Movie Report: Gattaca

Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction film about the impact and ethics of genetic engineering
and its role in developing social inequality. The film is set in a futuristic society where geneticists
have the ability to engineer physical and behavioral characteristics in pre-natal babies, leaving
those who were conceived without such enhancements to be born into the world at a great
disadvantage. Vincent, the protagonist, is one of those naturally born babies whose genome is,
consequently, filled with errors, from which high probabilities of obtaining certain disabilities
later in life can be inferred. In this society, his genetic impurities are considered a defect and
result in Vincent experiencing a lot of discrimination and prejudice, including being labeled as an
in-valid and being denied admission into Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. Vincent quickly
realizes that the only way he will ever be able to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut and
exploring outer space is by becoming a borrowed ladder, or a person who impersonates
someone with a superior genetic profile, also knows as a valid. With this, he assumes the
identity of Jerome Eugene Morrow, a former swimming star with an excellent genome who was
left paralyzed from the waist down after attempting suicide. Vincent buys Jeromes identity
and then uses his valid DNA in blood, hair, tissue, and urine to pass any screening necessary to
get into and stay in the Gattaca program. Once he gets in, Vincent quickly becomes the top
navigator and is selected to go on a mission to one of Saturns moon. Although some obstacles
arise in the week leading up to the launch when one of Gattacas administrators is murdered and
an eyelash belonging to Vincent is found near the crime scene, Vincent is able to ultimately
exercise enough caution and care to land him a seat in the space shuttle.
ThemovieGattacaraisesseveralimportantissuessurroundinggeneticengineeringand
geneticmodification.Firstistheissueofcreatingdesignerbabies.Clearly,oneofthebenefits

of genetic modification is the creation of a more perfect society where unnecessary and
disadvantageousgeneticpredispositionsareeliminated.Inthemovie,prenatalselectionallows
parents to choose almost any imaginable characteristic for their child, from their physical
appearance,tolifeexpectancyandcauseofdeath,tobehavioralcharacteristics.However,the
momentwebegintotoywithhumannature,webecomesubjecttoethicalscrutiny.Oneofthe
biggestcontroversiestodayregardinggeneticalterationsisthecreationofdesignerbabies.
Althoughgeneticenhancementscanincreaseanindividualschanceofsuccessbyeliminating
anypossiblefactorsthatmayhinderit,theyarealsotamperingwithMotherNatureandcould
potentiallycause moreharmthan benefit. Forexample, oneoutcomeofdesigner babies,as
exemplifiedin Gattaca,isthecreationofadystopiansocietywhereasingleraceofsuperior
humanslooksdownonthosewhohavenothadanygeneticenhancement,thuscreatingasocial
classdivideandpromotinginequality.

Anothereffectofthedesignerbabyistheeffectofthestigmaofbeingadesignerbabyin

thesociety.Thebabycouldpotentiallybefacingidentitycrisisaboutwhetheritisanatural
humanorjustaproductofanexperimentinthelab.Thequestionatthatpointthatweneedto
askourselvesisthatareweplayinggod?Dowehavetherighttoalterapersonsgeneticcodein
order to benefit ourselves by creating our vision of a perfect person? Maybe the little
imperfectionsthatpeopleperceiveofthemselvesarethereasonwhytheyarehuman,whythey
areunique,sotheimplicationwillbethatbycreatingthissocietyofperfecthumansarewe
reducingourownhumanness?Itmaybeso.However,thereareconvincingcounterarguments
forthis,iftherewasapossibilitytoscreenbabiesforpotentialdiseasesandsplicethosegenes
forregularonesthenthebenefitseemsimmeasurable.Butlikeanyotherthinginthisworld,will

webeabletocontainourselvesfromexploitingtheprocess?Atwhatpointdoyoudrawaline
andsaywecannotmodifythebabiespastthislimit?Itisalsoquitepossiblethatintryingtofix
oneproblem,wewillactuallyinadvertentlycreatemoremistakesinthehumangeneticcodethat
wouldcreatenewdiseasesthatcouldthenbepasseddownfromonegenerationtothenext.So
thenwemustconsider,isallofthisreallyworthit?
Anotherimportantissueraisedinthemovieistheextenttowhichbiologicallymodified
humanpotentialdeterminestruehumanpotentialandtherolesthatoriginalgeneticmakeupand
environmentplayindeterminingthistruepotential.Ourhumannaturehascreatedthementality
in us ofbeing incontrolofourlives,sowhensomethingcomes alongand challenges that
mentality,webegintoquestionit.In Gattaca,oneoftheconsequencesoftheprevalenceof
genetic modifications is that the society now believes that biologically modified potential
determinestruepotential.However,thedirectorofthemovieclearlycriticizesthisviewpoint
withhis assertionthatdetermination,humanspiritandotherfactors thatarenotgenetically
inheritedgreatlyaffectapersonsabilitiesandpotentialforexcellence.Forexample,Vincent
clearly lacked the biologically modified aspect of human potential because of his invalid
genomeandaheartdefect,andyethewasabletooutperformmanyofhisgeneticallysuperior
Gattacacolleaguesbecauseofhisstrongpersonalityandclevermindthathelpedhimlandaspot
onamissiontoflyintoouterspace.Ithinkanotherkeyelementworthmentioningisthatdespite
havingbeenbornnaturally;Vincentwasactuallyaveryhealthyandathleticindividual.Onthe
otherendofthespectrumisJerome,who,despitehavingbeenbornwiththeperfectgenomic
profile,couldnotaccomplishhisgoalofwinningfirstplaceinaswimmingcontest.Asaresult,
hetriedcommittingsuicidebywalkinginfrontofacar,butwasinsteadleftpartiallyparalyzed.

Inmanyways,thisjuxtapositionbetweenVincentandJeromeandthecontrastbetweenthe
sociallyacceptedmentalityandrealitycanbeinterpretedasthedirectorswayofsayingthatitis
wrongandunjusttodefineorpredictoursuccessonlyintermsofourgeneticmakeupand
biologicallydefinedhumanpotentialbecausethereisnogeneforthehumanspirit.
Inandofitself,Gattacapresentsaveryrealisticforesightintothefutureoftechnology
andscientificadvancements.Whatmighthaveseemedfarfetchedin1997isaverypossible
realitywithinthenexttentotwentyyears.Thismeansthattheethicalissuesthatareraised
parallelthosepresentineitherourpresentsocietyoroneintheverynearfuture.Therefore,I
thinkthismovieservesasagreatreminderorwarningthatwemustheedinthefutureorinthe
presentwhentheethicsofgenemodificationcomesup.