Jerome In Andrew Niccol's Film Gattaca

People define who they are by having the ability to be who they want to be. Jerome, from Andrew Niccol’s Film, Gattaca, was never given the legal opportunity to be who he wanted to be. From birth he was told he had no potential, no chance at a stunning life. When his perfect younger brother, Vincent, was born it made it all the more harder for Jerome to cope with his faults. Jerome was tired of always being told he would never achieve his dream of going into space, so he took matters into his own hands. He illegally changed identities with a famous swimmer, and got a job with a space station. With the help of new friends and even his brother Vincent, Jerome was able to achieve his dream. In Andrew Niccol’s film, Gattaca, brothers Jerome and
Vincent are affected by the caste system, causing them to go against the rules of their community. Growing up extremely different from his older brother Jerome, caused Vincent to have a sympathy for people of the lower caste. Even as young boys Jerome and Vincent challenged and pushed who they were. Jerome was never allowed to experience the same things that Vincent was because he was considered not good enough, but that never stopped him. As a child Jerome consumed every book on space that he could get his hands on. Although Vincent always doubted Jerome, there was apart of him that was sympathetic. In later years Vincent discovered Jerome had been hiding under a false identity, and let him continue even though he had the power to completely ruin him. Jerome pushed his caste by becoming the person he was told he couldn’t; Vincent didn’t follow his caste by protecting his brother and letting him follow his dream. The dystopian film Gattaca showed a strict caste system and how people were able to stray from it. Dystopias are about caste systems and not allowed to be an individual, just like in Gattaca.