Gattaca: A Movie Analysis

Gattaca Film Analysis

The film Gattaca looks at the future possibilities of law and technology development and how these advancements would affect the society as a whole. The film Gattaca suggests that the society would have only two distinct social classes of those with generic manipulation who are considered valid and those who are naturally conceived and are not genetically manipulated and in the society of Gattaca, they are considered to invalid and are treated as second class. The discrimination of the invalid represents the present day's multiculturalism and racial diversity.

It is now 20 years since the movie was released and certainly the film Gattaca does not mirror the reality as it is now because our human knowledge of genome is over the years not able to predict what any individual will be like and it nowhere near in making this a reality. This is because humans DNA combine with the environment and experiences to make us who we are. However, it is evident that the world today is heavily depending on genetic engineering hence, heading rapidly towards a Gattaca-like society making the movie less of a just fiction (Wood, 2003, p.

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88). As such, this essay will analyze how Gattaca presents a vision of the future of law, technology, and the workplace. Moreover, it will look into how the future presented in the film is possible concerning historical relationships between power, statutory, common law, and HRM.

The use of widespread genetic engineering is dominant throughout the film beginning with in vitro insemination of eggs.

Today’s genetic engineering can select sex and color of the eyes ("Genetic Engineering and Nanotechnology: When Science-Fiction Meets Reality!," 2015, p. 56). These are two of the four traits screened for all possible “prejudicial conditions” on Vincent’s brother who is pre-determined to be a male with hazel eyes, fair skin, and dark hair.Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg of the Fertility Institutes, in a reality show, explains how he is able to choose eye color, sex and also weed out various genetic disorders with 80% accuracy. This proves that the world as a whole is moving towards the reality of Gattaca-like society.

The film Gattaca responds to the possible legal and social issues in an imagined society future that relies on genetic engineering(Junker, 1999, p. 34). Markedly, Gattaca’s power and law system utilize the philosophy of genoism to split the society into social classes as a means to sustain control. As Vincent explains "Today we have discrimination down to a science." Gattaca's director Andrew Niccol informs us how genetic makeup wouldn't matter. From this context personal character would be examined and the unwanted qualities would be discarded. Perfect examples include Irene's heart defect which is a barrier to her pursuing her dream, even though she considered a valid on the other hand Vincent has no option other than to lie and get an authentic identity to be accepted into society. From this context we see how technology enables humans to do thing unethically like Vincent did, citing the fact that is technology in the first place that leads to Vincent's rejection from his Gattaca society because he was conceived naturally.

Gattaca society uses genetic discrimination that facilitates the establishment of bureaucratic control. The divisions of those considered “Valid” and “In-Valids” promote obligatory feelings. For instance, Vincent mother fits in with whatever remains of society's notion over her mindset regardless of trusting that Vincent would achieve extraordinary accomplishments after his introduction to the world this makes her favor Anton more than Vincent. Vincent invalid status deprives him of education since the society is using his health as an excuse for denying him access to the education systems. Vincent mother suffers humiliation for bringing an invalid child into a perfect world. She observes gate being shut down for Vincent and systematically forces her to change her views and rejection of Vincent is, therefore, social engineered and not coincidental. From the film, Gattaca’s bureaucratic system had strict rules and regulations able to compress individuality. This in the world today assists bureaucratic industries which are guided by rules and not results. The way In-Valid like Vincent is unable to secure high ranking jobs forcing them to take low ranking jobs indicates today’s rise of different social classes that see individuals from the lower class discriminated and given low ranking job since they are considered useless or invalid in the society. Through forcing social limitations, Gattaca shows how genetic determinism would be used to allow the bureaucracy in organization hence, leading citizen by strict rules instead of results in their profession.

In conclusion, the film Gattaca portrays a world where the screening of each other’s DNA is a significant practice before starting any romance or business relationships (Sesardic, n.d., p. 67). Irene, for example, takes Vincent hair from a comb to have his DNA sequenced. This is something that is already being done today. Companies like AncestryDNA sequence your genome, and all you need to do is provide a lot of spit and pay the fees required. Research shows that there are plans to grow the entire app market for genome sequencing, where third-party companies will charge you to analyze sections of your genome and tell you what kind of sleep patterns, food sensitivities, heart problems, and even tastes in wine you’re predisposed to have.