In my opinion, there are two movies from this course, which are very comparable. The Hollywood-esque “Gattaca” is a prophetic distopia concerning genetic discrimination in the early 21st Century. George Orwells classic “1984” is an even darker distopia (which was revealed as a great embarrassment) dealing with crude politics and oppression of the greatest gifts of humanity. Although these films contrast diversely, they also can be applied with many similar themes. In this essay, I will discuss some of the artistic and literal connections between these films as well as show their differences and deconstruct their faults using my own personal criticism. I will show how science fiction can play a very important role in our lives, and I also hope to express my theories and ideas behind the many hidden meanings and metaphors as well as encourage you (the readers) to see these movies and the future of life from an appreciative, analytical, scientific perspective.
Out of all the great science fiction movies I have seen, “Gattaca” has one of the most realistically prophetic views of the near future. Most of its technology is already possible; all that remains is the level of society that isnt quite developed to the maturity of the storys setting. Using a time saving narration establishment towards the start of the film, we learn that a new advancement in genetics is being used as the basis of the worlds system. Doctors everywhere are able to predict the probability of certain characteristics, disorders, and diseases destined in a human life as well as the estimate the approximate time and cause of death all at the pinprick of a needle, just seconds after a childs birth. This also means that parents can prearrange their unborn childs genetic pattern to choose these statistics and cheat the hands they were dealt to create a perfect child product in their image. In result of many years of the creation of an elite group of superhumans,!
people are no longer discriminated against by race, personality, or religion, but are judged only by the superiority of their genetic code. Accordingly, the story of “Gattaca” concerns a young man named Vincent who is born naturally without genetic engineering. His kind of people are known as “god children” and dont have much of a chance outside the systematically lower class. However, Vincent is determined to follow his dream of going into space (which is politically impossible for someone of his physical genetic state, no matter how intelligent). He finds a way to cheat the system by taking on the identity of someone with a well engineered genetic history and climbs his way up the social ladder at the equivalent of present day NASA called “Gattaca,” until he finally ranks top astronaut. When one of his directors is murdered, accidental traces of Vincents true “in-valid” self are found and he is the prime suspect, even though he is truly innocent. Thus, the plot thickens a!
nd he is forced to come forward with his identity to his love interest Irene, and succeeds in escaping the hands of the police wanting him for fraud. In the end, his dreams come true and he blasts off into the blue, while Eugene (the new name for the man who supplied Vincents false genetics) commits suicide and leaves this cruel world behind.
In this exciting twist of sci-fi, romance, hard science, Futuristics, and brilliant entertainment, I find the hidden meanings to be the most interesting. The relationship between Eugene and Vincent is somewhat of a tradeoff friendship. They both gave eachother a special chance to follow and act upon their most passionate, agonizing dream. While Vincent was allowed to apply his intelligence and character to the occupation of his own choice (space exploration), Eugene was able to retire his twisted soul corrupted by society, and end his life knowing that it was all in vein. Another metaphor I have discovered comes from the relationship between Vincent and his brother. Although Vincent was born first, Anton was conceived by the hand of technology rather than God, and was always the stronger, taller, healthier boy by far. Vincent is always in a constant internal struggle about being the weaker one, especially during their strenuous game of “Chicken.” The two of them would swim as!
far out into the ocean as they could, the loser being the one who would get scared and turn back for shore first. Anton, of course, would always win, until one day he would have drowned if Vincent had not saved his life. This represents the natural goodness of the world (Vincent) versus the new science of genetic alteration and discrimination of society (Anton) in their constant battle with eachother. Vincent won because his ID wanted to succeed so badly, that he finally is able to overcome the system. This makes Vincent realize that anything is possible, even for an i
