'Gattaca'

‘Gattaca’ is a dystopian future Sci-Fi which has honed in on the contemporary issue of ‘designer babies’ and the modern obsession with altering our genes, and projected the concept into an oppressive, extreme environment for contemplation of the morality of these investigations. Potential children are selected through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents. These children are considered ‘Valid’, whereas naturally conceived children, ‘God children’ are ‘In-Valid’ thereby a genetic hierarchy is created. ‘In-Valids' are considered to be educationally dysfunctional, aggressive and susceptible to disease giving them a shorter predicted life. The politically correct government has made genetic discrimination illegal but practice is not punished and the ‘In-Valids’ are relegated to menial jobs.

The Title: Refers to the astronomical society, like NASA, in charge of exploration trips into space and analysis of the Universe. However, the name of the film is created to imply a core theme of the narrative: DNA. The letters G, A, T, C, the base letters of the title, are the initial letters of the four complementary nitrogenous bases on DNA. This highlights the film’s (and the character’s) focus and interest in this scientific level of being human.

Tagline: The inspirational tagline “There is no gene for the human spirit” refers to the protagonist as he strives t rid himself of the restrictions of being an ‘In-Valid’. This play on words is to highlight that in this imagined society differences are considered disabilities (‘invalid’). The films main aim, then, is to convey that there are intangible parts of our being and existence that science cannot explain or dictate.

Characters:

The protagonist Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke)is followed from the moment of his conception and introduces himself and his inner-most thoughts via a voice over. His surname proves to be ironic, as he is far from free –trapped inside his own genetic information. He is, on the whole, discriminated against for being imperfect. His tenacity and courage drive the narrative as he single-mindedly pursues his dream – of becoming an astronaut.

 Irene Cassini (Uma Thurman) is the love interest of the film yet also serves as a character to represent the middle ground. She was designed to be perfect and yet she was not. She is a mistake in the science, allowed to work at Gattaca but not allowed to progress into space. She acts as a reflection of Vincent’s views on society (there is a scenario which is repeated but reversed between them and they both make the same choice).

Jerome Eugene Morrow (Jude Law) is almost a mentor character but doesn't fully fulfil the stereotype, instead he and Vincent give each other what they both want (Vincent –Jerome’s perfect identity/ Jerome – Vincent’s dreams). Jerome is a tragic hero, another victim of society. He suffers from the burden of perfection; because of it he should have been the best but was crushed by only achieving a silver medal at swimming.  He is battling internal problems which are symptoms of the wider social issue.

The antagonist is the society and its demand for perfection and its prejudice against those who are not. Anton Freeman (Loren Dean), Vincent’s estranged and genetically superior brother represents this and voices the antagonist’s side of the argument. This highlights how indoctrinated the characters are to view difference as negative.  However, it is also a crucial point that by the end the brothers look very similar implying that rather than being conflicting forces they are two sides of a coin. Vincent is physically defective but is determined and spirited. Anton is physical perfection but lacks the conviction and drive of his brother. The motif of their swimming game of chicken pits these qualities against each other and eventually victory is that of “the human spirit”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca