Themes in Gattaca

In the film Ў°GattacaЎ± directed by Andrew Niccol, several themes such as the impact of technology, discrimination and reaching goals are portrayed throughout the film

Niccol hypothesise the future of our planet in the Ў®not too distant worldЎЇ as a world where technology plays a major part in our everyday lives. He shows the impact of technology through character. The second after Vincent, the protagonist, was born, the doctors took a blood sample from Vincent. After analysising it, a vast quantity of information about VincentЎЇs genetics were found such as life expectancy and vulnerable diseases. A similar example is featured further into the movie when Irene takes a strand of VincentЎЇs hair and got it analysised, gaining her access to VincentЎЇs personal genetic information. It is evident that technology has a big impact on our lives in NiccolЎЇs hypothesised future. It prevents us from hiding things, even down to the genetic level. We tend to abuse the availability of our advance technology. Even though we know it is wrong to view someoneЎЇs personal information such as their genetic details without their consent, we do it anyway. We have access to the technology. We do it simply because we can.

Due to the advancement of technology and the impact of it on our lives, there is the presence of genetic discrimination, as indicated in the quote, Ў°we now have discrimination down to a scienceЎ±. Niccol introduces us to the idea of discrimination through character. Genetic discrimination, or genoism, for some people becomes present at the start of birth. When Vincent was born, he was diagnosed with many flaws, and so was classified as an Ў®invalidЎЇ. His father was not proud of him and refused to name Vincent Anton, after himself. Vincent had a dreamЎЄto go to space however due to VincentЎЇs genetic imperfections, he was discriminated and rejected from schools and job applications. VincentЎЇs brother Anton, a valid, looked down upon Vincent when they played Ў®blood brothersЎЇ, as Anton refused to press his bleeding thumb against VincentЎЇs as he thinks VincentЎЇs blood may Ў®contaminateЎЇ his. Even his father discouraged him from becoming an astronaut rather than encouraging him to pursue with his dream. Ў°The only way youЎЇll ever see the inside of a space shuttle is if youЎЇre cleaning itЎ±.

This shows the negative side of our ever-advancing technology. We attempt to create a perfect Ў®validЎЇ world. This is further reinforced through