How Is Gattaca A Utopia

“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

For generations, the topic of “utopia” has been discussed. Most commonly we are reminded of a perfect place that cannot exist when we hear the term. What would be your perfect place? What would be your Utopia? In this paper, when we refer to utopia, we will be considering a self-sufficient society that is morally perfect, helping each and every member of the population to be the best person he or she can be. There will be no poverty, no war and no hate. The people of our utopia will be happy with their lives, not just content. No one citizen would be of greater power or importance than another. Everyone contributes and everyone helps their neighbors. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, “utopia” is defined as “an imaginary and indefinitely remote place as well as an impractical scheme for social improvement.” Society tends to disagree regarding “utopia” with two common stances. The first being that the place Utopia does not currently and will never exist; therefore, it is a waste of time to discuss this imaginary topic. The other side to the discussion is that if we discuss a topic such as this, we can model our actions and set our goals on a path to obtaining a more ideal society. In the book Utopia, written by Thomas More, the author makes note of utopia being a subject best left for amusement among friends and discussions between kings and their advisors. In this paper, we will look at the benefits of our society’s leaders discussing how we may achieve a perfect utopia. We will also consider the benefits of the general population engaging in meaningful discussions regarding the topic. Lastly, we will touch on why it is necessary for both the leaders of society and the general populous to discuss these topics together in order to make the most advances towards our goal, if our goal was to make a society closer to that of Utopia.

Gattaca takes place in a future where the best opportunities are given people that have the best genes, as a result from Genetic Engineering (cite). The main character Vincent has not been genetically engineered and has many health issues like Myopia (cite). He aspires to become an astronaut. So he

Utopia is a hard sell in the twenty-first century. Today we are people who know better, and what we know are the horrors of “actually existing” Utopias of the previous century: Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union, Maoist China, and so on in depressing repetition.1 In each case there was a radical break with the present and a bold leap toward an imagined future; in every case the result was disastrous in terms of human cost. Thankfully, what seems to be equally consistent is that these Utopias were relatively short-lived. History, therefore, appears to prove two things: one, Utopias, once politically realized, are staggering in their brutality; and two, they are destined to fail. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Set in the near future, Gattaca is a film about the genetic enhancing of humans. Those who are created “naturally” without any changes to his or hers genetic information, are know as “invalids” and are discriminated against and are forced to work in the lower level jobs despite having the capability to do a lot more. Vincent is one of the few that are considered as an invalid. Despite this he dreams to work as an astronomer for Gattaca, a future aerospace firm. His younger brother Anton, who has been genetically enhanced, strives ahead of Vincent physically and mentally and becomes what is considered an “ideal version” of an American man, while Vincent falls behind as an invalid. Gattaca follows the life of Vincent as he pursues to follow his

Gattaca is set in the future when eugenics has become the standard for creating human life. The plot portrays the challenges, mainly genetic discrimination, Vincent Freeman faces to become the astronaut he dreams of since he is an “in-valid” or someone who was conceived naturally, without the influence of genetic engineering. To reach his life goal of completing space missions, Vincent seeks out the help of a man employed in the newly developed private sector specializing in providing people with an alternative, preferred genetic backgrounds. He is paired with Jerome Morrow, a former swimming star who was paralyzed due to a car accident and a genetic elite. Vincent undergoes extensive physical procedures to obtain Jerome’s outward appearance and Jerome prepares samples of hair and skin follicles, blood, and urine. Armed with his, or Jerome’s, superior genetic qualification, Vincent is able to work at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation, quickly rises up the ranks, and is scheduled for a mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.

Utopia frees people from the limitations of the existing society. Boundless as our imaginations a utopian world can be. Therefore, human nature, a key element of human societies, is often ignored or contradicted in utopian literatures. Three Early Modern Utopias differ vastly in their settings, rules and themes explored, but all contradict human nature in specific ways. Examining the three utopias, we will see that for a "perfect" society as a utopia or dystopia to exist, human nature must be denied or distorted in some way.

In the age of Gattaca, humans have advanced their society into one which has mastered the art of genetically modifying a person’s DNA to desired results. This has changed the way in which social interactions are carried out and businesses operate. Society now caters to those whose genetics have been perfected while alienating anyone who was naturally conceived and genes “left up to faith”. The film showcases the importance of regulations that are needed in order to stop DNA discrimination and ultimately prevent a class war between the genetically superior and the genetically weak.

Gattaca (1997) is a fantasy/drama/science-fiction film like no other. It is probably one of the finest films of all time. Gattaca is a film that triggers the imagination of filmmakers and pushes our imaginations beyond our beliefs. It foreshadows the possible outcomes of the near future. The possibility of genetically engineering human beings is a concept that has been considered and could become a reality. That is the beauty of science-fiction films, the hope that these events could happen in the future with the ongoing advancements in technology. However, in this case, technology is one of the main obstacles the main character (Ethan Hawk) has to overcome to reach his goal of going into space.

A Utopian Society is not a thing of reality. Utopias, even though only found in literature, are contradictory in that while they appear fair and just and perfect, the creation of one incorporates an act of demolition to some sort of societal aspect. However, Lyman Tower Sargent believes, as stated in his book Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction, a Utopia can be “a warning, an alternative to the present, or a model to be achieved… to demonstrate that living a better life is possible in the here and now” (Sargent 8). This being said, the following novels incorporate this belief into specific Utopian ideals and structures: Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland, and Looking Backward: 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy. Each of these works develop nonconformist concepts of the work and job selection of a Utopian civilization, the practiced religious and superstitious views, as well as the overarching governmental structures within the authors’ Utopias.

The word utopia is often heard throughout life. This word has come to become a word with a great variety of definitions. It has become a concept that, when fully examined and studied, represents the idea of perfection. The word was first mentioned by Thomas More in his book titled Utopia. (8) However concept was not new, More just coined the term that would be used to describe his idea. Plato’s Republic and Augustine’s City of God all spoke of ideal political, social, and economic states. (8) This term carries on today and is constantly redefined and applied to many situations.

The word “utopia” descended from a Greek word meaning “no place” and today is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “an imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, especially in respect of social structure, laws and politics” (). Both Francois Rabelais and Thomas More describes the Utopic world to depict the ideal human society, however, both texts describe a society in which dystopian features are extremely emphasized. This shows that there is a thin line between an orderly society and a repressive dystopian one. Historically, Utopia has been considered by its values of egalitarianism: it has no class divisions; people have economic freedom and stability, and have free will and lastly,

“It is perhaps, too contemporary to call them utopias, they ought rather to be called dystopias or caco-topias. What is commonly called utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favour is too bad to be practicable.” (quoted by

Utopia: an envisaged place or state of things in which all facets are superlative. But, the question is: Is a perfect world attainable? The futuristic World State is describable as the quintessential world, however it’s only proven to be a dystopia. Although, the year 632 A.F. shows immense advancements in science and technology, the World State uses these advancements in creating a civilization which programs their population with specific traits, and placed in their own specific social caste based on their specific idiosyncrasies. These circumstances should appear as though all people would be living in a state of pure satisfaction, and not exiled for their differences, but the life of Bernard proves this theory to be wrong. The World State

Throughout time, individuals with flaws have been seen to be unfortunate. However, those flaws are what shape them to succeed. In the film, GATTACA (1997), directed by Andrew Niccol, Anton Freeman (Loren Dean), an investigator, looks for the “In-valid”, Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), who is a “Borrowed Ladder” for Eugene Morrow (Jude Law) within the Gattaca ranks. A constant battle to be accepted by society is demonstrated by Vincent, as he continues to rise, but is met with many falls because of his genetics. With more obstacles, Vincent must constantly avoid being caught by the detective, Anton. Society’s ability to manipulate genetics affects Anton Freeman’s life and his understanding of his role within society allows him to develop a superiority complex, more job opportunities, and develop higher expectations of himself.