Gattaca Themes

The texts "Scales Of Justice" and "Gattaca" are two texts which allow the reader to witness a variety of interpretations and explore the relevant issues that are visible within contemporary society. Such issues as corruption within the police force, racism, sexual harassment, discrimination and manipulation of power are shown to give different interpretations of issues which plague today's society and potentially our future.

"Scales Of Justice" shows the corruption in the police force. It is a fictitious portrayal of organised crime and human weaknesses in an unstated Australian location. It is about the possible abuses of power in the police force and is a study of power and its potential to corrupt. The drama is concerned with organised
Discrimination is a human habit. We treat people differently because of their religion, their race, their sex, their age, social status and even the colour of their skin. Gattaca shows a society where there have been many advances including advances in methods of discrimination. The elitist workers at Gattaca have learned from birth that they have superior genetic make-up and that they had no excuse to fail. On the other hand, in-valids knew they didn't stand a chance. Those who choose to give birth to a godchild, for moral or economic reasons, are condemning their child to a lifetime of discrimination. This means they have restricted opportunities in their life. In Gattaca, the stifling effects of these restrictions are demonstrated. The main character, Vincent, is an "in-valid" who dreams of leaving earth and exploring space. However, he is not free to pursue this dream, because no matter how hard he studies, how good he becomes, he will never get the chance to follow his dreams because his genes are not "valid." This is a very dystopic concept to most people, who are traditionally raised to believe that hard work and persistence are what it takes to achieve their dreams, not that their very destiny is entwined in their genome. . Gattaca is so totalitarian in nature, that human rights are dominated and individuality is
"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