Ethical Issues In Gattaca

Good morning, listeners. Welcome to Future Forum. I am Millie Shan. An exciting topic for us to discuss today is the challenges for the future. What concerns could our future generations confront? It is undeniable that rapid technological and scientific progress not only improves convenience and efficiency of our daily life, but also causes ethical concerns to humanity where science and technology intersect with society from different disciplinary aspects. In particular, preimplantation genetic technology could have alter society into a genetic hierarchy establishing a dystopian society accompanied by genetic discrimination. GATTACA made in 1997, an intriguing science fiction film directed by Andrew Niccol, delivers an insight into how the

Niccol presents Vincent Freeman, the protagonist as a representative of those who are born naturally, therefore he is seen as imperfect and ‘invalid’, no matter how hard he attempts and holds a bigger dream than ‘valids’ who had their genes selected so they could be as perfect as possible, yet he is never accepted and treated as inferior, second-class citizens. For instance, ‘invalids’ are confronted with restrictions in their ability to choose their occupation; the dystopian society only allows Vincent to perform menial jobs. This is reinforced in two ironic quotes “no matter how much I lied in my resume, the real resume was in my genes,” and “the best test score in the world would not matter unless I had the blood test to go with it”. Systematic discrimination has been continuously reinforced. It is indicated by the continuous identity check scenes (such as blood, urine and air tests) shown in the film. Additionally, GATTACA dramatically argues that mankind is more than their “genetic potential” and portrays the significance of human spirit. In a society instructed by rules and conventions, it is only through power and determination that Vincent, the underdog, is able to achieve his dreams. His

It begins with a fade in of the main theme when Vincent recognizes that he will be able to go on his space mission, although his fraud of passing Jerome’s urine sample as his own has long been discovered. Dr Lamar says, “You are going to miss your flight Vincent.” The close up of Vincent looking at the Dr Lamar and the music is introduced. The lighting in the round tunnel changes from the initial green to very light pinkish colour, when we see it from the inside, and is bright and smooth. This set design and Vincent’s slow and steady walk create a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Vincent says, “Of course they say every atom in our bodies was once part of a star. Maybe I’m not leaving. Maybe I’m going home.” The spaceship crew’s faces are in the shadow and only partially lit from the outside. Jerome in the incinerator has also only the lower part of his face illuminated, the rest is in the shadow. However this small amount of light hitting his face is bright and resembles sunlight. This gives the scene a positive touch that one would usually not expect from a suicide scene. To accomplish his goal he has taken burdens like doing jobs he did not want and even pretend to be another person. His final statement has an air of intimacy that recommends he probably does not have the intention to return to earth. As a predestined outsider of society he has never been able to display his true personality, but was always