The first time I caught a little of this movie was during Social Psychology lesson last year. I can't remember the exact topic which led to the presenters to want to show the first 5 minutes or so of the movie during lesson though. But it was very interesting, because it conincided with what another module, Genes and Society, had touched on, and which had made me more respectful of, probably even more fearful of, the unlimited possibilities of genetic engineering. So when my brother rented this one this time round, I was pretty eager to watch it.

It was sad, especially the fate of Jude Law. Sigh... (*cue dreamy look*)

Ok, kidding.

Seriously, it was really sad. In fact, the entire premise of it was extremely disturbing. I shudder at the thought of the prospects of living in such a future, especially when it all seems so close right now. Look at the possibilities of genetic engineering! I'm seriously not surprised that one day, parents are faced with the option of determining the sex of their children, the features on their children, while companies are gonna have access to the genetic profile of future employees and given the privillege of rejecting those who seem to have a high risk of certain disease which will deem the company uneconomical to even wanna employ them. If you happen to be that unlucky one who has some genetic predisposition to certain life-threatening, or disabling disease, no insurance company is gonna wanna cover you because it means a guranteed loss for them, and u're gonna have to sepend the rest of your life in pain, misery and poverty. That was what was in the movie. And the scary thing is, this is what may actually happen.

Ethan Hawke is Vincent Freeman, who was conceived naturally - which would apparently turn into a grave mistake that led to a life of inferiority for Vincent. Intelligence, cognitive ability, artistic talents... all these don't matter anymore in the "distant future" as portrayed in the film. All it takes is your blood and urine sample, and that determines whether you are in or out of a company. Those genetically inferior would be called the 'In-Valids', while those genetically engineered to become superior beings would be the 'Valids'. It's blatant discrimination, as vile as the type of racism that has plagued the human race and threatened our mere existance. Yet, everyone accepts it, because more and more people are recognizing the power they have over their destiny, perpectuating the illusion of genetically superior beings.

Vincent is an intelligent person. But like the lowest caste of society, his abilities intellectually no longer determines his future. From the moment he is born, his genetic profile had already been read, hence sealing his fate - 99% chance of heart disease, would die by age 30, etc. Hence, Vincent was brought up as the weak, sickly son, when in fact there was nothing wrong with him physically (as compared to his younger brother, who was genetically engineered to perfection). Vincent had a keen interest in space travel, and had dreams of working at Gattaca, the future version of NASA. However, no matter how hard he studied, no one was going to offer him careers other than that of a janitor, a position reserved for the genetically inferior.

So, in a desperate move, Vincent hires someone to turn his genetic profile into that of Eugene, a genetically engineered foreigner who was paralyzed after an accident. The deal was that Vincent would assume the identity of Eugene (Jude Law) with blood, urine, skin, fingerprints and hair samples which Eugene would provide on a continuous basis, while Vincent pays his rent and provides companionship. With that, Vincent finally gets a job at Gattaca, and rises to the ranks almost effortlessly, until one day he finds himself nearing his life-long dream of going up into space. However, just when everything seem to finally look right for Vincent, something happens that threatens to reveal his true identity.

I appreciate how the scriptwriter had managed to explore the fact that no matter how advanced technology goes, it will never change basic human nature. One part in the movie said it all - despite the fact that Vincent had managed to live past the age of 30, his genetically superior brother still clung onto the belief that Vincent was in fact inferior, that he wouldn't make it anywhere, and that his ability to live past that age probably just pointed to chance. Another memorable part of the movie was how Eugene is portrayed as this dark and depressed individual struggling with his burden of not living up to the expectation of being "genetically perfect" as a cripple. It was sad when after a night of pleasure with the woman he loved (Irene, played by Uma Thurman), Vincent woke up mortified to find that he had left strands of hair and flakes of skin on the bed, clues to his true genetic identity. It was also sad that an "In-Valid" was immediately branded as the murder suspect even when evidence could not fully determine that.

Doesn't that ring a bell? Even without human genetic engineering, we still see prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination all around us. I could turn this into a social psychology essay on how discrimination arises, how it's perpectuated through the self-fulfiling prophecy and things like that... It's that simple to relate to life as it is now.

Even if perhaps one day, everyone adjusts so well (psychologically, biologically and genetically)to these discriminations that they no longer become an issue, how does tampering with nature affect our own survival as a species? Once genes for specific ailments and even simple things such as the gender of the child are identified, selfishness and greed inherent in human nature is bound to take over natural creation. Wouldn't parents be tempted to manipulate their offsprings in hope for satisfying their mere fancies for the perfect child? However, human GE is irreversible, and in the same vein as how the human creation of urbanization has led to threats of global warming, more floods and droughts (which we selfish and insatisfiable humans failed to realize until recently), we will never know the consequences of human GE until it is too late.

GE is exciting, no doubt. I don't deny that. How wonderful it would be if one day, GE could eliminate the sufferings of mortels caused by incurable diseases such as Parkinsons, Huntingtons, or heart diseases, just to name a few. But at what costs? We live in a world of power dynamics - a quality inherent in humans that has never, and will never, changed. It was once said that "how can we humans be expected to manage such an inconceivably far-reaching capacity (GE) when all we have accomplished is to make earth resemble hell?" While it does seem too extreme, he isn't that far from the truth too. Think about it and I'm sure you know what I mean. The average human possesses cognitive abilities beyond any species that has lived on this planet. By the time a normal human being reaches adulthood, he would have the capacity to fantasize, to imagine, to reflect, to rationalize and to recreate the world around him. GE has no boundaries, and ethical and moral issues will continue to keep the human and his insatisfiable curiosity for pushing the limits in check. Our future with GE remians uncertain.

Performaces were great. Ethan Hawke portrayed the"In-Valid" who was determined to overcome all barriers to prove that his worth is more than what is in his genetic profile beautifully. I could just feel his pain, his angst and his fear. I'm not a fan of Jude Law but his portrayal of Eugene made me sit up and marvel at how such a depressed individual still managed to retain some charm that often helped Vincent pull through his disguise. It was shocking to see that he had chosen that path, but it was also touching to see the bond between he and Vincent that had been built by the end of the movie. Towards the end, u realize that there are people who do empathize with people like Vincent, but ultimantely it was only those who found had themselves in similar positions, or people who found that the promise of GE had failed them, who truely empathized with him.

A powerful and thought-provoking movie.



Trivia

The name "Gattaca" is composed entirely of the letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA. The four nucleotode bases of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.

The winding stairs in Eugene's apartment have a helical structure, like DNA.

When Gattaca was first released, as part of a marketing campaign there were adverts for people to call up and have their children genetically engineered. Thousands of people called, wanting to have their offspring genetically engineered

Jude Law's character asks to be called by his middle name, Eugene. "Eugene" comes from the Greek for "well born," which he is. "Eugenics" (the science of improving the hereditary qualities of a race or breed) is the central theme of the film.

Additional info...

Francis Galton (1822-1911) is the man who coined the term "eugenics". He is Darwin's half-cousin, and was highly influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution, which stated that natural selection affected inherited individual variation of various species.

Galton was a wealthy, upper-class, Victorian era, British white male convinced that his superiority over others was inherent, as was the widespread belief in society at that time. From Darwin's book on evolution, Galton concluded that human intelligence was a key trait that enabled weak humans to survive the struggle for existence , which led to the more intelligent humans rising to the top of society (ie. him and his peers). Through many innovative research methods that are still in used today, Galton found "evidence" for his theory which were in fact flawed on retrospect.

Using the "results" of his research, he proceeded to publish a book "Hereditary Genius". This was what he wrote: "just as it is possible to obtain by careful selection a permanent breed of dogs or horses gifted with peculiar powers of running, ... so it would be quite practicable to produce a highly-gifted race of men by judicious marriages during several consecutive genetrations".

Galton eventually coined the term "eugenics" to promote the iea that society should take active steps towards improving its genetic material.


Reference: Goodwin, C. James (2005) A Histroy of Modern Pychology (2nd Edition), John Wiley and Sons Inc.