GATTACA (1997)
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: Free will, genetic engineering
CHARACTERS: Vincent/Jerome (Ethan Hawke), Eugene (Jude Law, the real Jerome), Irene (Uma Thurman), Director Josef (director of Gattaca), Detective Hugo (Alan Arkin, investigator), Anton (Vincent’s brother, investigator)
OTHER FILMS BY DIRECTOR ANDREW NICCOL: The Truman Show (1998), S1mOne (2002)
SYNOPSIS: In a future time when people are born genetically engineered, Vincent is the product of natural reproduction and is genetically predicted to die at age 30. Vincent defies his fate and under false identity enters Gattaca, an astronaut training program for a manned mission to a moon of Saturn. Vincent borrows the genetic identity of a paralyzed athlete named Jerome, in the form of blood samples, hair clippings, and skin scrapings. When one of Gattaca’s supervisors is murdered, investigators are brought in and they soon discover the presence of Vincent’s real DNA. He thus becomes a suspect and attempts to dodge efforts link his real DNA to his new identity. The real murder is eventually caught, and Vincent successfully makes the Saturn voyage. “Gattaca” deals with two distinct
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: The morality of creating genetically engineered humans, and the ability to act contrary to our biological predispositions. Both of these points are encapsulated in an advertising line for the movie: “There’s no gene for the human spirit.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. When Jerome’s parents went to a genetics center for a second child, the geneticist stated “I have taken the liberty of eradicating any potentially prejudicial conditions - premature baldness, myopia, alcoholism and addictive susceptibility, propensity for violence and obesity.” The father then asks “We were wondering if we should leave some things to chance.” To this the geneticist responds, “You want to give your child the best possible start. Believe me, we have enough imperfection built-in already. Your child doesn't need any additional burdens.” Would it be irresponsible for the father to want to leave something to chance?
2. In an outtake to the movie, the geneticist states that for an extra $5,000 he could give the embryo enhanced musical or mathematical skills – essentially splicing in a gene that was not present on the parents’ original DNA. Would musical or mathematical skill be more like physical abilities, which are pretty rigid, or more like moral qualities (proneness to pity or violence) which are less rigid?
3. Vincent states in the movie that “it's illegal to discriminate – ‘genoism’ it's called – but no one takes the laws seriously.” This is in fact one of the standard criticisms of genetic profiling: if we have genetic data on people, then employers or insurance companies will use that data to minimize financial risk. Assuming that this will be true, would the benefits of genetic profiling still outweigh the disbenefits?
4. Consider this dialogue regarding the rigorous testing of Gattaca personnel. Director Josef: “we have to ensure that people are meeting their potential.” Investigator: “Not exceeding it?” Director Josef: “No one exceeds his potential.” Investigator: “If he did?” Director Josef: “It means that we did not accurately gage his potential in the first place.” This dialog exhibits a common criticism that determinism is unfalsifiable – that is, an advocate of determinism would not admit that any test could even theoretically count against determinism. Is this a valid criticism of Director Josef’s specific position?
5. The moral message of the movie is that we can rise above our genetic predispositions, with specific emphasis on our pre-determined physical abilities. The movie’s message also applies to our ability to overcome pre-determined behavioral traits – an issue more typically involved in the philosophical debate about determinism. The prime example of this in the movie was the revelation that the Director Josef committed the murder, even though his genetic profile indicated that he was completely non-violent. Which is a better “refutation” of determinism: Vincent living past 30, or Director Josef committing a murder?
6. Near the close of the movie, Vincent explains to his brother how he was able to beat him in the swimming contest: “You wanted to know how I did it. That's how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back.” Now that we know the secret, is there anything about Vincent’s actions in the movie that really refute determinism?
7. The original screenplay concludes with the following coda: “In a few short years, scientists will have completed the Human Genome Project, the mapping of all the genes that make up a human being. After 4 billion years of evolution by the slow and clumsy method of natural selection, we have now evolved to the point where we can direct our own evolution. If only we had acquired this knowledge sooner, the following people would never have been born:” It continues listing famous people and their illnesses, such as Hawking who has Lou Gerhig's Disease. A version of this coda was in fact filmed, but deleted from the final movie. How would this argument differ from the following: couples should have as many children as physically possible since limiting births would mean that we wouldn’t bring into existence valuable people?
REVIEWS
Gattaca is a most difficult film on which to pass judgment. Viewed strictly as a piece of film, it consistently delivers great characters, well-written and well-delivered dialogue, and an engaging plot. Philosophically, however, it is rather tempting to toss Gattaca out the window. The philosophical content it does offer is quite accessible, and rather than being incidental to the plot, it is actually the focus of the film. Its take on human determinism, though, can only go so far. In the context of the oft-seen dystopia of human reproduction guided by genetic engineering, the film explores a variation the old Nature-versus-Nurture debate. That is, Gattaca raises the question of whether the most important factor in determining a person's fate is their genetic predisposition or the force of human will. This is where I feel the film becomes an exercise in missing the point. Most determinists will readily point out that, though it seems the main character succeeds through his perseverance and drive, his actions can also be readily explained as the result of genetic and environmental factors. Destined to a life of handicap – as well as an early death – and having been raised alongside his genetically-superior brother, it only makes sense that he would feel the need to assert his worth by attempting to overcome his shortcomings. In essence, the main point of the film – and there are factors at play in human destiny beyond mere genetic predisposition – can and should be readily met with a simple question: "So what?" -- Frezno Smooth
Here, Andrew Niccol explores what might happen when the human genome mapping project is completed, and what effect that might have on the future. (Of course, by now it has been mapped, though his movie predictions haven't come true… yet.) Quite a few philosophers have picked up on the subtle implications Gattaca has on the free will debate, given that people in the movie have their lives predicted very probabilistically at birth. This argument could also be made for a movie like Minority Report, however, and I would really hate to see Tom Cruise join our list of philosophical movies. To that end, I consider Gattaca to be a good philosophical movie as it explores the ethical implications of "genoism," a fictional prejudice that exists in a genetically determined future. Niccol did a fantastic job exploring the future ramifications of mapping human genetics, from jobs that used illegal genetic screening on applicants to the development of new social classes around the differences in birth, whether "faith births" or test tube babies ("made men"). I really enjoyed the 1984-style world that was created within the context of this movie, as the new social classes struggled against one another, as epitomized by the plight of Vincent, the main character and "borrowed ladder." This movie was an excellent look into a potentially disturbing future created by choices that were being made at the same time as the film. For this reason among many others, Gattaca is among my favorite films of all time. -- Godboy
I like this movie a lot, I saw it when I was younger but never fully understood it till seeing it a second time. It tries to setup this impossible notion of an imperfect man exceeding his genetic shortcomings but I think it isn’t as implausible as they make it out to seem. Jerome very well may have died at age thirty except neither his parents nor anybody else took into consideration his upbringing and what effect that would have on him. It bothered me so much that his parents acted like he was already dead as soon as the nurse read the blood test results. If Jerome had been an unhealthy kid and ate too much and didn’t exercise enough he probably would have become obese and had heart problems that lead to death. But just because we have certain predispositions doesn’t mean we can’t overcome them. Jerome had will power and fought against what everyone considered his fate, showing that there is more to us than just our genes. If our genes told everything we were capable of and determined our entire lives before we were born then not only would we not have any control over our lives also we would have no responsibility for our actions either. Genes get us started. They set the bare minimum of what we can accomplish but they can’t hold us back from exceeding more. Jerome had to fight every step of the way but proved that it is possible. -- Jazzman
Gattica raises issues of identity and genetic essentialism/determinism. Essentialism is the view that our genes determine our behavior and control the development of our capacities. As in the movie a person’s genetics are very private and can very well be used as a basis of discrimination, this is the central theme of the film. I enjoyed the film. The cunning acts between Vincent and Jerome only proves that anyone can be fooled because there are never enough fail safe triggers to catch everyone. There are people who will always be able to get away with amazing things just because the right standards are not applied to catch wrongdoers. The film raises other issues as, whether we should prevent genetic knowledge. Because we have the biological process to map out genetic information does not predict external or internal causes that provoke change. What science fails to realize is that just because someone is genetically designed to be perfect does not mean that their logic will be perfect. Most people feel that our future is going to be brighter because of genetic engineering. I personally think that we are playing with fire. There is always going to be someone to push the limits and experiment with things that were intended to be left alone. What if the human race became so genetically perfect? Will everyone be closely tied? What happens if a rare virus from who knows where appears, will it destroy the whole race? Man in his own rights is not a perfect creature. Why should we as a human race think that we can change the entire race through genetics when the whole thing started with Adam and Eve? --Hippy
The issues of discrimination, genetic engineering and free will were most evident in this film. The movie was impressive with the director’s take on the reaction of society and the reaction of the genetic engineering phenomena that occurred during the movie. These issues are hard to touch however the director did an impressive job; personally the issues were very personal and well balanced with the movie. I enjoyed the fact that the main character was able to over come the heart condition and explore the cosmos as he had dreamed of doing. Genetic engineering would create a wide amount of opportunities however would the ends justify the means, would society as we know it accept such a technological advancement. Personally I do not think most of society would, their would be issues of that would be something that relates too much as god like, and worse issues may arise. The issues maybe hard ones to take on, however I would recommend this movie to anyone that would like a science fiction with relations to free will and destiny, to go see it. -- Ubermensch
“Gattaca” was an awesome movie it was futuristic and showed a possible outcome with the advancements in technology that are being made today in our society. I truly can imagine a society that was prejudice not because of religion or color but because of genetics and that maybe the movie was portraying a future that is possible. The serious problem is that even with the advancement who is to say that the ultimate virus would be created with the ability to wipe out a "perfect genetic society." -- Downwardly Mobile
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