Gattaca And The Short Story - 1713 Words

The film GATTACA and the short story, â€Å"Nine Lives,† exemplifies the ethics of altering human life at the genetic level, through techniques of genetic engineering. Throughout GATTACA, the ability to create improved, even superior forms of human life as a positive development through eugenics is shown as well as arousing questions about the moral implications of such engineering. The main protagonist in GATTACA, Vincent Freeman, battles with the discrimination of being an â€Å"invalid† in a world of â€Å"valids† and comes to realize that he is not an inferior being in the midst of an altered humanity. In â€Å"Nine Lives,† a lone survivor of the ten genetically engineered clones of John Chow struggle come to understand itself in relation to unaltered humanity and its individuality for the first time in its life. A dystopian society is produced when unaltered humans and genetically engineered beings coexist and interact with one another due to nefario us social practices such filtering menial jobs only to â€Å"invalids† in GATTACA and the emphasis in the value of clones and their worth to society as collective work group rather than focusing on each individual’s contribution to society. The film GATTACA exhibits the adverse nature of eugenics while â€Å"Nine Lives† stresses the importance of individualism instead of collectivism and fend off the need to be reliant on others to feel welcomed in society. GATTACA is well known for its use of eugenics in the film. The film is set in a â€Å"not tooShow MoreRelatedEssay about Future Concerns - Gattaca and Fahrenheit 4511562 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom them. Texts such as the film ‘Gattaca’, directed by Andrew Niccol and novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ by Ray Bradbury explore futuristic societies and the implications that become of their innovation. Although entertaining, texts such as these are didactic and must be taken seriously, as they co mmunicate messages to audiences regarding prevalent concerns and possible futures based on society’s choices. ‘Gattaca’ (1995) directed by Andrew Niccol, follows the story of the underdog Vincent, who is challengedRead MoreComparison Of Frank Herbert s Seed Stock And Andrew Niccol s Gattaca1193 Words   |  5 PagesThe societies in both Frank Herbert’s â€Å"Seed Stock† and Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca are much different than society in the real world today. In â€Å"Seed Stock,† the sole purpose of the people that were sent to this alien planet was to survive and make the planet like Earth. In Gattaca, a person’s life revolves around their capabilities and potential due to genetics. In spite of this, survival is not the only thing that governs their life. Both Niccol and Herbert presented the idea that although survivalRead MoreDiscussion of Whether Gattaca Portrays A Realistic View Of The Future And Gene Manipulation1532 Words   |  7 PagesDiscussion of Whether Gattaca Portrays A Realistic View Of The Future And Gene Manipulation Media. It controls a lot of what we think, what we believe and so changes our attitude and behaviour towards certain things. It has changed our thinking so much so that we believe almost anything and everything the media say and do. Without the media, life would not be as it is. Newspapers, magazines, television, internet, radio, the lot have very much altered our thinking. Read MoreDystopian Comparisons Essay1431 Words   |  6 PagesIn the Book A Clockwork Orange, the short stories Harrison Burgeron, The Lottery and the movies Gattaca and the Truman Show by Anthony Burgess, Kurt Vonnegut, Shirly Jackson, Andrew Niccol and Peter Wier respectively. These pieces of literature(and cinematography) all have a society that controls and manipulates the individual or Protaganist. The society does this because it wants total control over both the individual and the society as a whole. A Clockwork Orange is futuristic look at EnglandRead MoreSymbolism on Gattaca Essay4547 Words   |  19 PagesHollywood-esque Gattaca is a prophetic distopia concerning genetic discrimination in the early 21st Century. A true hero is one who is willing to commit body and soul to achieve a dream, discuss. Gattaca is a provocative science-fiction interpretation of the future of genomics. Andrew Niccols presents us with insight to a pessimistic view of genetic enhancement set in the not to distant future. The film takes us through the journey of Vincent Freeman, and Jerome Morrow who with the valueRead MoreGattaca2632 Words   |  11 PagesGattaca Questions Part I   (Short Answer) 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Compare the genetic traits of Vincent and Anton. How are they similar? How are they different? They are tall, brunette and men. They are different because Jerome does not have a heart condition, where Vincent does. Also, I noticed that Jerome is right handed, and Vincent is left handed; this provides symmetry. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What does the character â€Å"German† do for a living? German’s character helps invalids do what they are told they cannot by findingRead MoreStephen Jay Gould And Friedrich Nietzsche1443 Words   |  6 Pageslife.† (Nietzsche 718) The same goes for hostility, it is in one’s nature and religion is stripping us of our instincts. Another triumph is our spiritualization of hostility. It consists in a profound appreciation of the value of having enemies: in short, it means acting and thinking in the opposite way from that which has been the rule. The church always wanted the destruction of its enemies; we, we immoralists and Antichristian, find our advantage in this, that the church exists.† The only onesRead MoreDNA as Destiny4239 Words   |  17 Pagesdarkly, to deny someone jobs, dates, and meds because their nucleotides dont measure up. Its a scenario Andrew Niccol imagined in his 1997 film, Gattaca, where embryos in a not-too-distant future are bioengineered for perfection, and where genism — discrimination based on ones DNA — condemns the lesser-gened to scrubbing toilets. The Gattaca-like engineering of defect-free embryos is at least 20 or 30 years away, but Sequenom and others plan to take DNA testing to the masses in just a yearRead MoreThe Process Of Pgd ( Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis )2501 Words   |  11 Pageswill never marry and start a family due to a simple lack of women. This idea and the increased competition between men for partners can be very distressing and fearful. Additionally, it places women in a unique position of pressure. We can take this story as a potential example of what social and demographic changes could occur if people had more control over the traits of their offspring and cultural pressures were allowed to have a bearing on the greater scale of human genetics. If PGD were freelyRead MoreMedia Magic Making Class Invisible2198 Words   |  9 Pagesgives examples as to how the media portrays the poor in a demeaning way. For example, Mantsios says: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The media routinely centers on the black urban population and focus on perceived personality or cultural traits that doom the poor. Women in these stories exhibit and attitude that leads to the trouble or a promiscuity which then leads to single motherhood, the men possess a need for immediate gratification that leads to drug abuse or and unquenchable greed that leads to the pursuit of fast moneyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ (Media