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Shannon Tsan
Professor Jorgenson
English 114B
13 May 2014

Gattaca Review
The movie Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol, which was release in 1997 has won the
Bogey Award and was nominated for a Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation and was
nominated for many other awards after its release. The setting is seen taking place in a distant
future where people when they are babies are genetically engineered to become the perfect child
the parents dream of having and are far more superior to their natural born children. Due to the
doctors in the movie they created a new way to make the perfect child. As the superior ones
begin to dominate their world there is a new type of discrimination developed between the
superior and natural born. The people in this world dont discriminate color of the skin or
religion that we see in our society but a persons genetics. This leads those of natural birth
having a hard time to fit into society because they arent needed anymore, they are seen as
invalids; which is a label given to them. They are forced to work lowly jobs such as being the
janitors and working in the slums. The movie gives us visuals of how invalids have no hope of
climbing higher in society and how advance technology can corrupt those higher in power.
The movie focuses around a man named Vincent Anton Freeman who was a natural born
and had many health problems the moment he was born, opposed to his brother Anton Freeman
who was genetically engineered to be the better son. Vincent was told at a young age that he
would never out live his parents, but this does not stop him from trying to pursue his lifelong
dream of going into outer space. During flashbacks of Vincents life the audience could truly feel
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the pain he goes through and how surreal it was. The raw emotion of hatred and sorrow he shows
as his parents tell him that no matter what he does he cant escape his fate of dying before them
and how much more they favor his brother over him. At first what his parents told him was true.
After leaving home he worked as a janitor for a while and hated it. That is why Vincent made the
life threatening decision to become someone else because he knew that if he continued to live
life as an invalid he believed that would be worse than death. So he took the name of a man
named Jerome Eugene Marrow. Jerome was a genetically engineered baby as well and because
of that he was perfect. He had the looks and brains that Vincent needed. The two of them team
up and created one of the biggest crimes their society had never seen before.
This shows us how sad and depressing his society became. When watching this movie it
made you pity the main character and made you want to see him succeed because of his
determination and how far he will go to achieve it. It also gives you the chilling realization that
maybe being able to create the perfect person isnt that great because our society might end up
the same way, where the superior genetics have all the power and control. That no matter how
great you are if you dont fit the gene requirement then there is no life for you.
As stated before the only way to survive this world was in their genes. People that hold
better genes live lavish lives and dont have to worry of ever becoming anything less than what
their genes will let them become. Vincent doesnt contain any of these genes so he takes on the
role of being Jerome to infiltrate the space center to fulfill this dream of going into space.
Vincent goes through many challenges to try to achieve his dreams to the point where he almost
got caught many times as the story progressed. He meets many people along the way both good
and bad that either help him through his journey and those that try to stop him. What can be seen
is that Vincent is just like us who are told that we wont amount to anything but we still try to
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succeed. All the action and scenes fills the watcher with suspense waiting to see what will
happen next.
The movie has many powerful moments that take the watchers breath away. It shows us
that even if we are not perfect we can still be something but it wont come easy. Like Vincent
who struggled all his life and even put his life on the line to reach his dreams and that sometimes
being perfect isnt all that nice. Jerome was a clear example of this. He was second to none with
his perfect genes but was lonely most of his life. You feel the bond that Vincent and Jerome
build and learn that even if they have different genes they enjoy each others company. You also
notice that Vincent even with police looking for him he can still find himself time to have a love
life and ask out one of his female coworkers. Vincent rekindles the lost relationship he had with
his superior younger brother. Vincent is shown to have many relationships with the many
characters that he interacts with be it Jerome, his love life, younger brother, boss or doctor. They
all play a key role in the story to builds Vincents character.
The movie touches the social issue of how there are those that are superior and look down
on the weak. Seen with Vincent who is a natural born with many health problems and is told that
he will never become anything. There is also the case where his brother Anton continuously
looks down on Vincent but still shows that he cares for his older brother who disappeared from
his life and wants to stop Vincent from getting into trouble. The moral of the movie being that no
matter where you come from or what people tell you as long as you perceiver you dream is not
out of reach. You just have to have to take the first step and this is what this movie shows us. I
would recommend anyone to watch this movie and feel the emotions I felt while watching. As
you watch all the way to the end you get a satisfied feeling for the ending and wished that there
was more to the story.
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Similar stories can be seen here in Ron Suskinds article, Reaching My Autistic Son
through Disney. A story about a boy who overcame his autism by watching Disney movies and
mimicking the words he hears and regaining his ability to speak again. Owens the boy of the
story lost his ability to speak after being diagnosed with an autism that took his speaking abilities
and having family that couldnt look at their child the same until he began to talk again. Owens
just kept practicing the dialogue from the movies and succeeded in getting some of his speech
back. And through more persevering he was able to finish school and play piano. Owens and
Vincent are alike, both didnt give up and kept trying.

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Work Cited
Andrew Niccol. Dir. Michael Nyman, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman. Perf. Gattaca. Culver City,
Calif: Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1998. Film.
Suskind, Ron. Reaching My Autistic Son through Disney. The New York Times. The New
York Times Company. 7 March 2014. Web. 13 May 2014.