Preview

Gattaca

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
712 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gattaca
Gattaca is a movie directed by Andrew Niccol and the film is set in the "not too distant future." Andrew Niccol's perception of the future isn't what most people expect, but once thought about carefully it seems quite believable. This movie presents us with a new method in which society strives for perfection and it also makes us wonder if genetic engineering is morally correct. Your place in society in Gattaca is based on your genetic makeup and the way you were born. People born the way we know as natural are "in-valids". On the other hand people born with the aid of genetic engineering are "valids." An "in-valid" has his future set out to be a cleaner or other insignificant job in society which doesn't require an education. A new form of prejudice has been recently debated about, which is the idea of having greater or second-rate genes.
Within the movie, the natural method of birth is genetic engineering, which is unlike what our society perceives to be natural. Genetic engineering leads to genetic selection from the parents who choose to eliminate any defects, diseases or genetic illnesses. Some parents may want to leave several genetic traits to chance rather then 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. Elite genes are a burden to live with for Jerome, as he has to live up to societies expectations of success and a major contribution to the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Gattaca, a movie released in 1997, is about potential children being selected through preimplantation genetic diagnosis to ensure they carry the best hereditary traits of their parents. A genetic registry database uses biometrics to instantly identify and classify those created as "valids" while those that carry traditional means are known as "in-valids". This movie easily corresponds with the use of science and technology in today’s world. Many probably didn’t think much of this movie, just as they didn’t with the Aldous Huxley’s Novel Brave New World, which is based on a very similar dystopian future. The societies in the novel and movie are considered “perfect” worlds with their genetic engineering, young people and drugs, and human conditioning. This sounds shockingly similar to what America may be becoming.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    From the day Vincent was born, he had always been concidered as highly flawed, and as an 'invalid'. His parents were planning on carrying on the family name with their first born child by calling Vincent, Anton, after his father, Antonio. However, once finding out that Vincent was prone to illness' such as neurological disorder, manic depression, attention deficit disorder, heart failure, and was expected to live for only 30.2 years, Vincent's father felt that he wasn't worthy of the family name, and decided to call him Vincent Anton instead. Mother and Father, Maria and Antonio had a second child, who Antonio felt was worthy of the family name, because unlike Vincent who was conceived the natural way, Anton was born through genetic engineering. As the two boys grew up, Anton was always considered superior to Vincent as he was always upstaging him at everything they did. Until one day, when the two boys played a game of chicken. Like usual, Anton was expecting Vincent to turn around and swim back to shore. However, no matter how much effort he put into trying to beat his brother, Anton and Vincent were neck and neck the whole swim. Anton was confused at how Vincent still had the energy to swim, and finally Anton wasn't able to go on any longer and he gave up. Passing out and starting to drown, Vincent saved his brother's life. For the first time in their lives, Vincent was better than Anton at something. Even though everybody believed that he wasn't good enough to acheive his goals, Vincent now believed that he could achieve anything that he set his mind to. Vincent decided to run away from home and he got a job as a janitor at Gattaca. This was his first glimpse of Gattaca, and he liked what he saw.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca and 1984

    • 536 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol, shows a story of a society where life is controlled by genetics, rather than education or experiences. Based on your DNA, society determines where you belong, and your future. This allows no room for people to gain experiences and to grow, as they are confined to a specific lifestyle. It is evident however in the film that Vincent tries to violate societies’ structure, by playing the role of a navigator, using his blood samples and urine. George Orwell, the author of 1984, shows a similar concept, where life is controlled by the Party and where the main character, Winston, tries to defy the Party. Although it is obvious that both works have a dystopian society, the societies within it struggle to achieve a utopian society instead. Through its intense depiction of struggles to fit in and altering way of life to be accepted in society, Gattaca has enhanced the understanding of the impact that surveillance has in 1984 and how it has limited the people to prosper in life within society.…

    • 536 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Evolution has changed dramatically over time. In the movie Gattaca to be able to get a specific job you have to be genetically engineered. Imagine growing up with super high expectations and you were never perfect. Even if you try the best you could you may never get into the career you want. What would be the point of living be, but this could also help doctors to know and cure various diseases.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca essay

    • 790 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From the moment Vincent was born he was faced with a list of negative problems he would have to overcome in the future: “ADHD, manic depression, heart failure, and an early fatal potential of 30.2 years”. Those unfortunate enough to be born as an INVALID citizen were automatically assumed to be worthless and were never given the opportunity or choice to reach their true potential or even think that they had the capability to do so. For Vincent, life became more and more difficult as he got older; he was refused the right to enter kindergarten, and every job he tried to get he was immediately rebuffed after a DNA test was taken. Vincent had his heart set on travelling through space and becoming an astronaut but was laughed at and consistently put down by even his own father who said “Son, the only time you’re going to see the inside of a spaceship is if you’re cleaning it . Anton was always favoured over Vincent as he was ‘superior’ to him in many ways; he was stronger, taller, a better athlete this is a good example of how much of a minor thing such as someone’s DNA can have such a huge impact on society.…

    • 790 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The film Gattaca is an American film that premiered in 1997, about a future society where babies are conceived through genetic manipulation to ensure that they possess “favorable” traits. The film is about Vincent Freeman, who was born outside of genetic manipulation and faces genetic discrimination because of it. Gattaca takes place in the not so distant future where eugenics, the practice of “improving” genetic quality is common. In this society, there is a database that classifies those as “valid” who are genetically modified and those conceived naturally and thus are more susceptible to genetic complications as “invalid”. Genetic discrimination is technically illegal in this society but similarly to racial discrimination in our own society…

    • 2232 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gattaca Movie Analysis

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The birth scene has a gloomy tone and color scheme, suggesting that this method of living is something humans should avoid. Since this film is a futuristic film about the use of the findings from the Human Genome Project, this film is warning us about the possible misuse of the new genetic information. Geneticists are an important job in the film because after one second, the blood is being tested and geneticists can determine your life and future. This determines how long your life will be and what diseases you may face, but not how happy or what you will face in life. It is different from a fortune teller. A fortune teller tells the outside danger that you may face, however, this warns you about…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gattaca Themes

    • 3901 Words
    • 16 Pages

    "In-valids" do the dirty work in this future vision, and in general, society as a whole believes that these inferior people should stay in their place – at the bottom of the hierarchy. This means that those with the money to pay for it can have the "best" children with the most competitive advantages, while those that can't pay for genetic designing will have less competitive children. Therefore, the system of inequality will continue itself because an "in-valid" will not have the money to pay for top-quality genetic engineering for their…

    • 3901 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Themes In Gattaca

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Certainly the creators of Gattaca had our generation in mind when developing the concept for this film. Technologies, such as gene editing, are no longer a vision of the distant future, but rather a stronghold on present society. As humans, we are constantly looking for the passage to perfection. Persistently hunting ways to modify different aspects of our lives, rather that be cosmetically, intellectually, or genetically.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages

    By opening the movie Gattaca with quotations from Willard Gaylin and Ecclesiastes, director Andrew Niccol invites us to ponder the tension between science and religion with regard to the ethics of genetic engineering. This tension is further sustained through the complex relationship of the main protagonists Vincent and Eugene, who must ultimately conquer their own physical limitations in order to find ``God''.…

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Brave New World Vs Gattaca

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “ ‘Ninety-six identical twins working on ninety-six identical machines!’”( Huxley 7) People are made exactly the same as 96 others and are predestined to do exactly what the world state wants them to do. The world state creates people to be the best possible person they can be, to perfectly fit the job they want them to do. Having duplicates of the same person creates a stability in their government machine if something happens to one person then there's 95 more of the exact same copy to make sure everything keeps running as it needs to be. In Gattaca finding a job is tougher for people with health issues and bad DNA, but they still have the choice to do as they please. “‘ Why should anybody invest all that money to train me, when there are a thousand other applicants with a far more cleaner profile? Of course, it’s illegal to discriminate-”genoism” it’s called- but no one takes the law seriously’”( Gattaca) People still have the choice to pursue what career they wish to have. Their DNA may prohibit what they do, DNA limits the opportunity, but people still have the free will to choose the job they want versus fate and having a job people are predetermined to…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Searching for stem cell news on the internet reveals a never-ending amount of pages with web sites about breakthroughs in stem-cell research. Such articles included potential cures to diabetes, Parkinson's, leukemia, and various forms of cancer. This research could potentially lead to these terrible diseases' near end. In Andrew Niccol's Gattaca, a society is portrayed where there are no diseases due to advanced genetic engineering. This movie, based in the future, depicts couples that are able to basically hand-pick a perfect child. While modern technology has not evolved near as far as in Gattaca, stem-cell research is on the verge of creating a way to counter vicious diseases.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics and Natural Method

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gattaca is directed by Andrew Niccol and the film is set out in the "not too distant future." Andrew Niccol's perspective of the future isn't what most people expect but once thought about thoroughly it surely seems quite possible. This movie presents us with a new method in which society strives for perfection and it also makes the audience wonder if genetic engineering is morally correct. The social hierarchy system in Gattaca is based on your genetic makeup and the way you were born. People born the way we know as natural are "in-valids"; on the other hand people born with the assistance of genetic engineering are "valids." An "in-valid" has his future set out to be a cleaner or other insignificant job in society which doesn't require an education. A new form of prejudice has been raised into debate which is the idea of having superior or inferior genes.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It seemed years ago that I was brought to this camp, brought to a life without my family, a life where I only cared for myself, a life where I was not truly living. It seemed I lived in this camp my whole life, it was hard to remember that it had only been 5 months.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The ethical issues presented in Gattaca are ethical egoism, psychological egoism, sacrifice and the possibilities of radical perfection. It challenged the worthiness of the consequences of extreme self serving efforts; to take risks; to do the impossible despite public opinion. These ethical issues are based on the main character, Vincent. He uses these ideologies to achieve his goal of perfection, defying the constant disapproval of his parents which alienated him as a child.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays