Brave New World 'And Gattaca'

Both the film Gattaca (directed by Andrew Niccole) and the novel Brave New World (written by Aldous Huxley) are of the dystopian genre and explore the notions of mass control and freedom; or lack of freedom. Both societies are controlled by a totalitarian dictatorship that push their suppressive ideologies- genoism in Gattaca, and the complete eradication of viviparous births and the implementation of a caste system in Brave New World. Characters in both dystopian worlds challenge the rules and expectations of their societies. In Brave New World, Bernard Marx and John Savage rebel against the World State, albeit to different extents. In Gattaca, Vincent Freeman and Jerome ‘Eugene’ Morrow oppose their society ruled by genoism.

In Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel Brave New World, John (referred to as “the savage”) is the voice of freedom in a society ruled by an inexorable pursuit of superficial happiness. In the dystopian setting, the world controllers maintain public satisfaction “but at a very high price—the sacrifice of freedom, individuality, truth, beauty, a sense of purpose, and the concept of God” (Neilson). John’s unorthodox beliefs about monogamy, God, drugs, and freedom clash with that of the overwhelming majority of people in the totalitarian London utopia. This barrier is rooted in John’s natural moral development as opposed to the artificial conditioning of the rest of society and it leads to John’s complete isolation from the people of London.

Altough both the movie “Gattaca” and the book “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley are based on perfections done on the future and how science has taken over the world, they both have similarities and differences. Vincent, the main character on Gattaca has more inner strenght than Bernard and John (main characters of Brave New World) who were not happy with themselves for not been a perfection.They are also similar in the way that they rebel against their societies.

One of the greatest debates in human history is fate vs free will and does fate even exist. It is a question that has been asked for centuries across many different cultures (Dennin 2016). Fate still has a impact on people today. The modern day argument isn't about being a force for good or evil like in Beowulf's culture, it is whether or not fate even exists. Everyone claims to know the answer but no one truly does. In the anglo saxon culture fate was the common belief. Not as many people now believe in fate as they did in Beowulf’s times but “52 percent of Americans say that they do believe in fate while only 29 percent do not believe in fate” (Moore, 2015). This means that fate is not as big of a deal nowadays then it was back then. Fates meaning and importance has changed but it still affects people's views and beliefs today.

During a drug-induced frenzy, John is pulled into an orgy and does not realize his misdeeds until after he awakens. As he slowly becomes aware of what has taken place, John “Then suddenly remembered everything …’Oh, my God, my God!’” (Huxley 259). At this point, realizing that he will never be free from a society that he abhors, John decides to hang himself. The young man cannot bear to take part in this corrupt society. John would rather not live, than live in a world that does not allow for freedom of thought and

The existence of fate and free will also play a huge part of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Shelley uses the foil characters of Victor and his monster to illustrate the differences between the beliefs in fate versus free will. While Victor Frankenstein listened to his professor speak on the powers of modern science, Frankenstein feels as if the professor’s words were “the words of fate”, that they prompted him to find the secrets of creation, and that that day “decided [his] future destiny” (Shelley 27-29). This quote prepares the audience for the upcoming events and that to Victor, those events were fully prompted by fate. Victor uses the existence of fate to rationalize his actions which helps the audience understand his motives more thoroughly. This quote also features a slippery slope

Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, is a movie set in the 1960’s which follows the story of three African-American women who face discrimination amongst their society. Furthermore, Twelve Angry Men, set in the 1950’s, written by Reginald Rose, creates an injustice against a poor slum boy who is discriminated and face prejudices due to his low social class. Through these texts were able to see the prejudices society has placed among us and in order to improve this we need to speak up and fight these discriminatory concepts to create change. Both texts are set in a time of segregation and discrimination which causes a regression against the underprivileged, so we need to demolish these prejudices in order to advance and progress as a society. Minorities need to speak up for change as their voices are better suited to help other minorities fight for a change rather than the majority fight for them all the time. For a change to be created we need to be firm and unnerving about the change we want to create, to construct progression, because, to devise change in society we need to create it ourselves and declare the change we want in society.

Andrew Niccol's Gattaca portrays a discriminatory society in which status and quality of life is determined solely by a DNA profile. However, it is against this oppressive regime that Vincent Freeman shines, as Niccol conveys the importance of maintaining individuality – in those qualities which deem his protagonist unique. Throughout the film Niccol criticises those who conform and contribute to this, while simultaneously he praises those valids who do rebel in order to emphasise how pivotal it is that the human race does not succumb to lead the existence portrayed by this "not to distant future" society.

In the Brave New World, the people can not live their life to the fullest. One way they are limited is that they are predestined at birth. “We also predestined and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future…” (Huxley 13). No one is allowed to grow beyond what the government decides is their rank. There is no competition among people and no one is trying

The futuristic society that Huxley imagines revolves around class. Its these class issues that cause most of novel’s, A Brave New World, internal conflicts. I will be looking at this novel trough the Marxist Lens. Humans are categorized into different castes, for their birth it is determined what they would be and what they can achieve when they go out invoiced. The classes are forced to be able to be distinguished as they are dressed per their class, “Alpha children wear grey …Gammas and Deltas… all wear green, … Delta children wear Khaki.” (Huxley, 27). We also learn later in the novel that Beta wear maroon and Epsilons wear Black. The different classes are taught through hypnopaedia that they are good at their place, “I’m really awfully glad I’m Beta, because I don’t work so hard” (Huxley, 27), this prevents the proletariat from rebelling against the aristocrats. The reason this system is in place because the elite were concerned that opportunities were given to those who were less influential. Therefore, the Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon embryos are poisoned. This results in them being not as intelligent as the Alphas, and Betas. Which means that the proletariats are there to severe and they can’t even change that because they like where they are in society.

Society tricks the Savage by making him believe that he is free and able to do whatever he wants when in reality, he was not granted these liberties. John is shown what makes the society “civilized” and what makes the society work, but he doesn’t agree with any of their methods. However, when John asks Mond if he can go to the islands with his friends, Mond refuses to let him because he says that John needs to stay for experimentation. He is trapped

In Brave New World their society is taught moral lessons and slogans by hypnopaedia. For example "a gramme is better than a damn." Today we are forced into believing propaganda and advertisements. We are bombarded with ads and pressure to buy certain things, or believe what people tell us. In Brave New World if they do not follow propaganda they are considered abnormal, and are forced out of society.

Austen’s classic novel pride and prejudice (P&P) and the film adaptation - Maguire’s romantic comedy Bridget Jones Diary (BJD) show the transformation of societal expectations over time whilst also revealing which ideals and values have remained the same.

Similarly, Huxley’s Brave New World depicts a government in total control doing all that it can to keep power over the people. From childhood, citizens in this society are conditioned to be perfect tools of the government. On page 22 of Brave New World, the Controller explains how babies are conditioned to hate and fear books and flowers, so as to destroy curiousity and promote work (Huxley 22). If people are formed in such a way where work and lesiure is all they know and love, deviance cannot occur. Also, ever before birth, citizens are forced into predetermined castes through chemical alterations. Early on in the novel, Henery tells Lenina, “And if you were an Epsilon, your conditioning would have made you no less thankful that you weren’t a Beta or an Alpha” (Huxley 74). Regardless of their caste, members of this world are okay with their situation because they are taught to love their position, no matter how degrading it can be. Much like The Party, Brave New World’s government takes special care to remove those who defy set rules and expectations. When explaining the islands to Hemholtz, the Controller says they are for “All of the people who, for one reason or another, have got too self-consciously individual to fit into community life” (Huxley 227). In order to preserve perfect obedient, society, the government eliminates the deviant by shipping them far away. The

The development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power, the definition of fate. Although fully defined, it’s like any other theory, as humans if we choose to believe in it or not is completely up to us. I myself, much like Melville, chose to believe in fate. I think as humans everything happens for a reason, and one must just accept it and not try to fight it. Free will is one of those concepts that some believe oppose fate. Free will is the idea that one is free to make his or her own decisions, and shouldn’t allow someone or something, much like fate, make its decisions for them. With no surprise Melville manages to intertwine these two ideas in the novel “Moby Dick,” demonstrating on several