If you had the choice to genetically engineer your children, would you do it? Well, in the fascinating movie Gattaca, many parents have to make that decision everyday. In Gattaca, Vincent Freeman is a child born the “normal” way, but most parents genetically modify their children in his society. This makes Vincent an invalid and puts a giant obstacle in his way of achieving his dream, to travel into space. The only way Vincent can accomplish his dream is to become someone he is not. This causes Vincent to meet Jerome Morrow, a genetically perfect human. There is one trait that sets Jerome back; he lacks the use of his legs. Vincent decides to transform into Jerome Morrow by altering his body and pretending to be someone else. In the end, Vincent reaches his dream with the help of Irene, Lamar, and Jerome. In Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol, both Jerome and Vincent are significantly affected by their caste system due to their setbacks. …show more content…
First, the caste system affects Jerome because he is paralyzed from the waste down. Despite doctors calling Jerome genetically perfect, he is always second in life until his injury. This causes Jerome to sell his identity due to the fact that he cannot fit in anymore. In the end, Jerome kills himself in order to escape the world in which he lives. Second, the caste system also affects Vincent because of his health. No matter how hard Vincent works in life, he cannot accomplish his dream of going in space. In order for Vincent to achieve his dream, Vincent changes his identity because the caste system calls for genetically perfect people to fill such roles. Along with his identity change, Vincent goes though painful surgeries and the stress of being caught. Although Vincent completes his dream in the end, he is not able to be himself due to the corrupt society in which he
Is it good to have? I believe that humans will eventually have to cross this bridge of interfering with nature or not. I see the positives and negatives on boths sides of the argument. However, collectively, I believe that genetically engineering children to the extent of that in the movie is a bad. I believe this for several reasons, one being that there, as seen in the movie, would be very little excitement about anything and everything would lack passion. Everyone who works at Gattaca is very bleak and shows no emotion for fear of being judged by other people. Another reason is that no one would really succeed at anything, and it would not be impressive if they did because they were only fulfilling their potential predicted at birth. If someone were to be faster than others, it would be expected because of their genes, and have nothing to do with personal training or effort. The only thing one could do is fail. Jerome had one of the best possible genetic codes and he only managed to win second place after being guaranteed first. If they do not live up to what has been decided about them, they only see themselves as failure. The biggest reason though, not to engineer your children, is the same as we see in the movie, discrimination because they lack a preferred genotype. Vincent was looked down upon, and was only ever expected to mop the floors superior people worked on. Not everyone
Another scene that shows Vincent struggling with society's barriers is when Anton his valid brother and Vincent raced against each other in swimming. Anton ended up winning, whereas Vincent struggled through seaweed which blocked a clear path for him to swim. The seaweed symbolised yet another barrier society set against Vincent whereas Anton was able to swim with a clear pathway. This shows the segregation within society between invalids and valids and how clear it is that society values valids over invalids. At a young age, Vincent is influenced by society’s values to believe that invalids are not worthy of achieving success in comparison to valids who are destined to succeed due to them being genetically engineered which strips individuals of their flaws. This sets up the discrimination that society forces against any invalid because they reject anyone who carries
In the motion picture Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol questions the ability of allowing genetic potential, calculated by birth, to establish the fate of an individual. The determination of a person’s destiny proved impossible and preposterous as mankind were defined by their capability to make decisions on their own concerning their future. The film exhibits the problems in a genetically engineered society. Development of science technologies has advanced exceedingly to the extent where immediately after birth an infant’s destiny can be identified just by taking a blood sample. This gives a glimpse at the person’s future and the opportunity to discriminate: ‘…no longer determined by social status or the colour of your skin. We now have discrimination down to a science’. Society in Gattaca was divided into two classes valids and in-valids.
Those born a natural birth are referred to as “God-child” or “Faith birth” and are forced to face a society that is genetically superior then them. Vincent is born with a poor heart and is predicted to live only until he is in his 30s, but this doesn’t stop him from trying to achieve his dream of going into space. But due to him being naturally born he is unable to get a job at the space facility of Gattaca, and is forced to seek help. He does this by enlisting the help of a Generic Broker who can get him the genetic material (blood, hair skin etc.) of a genetically superior person and will assume the identity of that person. The person Vincent is paired with is named Jerome and is a paraplegic from England and former athlete. Using him Vincent (taking on the name Jerome) is able to get the job at Gattaca putting him within reach of his goal. The movie displays themes of oppression and discrimination as well as moral conflicts such as Science vs. Religion and Human Frailty vs. Inhuman Perfection. In this future science has taken over religion in society and has given rise to a new form of discrimination called Genoism, discrimination according to one’s genetic purity. Like in racism there are labels for people natural born, “Invalid” a term that in means useless in movies
Firstly, a concerning issues related with the enhancement of characteristics through genetic means is discrimination in society. The text “Flowers for Algernon” epitomizes discrimination, where the protagonist Charlie Gordon undergoes a revolutionary change from his mental disability to a genius through an experimental surgery. Following the experiment, his intelligence escalates to a degree such that he progressively becomes isolated from the rest of society. Furthermore, Gordon explains his new intelligence to have “driven a wedge between [him] and all the people [he] once knew and loved” and expresses that “people don’t talk to [him] anymore and it makes [his] job lonely” (insert reference). This reveals a form of discrimination between the upper class and lower class individuals. Likewise, the film “Gattaca” depicts discrimination through the contrast of individual characters. The protagonist Vincent Freeman, is a naturally conceived baby who inherits a “99% probability [of developing] a heart disorder and a subsequent life expectancy of 30.2 years” (insert reference). In contrast, Vincent’s younger brother Anton has been artificially conceived providing him with physical advantages complemented with remarkable ...
Gattaca is a world where only people with perfect genetics are “valid”. A natural born, Vincent, forges an identity to follow his dream of becoming a space traveler. Gattaca is an imaginary place where perfect society is created by cloning. The subject of human cloning that does not currently exist which makes this movie science fiction. They have unreal technology like, the machines that determines health issues and life expectancy right at birth. The advancement in technology and new scientific research has made cloning possible. Families can go to a genist to control their child’s genetics according to their liking; from their looks to their behavior. There are no such things as genist doctors, which is a another factor why this movie is science fiction. This movie is warning to today’s society of what might potentially happen if cloning existed in real life.
In this new technological society, eugenics, which is the concept of bettering one’s genes, has created a social prejudice against humans who come from a natural birth. Vincent is part of this lower class while his brother is genetically produced and favored by his own family. It is shown in every aspect of society, including the choosing of candidates for jobs. If you were natural birth, you had the menial jobs such as janitor but if you were a test tube baby, you could have a desk job with higher pay. Vincent, who tries to exert his free will, decides to pass this system by taking on a new identity of Jerome who is deemed as the perfect man. His hard work and determination leads him out of his confinement of social and physical expectations. For example, coming from a natural birth, it is already determined that he is weak and have significant heart problems. His brother on the other hand, has great physical abilities. As young kids, they played a game of who can go further out into the sea. After a certain amount of time, Vincent suddenly has this freedom of biological causation and wins the game against his brother. This proves that not only was he able to surpass the nature of his birth, but also his expectations. He is able to decide to take on a different path that he was
People should not have access to genetically altering their children because of people’s views on God and their faith, the ethics involving humans, and the possible dangers in tampering with human genes. Although it is many parent’s dream to have the perfect child, or to create a child just the way they want, parents need to realize the reality in genetic engineering. Sometimes a dream should stay a figment of one’s imagination, so reality can go in without the chance of harming an innocent child’s life.
Gattaca brought about some interesting points on human evolution and human ingenuity. We live in a world where babies are left to chance and genetic metaling is frowned upon, but in Gattaca that idea is flipped. Society judges those who are left to God as inferior. How can one be judged for the decision of their parents? Science is moving into uncharted territory, where we might be able to create “super humans” as depicted in the movie. Gattaca revealed both the pros and cons of genetic engineering in science.
In his summary of Gattaca, Shaw comes away from the movie with the message that the force of one’s aspirations and willpower will emerge triumphant over any obstacle. He begins by saying that Gattaca is “obsessed with class differences”, the reason being that humanity is segregated into two distinct classes: the genetically superior valids and the lesser invalids. Shaw highlights this class difference in the various scenes in which invalids are looking up and conversely where valids are looking down; a literal and metaphorical act exemplifying the class difference between the genetically modified and the god-children. However, he claims that when Vincent gazes through a barred window at a rocket taking off, it is a look of “defiance”; a challenge
People who are on the lower economic standpoint will not be able to afford to modify their future generations genes, therefore, there will be another inequality within our society. Today, people who are in the lower classes or a part of the minority are given fewer opportunities and are considered less in life due to their standpoints in life. Although genetics do not come into play yet, this outcome can be comparable and present in the movie, GATTACA. In the movie, genetic stereotyping is developed due to the invention of genetically modified children. This results in the domination of job fields and the overall idea of becoming successful in life which causes the non-genetically modified people to be challenged in life. The people who were created to be genetically enhanced were seen as successful and the best of the best while the people of natural birth or “gods children” were seen as inadequate, unhealthy, and given little to no opportunities in life. Every single flaw was pointed out and made them see their imperfections rather than their abilities. Their personality, looks, and intelligence were overlooked and only their genetic makeup mattered. People of natural birth were often seen as outcasts, degenerates, and were often accused of crimes because a person who was genetically modified could not
This is the natural fallacy genetic engineering creates in the new world seen in Gattaca. We know this because in the film the main character, Vincent, who uses another man named Jerome Morrow’s D.N.A and identity to rise up the ranks within Gattaca’s staff. He does this because genetic engineering pre-determines every aspect of one’s life that is scientifically possible. This would include diseases, life expectancy, cause of death, jobs/careers you can have and even who you should marry all from a sample of blood given when first born. Vincent’s D.N.A to others deemed him chronically ill, making him invalid, meaning that there would be very little opportunities for him in life; though he felt he can do things just as well as anyone. It is in Gattaca that we can look at genetic engineering as determining one’s instrumental worth to
He is disadvantaged because of his parents' adherence to strong religious beliefs which leave his conception vulnerable to the vagaries of random genetics. Consequently, in a society where genetic engineering is increasingly normal rather than an exception, it appears that Vincent will always live in the shadow of genetically superior beings. As he mixes with members of the "Valid" world despite his own "In-Valid" condition, he manages to gain considerable respect and admiration because of his persistence, even from people unaware of his status as a genetic impostor. Although Vincent is at the lower end of the genetic hierarchy, it is due to his ferocious determination and unquenchable desire that he is able to rise above his colleagues and achieve his dreams.
Some parents may want to leave several genetic traits to chance rather than selecting the attributes of their son or daughter. To what extent is this process of conception morally right, if even right at all? Morally speaking, genetic engineering in any conception should only be used in extreme circumstances. If the natural method of conception isn't possible in the parents then genetic engineering should be the last resort, but only if the genetic changes take place to provide a healthy child, not to give this child any known advantages over other children born "naturally". Jerome has a high rank of genes and is considered to be "elite" in all aspects; these expectations of him are what lead him to suicide and mental difficulties.