Gattaca Movie Analysis

Discrimination was a prominent theme in Gattaca. In the movie directed by Andrew Niccol, Vincent Freeman is conceived without the help of genetic engineering, which had become the primary way of having a child. As a result of Vincent 's parents decision to conceive him naturally, Vincent suffered from myopia and a congenital heart defect; along with a life expectancy of only 30.2 years, he was prone to discrimination in a society where your DNA determined your social class. Children conceived naturally like Vincent were considered the underclass and invalids; because of this, they were subjected to perform jobs that took minimal skills. However, this didn’t go over too well with Vincent whose sole dream was to go to Saturn’s moon, Titan. Since Vincent cannot achieve his dream solely by hard work, he is forced to become a “de-gene-rate”, or borrow an elitists identity, in this case, Jerome Morrow’s. Jerome Morrow was a gold medal swimmer who won silver once and tried to commit suicide because he failed himself. Morrrow however was not successful in his attempt and only succeeded in paralyzing himself. Morrow allowed Freeman to borrow his identity and in return , Freeman had to fund Morrow’s lifestyle. In order for Vincent Anton Freeman to become Jerome Morrow, he must diligently scrub his body daily to get rid of as much of his own DNA as possible. Freeman not only consistently has to gets rid of skin cells and any hair that might fall , but he must also pass daily DNA

The movie Gattaca is based on the idea of social discrimination. It's not the usual type of discrimination that we are used to. In the distant future depicted in the film its genetic discrimination rather than racial. These people are separated into valids and invalids. In this movie parents are allowed to engineer their children to the exact detail. However Vincent was not engineered but his brother Anton was. This started his lifelong quest to be better than his brother. This leads to an elaborate heist to impersonate a “valids” identity and go to space. But this didn't go perfectly as he dealt with his identity trying to be discovered and relying on many other people along the way.

In the film Gattaca, Vincent states “I belonged to a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the color of your skin.” Vincent is referring to a new form of discrimination called “Genoism”. Genoism is defined as the discrimination against someone due to their genetic traits Those with inferior genetic traits are known as Invalids.

Gattaca is a movie that contains a very interesting society. As in all societies, discrimination exists and it is primarily between two groups. The valids, as they are called here, are the dominant group who oppress the group known as the invalids, which is the group consisting of the less privileged individuals. However, in this society, privileged and less privileged does not refer to the individuals in terms of wealth or power, but instead, in terms of genetics. Here, discrimination has been reduced down to genes, and this determines your place in society.

The film “Juvies” really made me think about how the criminal justice system treats young children. Before watching the film, I was under the impression that children were treated fairly and with care when they commit a crime. After all, they are just kids. However, to my surprise, this was not the case. Many children have been cheated by the law because they are put through the adult system and are not given a fair trial. Meanwhile, these children are expected to make the rational decisions that an adult would make. There is biological evidence that kids do not have the ability to control impulsive behavior because their brains are underdeveloped. Thus, I believe this system is extremely unfair because children are not protected in adult prisons, which makes it very difficult for them to succeed once they are released back into the free world.

Due to this mindset, job discrimination occurs all over the planet. The viewer is informed, "Of course it is illegal to discriminate, genoism it is called, but no one takes the law seriously" (Gattaca). Similarly, in To Kill a Mockingbird, racism in the South is seen as a natural way of life, nobody saw anything odd about it. In the movie, Vincent Freeman, an Invalid, believes that there is more to his life then what the doctors and society predict. Ever since he was a young child, he has had one dream: to be a navigator at Gattaca space center. At birth, Vincent was diagnosed with a 99% chance of heart failure, making him nearly useless to the people at Gattaca space center. He tells his father that he still has a one percent change of not being affected by heart disease and that he'll take it, but his father replies that the management at Gattaca would not. Vincent is not an only child; he has a genetically engineered brother named Anton who is far superior to him on paper. Despite Vincent's imperfections, he is able to beat his brother in a swim race, proving to himself that he is capable of reaching his goals. Many people that are discriminated against like Vincent see themselves as they are told. Vincent tells Irene, "They have got you looking so hard for any flaw, that after awhile that is all that you see" (Gattaca). At the beginning of Vincent's career at Gattaca, he is a lowly janitor, longing to be on the other side of

The story of Vincent shows in Gattaca that there is possibility of beating the genetic engineering system. Vincent is one of the last naturally born babies born into a sterile, genetically enhanced world, where life expectancy and disease likelihood are ascertained at birth. Myopic and due to die at 30, he has no chance of a career in a society that now discriminates against your genes, instead of your gender, race or religion. Vincent an invalid, dreams of working within Gattaca and making it into space. He combines with Jerome who was disabled in an accident to take his identity and live his life to enter the Gattaca Corporation. Vincent is selected for his lifelong desire, a manned mission to Titan.

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.

“Gattaca” is a movie about a man named Vincent who is born into a “new” society that uses genetics as the make-up for what social class you are given and will remain in, no matter what you do. Vincent is a “godchild”. He is born the “natural way”, without any genetic altering and his future is set for him as soon as he is conceived. His place in society is at the bottom of the social class and with all his “birth defects”, he seems to be placed even lower. He has poor eyesight and heart problems among many other things and is only given a life expectancy of around thirty years of age. He is denied the basics of life such as medical care and education. When his brother, Aton, is born through genetic

A theme in The film Gattaca is genetic discrimination. In the aseptic society Vincent lives in , life is genetically restrained even before the individual is born so that each person gets the “best possible start”. The sterile environment captures a strictly controlled ambience favouring genetic perfection above anything else. It is a society that overpowers human desire and human relationships. This becomes apparent through the mechanical robotic characters that live in Gattaca. Traits such as personality, beliefs, values and morals are useless. Identity in gattaca is seen in solely defined by one 's individual status as a valid or invalid. Other than this nothing else is relevant.The starting scenes in the film sets an atmosphere of controlled physical excellence. Vincent is shown shaving and exfoliating his skin.Vincent gathers a stray hair d from his keyboard and the space director acknowledges his admirable cleaning habits, To which Vincent believes is “next to godliness”. There are extreme close-ups of human matter used in Gattaca to show how the environment in which Vincent lives emphasises the importance of DNA. Those who are considered perfect among the society are often set back by a lack of aspiration; this idea of perfection comes from one 's individual values influenced by a corrupt society.Vincent is considered a god child due to having no genetic advantage from birth, Vincent is an alien concept to the genetically modified world. A test such as a

Even after being discriminated and marginalised from society by his ‘low’ quality genes, Vincent never gave in. SInce the genetically engineered individuals form the society’s elite, parents wish to select the best versions of their genes to create the ‘perfect’ offspring, this suppresses individuality as the society still ends up conformed to the rules of a striving organisation towards a ‘perfect’ society. This would result in no individuality within a society which would mean that the society could never evolve as there will be no one to oppose or notice the flaws in this ‘perfect’ society. Vincent becomes the exception when he didn’t accept being treated as an inferior the way Irene had. She accepted the fact that she would never accomplish her dream of space travel and so, she accepted her role in Gattaca. This is shown through her obedience to follow any order given to her by the director. VIncent’s achievements showed that invalids can be just as good as valids. He showed Irene that he was here “to show that it’s possible” for those who are marginalised to be just as good. These accomplishments were reached only because Vincent didn’t conform to the society by taking risks that involved being suspected as a murderer and as an infiltrated invalid. Both of which would result in severe punishments. In addition, when he won the final

Human’s were not meant to be perfect in the first place. We are all made different and in his likeness. When we find out that humans have found a way to generate “perfect” babies it is difficult not to think of this quote, “Consider God’s handiwork: Who can straighten what He hath made crooked?” This is a rhetorical question, but in Gattaca genetic screening and the making of perfect babies have replaced God’s children. In the movie they created all these so-call “perfect people,” but if you were made the natural way, leaving it up to God you were “crooked”. This specifically connects to Vincent being an in valid. He is a crooked or an in valid and those who are perfect are valid. Humans can try to play God, but is it right? It doesn’t always work either. Irene was meant to be perfect, but she had a heart condition that would never allow her to go into space. Jerome was also supposed to be perfect, but he still came in second in the Olympics. Notice how Vincent was a child of God, not perfect in anyway, but he worked for what he wanted. He had the determination and the drive to succeed more then anyone in the world. He went to extreme measures to follow his dream. Ironically, this child of God was the only one who came out on top. Vincent gets to fulfill his dream of going into space while those who were made perfect are left miserable on earth. Irene continues to work at the space station never getting a chance to actually go in space. Jerome so upset with himself,

Through this film, there is this constant systematic oppression motif. The thorough showing of discrimination presents the strength needed by the protagonist to pull through all odds stacked against him. In a place where if you aren’t created a certain way, you can either have a plethora of options and paths available to you or be limited due to uncontrollable impediments. Vincent has had a conglomerate of issues stacked against him, but he still remains persistent to achieve his ultimate goal. In this society that shows bias for invalids, Vincent had to undergo a new identity and lifestyle for his dream.

In the opening scene of the film ‘Gattaca’, camera work and the power of setting engrosses the audience and institutes conflicts. Close ups and wide shots are most frequent for camera work while colours and organisation represent setting.

In contrast to a utopia, according to the power point provided in class a dystopia is “an imaginary place where people live dehumanized and often fearful lives.” The movies The Matrix, 1999 and Avatar, 2009 overall seem to me as dystopian films. To show how each film portrays the different aspects of perspectives on the future, and a dystopia, I’m going to use the settings, actions, and outcomes of each film.