

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Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.