Marcus Banda

Professor Burleson

Philosophy

5/5/23

What’s Good on TV Narrative:

Next and Utilitarianism

In the movie Next, the main character, Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage), is a magician in Las

Vegas who can see events minutes before they happen. Terrorists threaten to detonate a nuclear

weapon in Los Angeles and agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) hunts for Cris and tries to convince

him to help her stop the coming catastrophe. (Tamahori)

An ethical theory known as utilitarianism establishes right from wrong by emphasizing results.

It embodies consequentialism in some way. According to utilitarianism, the decision that will result in

the greatest good for the largest number of people is the most morally right one. It is the only moral

system that can be used to defend using force or going to war. Due to the way, it takes advantages

and costs into account, it is also the method of moral reasoning that is most frequently applied in

business. It is difficult to determine with confidence whether the results of our activities will be

beneficial or bad, though, because we cannot predict the future. One of utilitarianism's drawbacks is

this. (“Utilitarianism - Ethics Unwrapped”)

Cris Johnson is faced with a utilitarian question. Should he use his gift of precognition to save

millions of people or not use it and save himself, possibly killing millions? This should be an easy

question to answer but what plagues Cris is his past run-in with authority and researchers who just

want to use him for their benefit. If he helps the federal agent she could take him in to have him

studied like a lab rat. If he doesn't help and runs, he could continue to live a free life. Utilitarianism

says the right choice is to use his gift. Save the people. But in the end (spoiler alert) he waits until it is

too late. This proves he is not a utilitarian thinker.

 Works Cited

Tamahori, Lee, director. Next. Paramount, 2007.

“Utilitarianism - Ethics Unwrapped.” Ethics Unwrapped, McCombs School of Business – The

University of Texas at Austin, https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/utilitarianism.

Accessed 5 May 2023.