Blog #5 Final Draft

Elizabeth Linares

ENGL 101 – 0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay 1

10/08/12

Gattaca A Dystopian Society

     The movie Gattaca shows a futuristic world where a new form of genetic discrimination has mount, called genoism. It’s a society where science has taken over. Technology is more environmentally advanced and humans are genetically engineered. In this world unlike ours there is no type of prejudice against gender, religion, or its ethnicity but against the person’s own genes. In a world where a person’s career and life depends on his/her genes, by trying to create a more Utopian lifestyle in which reproduction is controlled and it’s not a natural process anymore which leads to more devastation than perfection.

     In Gattaca even though it has improvements in aspects of the environment such as many new environmental friendly technologies like for example cars which are electrically powered its showing a better perfect world. However it is a Dystopia, because even though it’s considered a perfect world it’s only great for those who are genetically gifted. Perfect for the people who are born with no type of disabilities or diseases, while genetic discrimination is prohibited by law you could see a lot of it going on this world. Just by the simple fact that not anybody can work in specific higher class jobs and live a normal lifestyle.

     According to the article of Annas in our world Genetic engineering is dominated by our government which controls every aspect of it. In Gattaca everything is determined by genetics, people whose genes have been engineered have been given “the best of their parents”. They’re freed from any harmful diseases if conceived this way. In our world the method cloning has only been used in animals. Regardless, this is a very touchy subject because not many agree on this being a good thing and being against our own religion. But if this is researched more it can even help us later in our environment and many other aspects of our lives. Many agree that if you have a perfectly engineered body you will automatically live a better happier life many have wanted to explore more of this research in depth.

    People are placed into two categories in Gattaca you’re either a Valid or an In-Valid. Those who are considered to be Valid are people with great genetic profiles and are put into more superior level jobs while In-Valid’s in lower-standard work only. Their genes are considered to be inadequate; and are never given a chance to actually prove themselves to society. This happens because from the start babies are chosen in this world and its unwanted factors are genetically eliminated before birth. They are considered to be more enhanced than whoever is In-Valid.  While they were many accomplishments with this new technology not everything came out picture perfect were many mistakes in which a genetically engineered person came out to have faults, but while they were thought to be genetically inferior these people came out with health issues but can’t speak up because of the injustice in the society.

     This Society may not seem like it but it is more controlled than ever. Vincent Freeman is the main protagonist in the film; he may look healthy from the outside but was actually born with many genetic problems. The doctors even determined how much he would of lived which would have been 30 years. He will always be considered to always be an in-valid because he unlike others was conceived without any help of any technology which was being used. Vincent has who always dreamed of going into space but was always discouraged because of his disabilities by everybody. Vincent has a younger brother who is always going to be more superior in him because he was conceived with the help of genetic selection. This shows how they are always going to be a conflict between the brothers because one will always be considered to better than the other. Vincent later on will prove everybody wrong by fulfilling his dream of going into space by impersonating someone else’s identity. This shows how many obstacles you have to surpass to accomplish your dream in which he was always put off of because he was never given a chance to show how capable he was. The discrimination in this society is wrong and should not be accepted but many people have.

     There are many technologies rising up and they’re many new good ideas to make our world much better. While we are trying to make our world into a more utopian kind we have to realize that not all that is being produced is going to be helpful for us and might not even benefit us. The film is a very good example of this because trying to come up with many new technologies and having the concept of genetic engineering it did not make it a far better world. Some Things should be meant to stay as it is.