Preview

Gattaca Themes

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3901 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gattaca Themes
The texts "Scales Of Justice" and "Gattaca" are two texts which allow the reader to witness a variety of interpretations and explore the relevant issues that are visible within contemporary society. Such issues as corruption within the police force, racism, sexual harassment, discrimination and manipulation of power are shown to give different interpretations of issues which plague today's society and potentially our future.

"Scales Of Justice" shows the corruption in the police force. It is a fictitious portrayal of organised crime and human weaknesses in an unstated Australian location. It is about the possible abuses of power in the police force and is a study of power and its potential to corrupt. The drama is concerned with organised …show more content…
Discrimination is a human habit. We treat people differently because of their religion, their race, their sex, their age, social status and even the colour of their skin. Gattaca shows a society where there have been many advances including advances in methods of discrimination. The elitist workers at Gattaca have learned from birth that they have superior genetic make-up and that they had no excuse to fail. On the other hand, in-valids knew they didn't stand a chance. Those who choose to give birth to a godchild, for moral or economic reasons, are condemning their child to a lifetime of discrimination. This means they have restricted opportunities in their life. In Gattaca, the stifling effects of these restrictions are demonstrated. The main character, Vincent, is an "in-valid" who dreams of leaving earth and exploring space. However, he is not free to pursue this dream, because no matter how hard he studies, how good he becomes, he will never get the chance to follow his dreams because his genes are not "valid." This is a very dystopic concept to most people, who are traditionally raised to believe that hard work and persistence are what it takes to achieve their dreams, not that their very destiny is entwined in their genome. . Gattaca is so totalitarian in nature, that human rights are dominated and individuality is …show more content…
"In-valids" do the dirty work in this future vision, and in general, society as a whole believes that these inferior people should stay in their place – at the bottom of the hierarchy. This means that those with the money to pay for it can have the "best" children with the most competitive advantages, while those that can't pay for genetic designing will have less competitive children. Therefore, the system of inequality will continue itself because an "in-valid" will not have the money to pay for top-quality genetic engineering for their
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Gattaca Individuality
    • 1823 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gattaca Individuality

    How is it possible that such a vast amount of people can be so brainwashed as to not see that they are forced to live, think ,and act exactly as they are told to by society?…

    • 1823 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Gattaca
    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Theme Of Gattaca

    In the movie GATTACA, it Vincent states "There is no gene for the human spirit. This is the central theme showed in this movie by when Vincent beats Antione in swimming, and when Vincent succeeds in his dream despite all odds against him.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Genetic Engineering In Brave New World Persuasive Essay
    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Genetic Engineering In Brave New World Persuasive Essay

    It is amazing to think that we can choose how our kids will be. Do we want to raise generations of fools or generations of intellects and scholars? Of course we want the latter. We do not want our futures in the hands of incompetent beings, which is why genetic engineering is such a plausible solution. Right now, genetic engineering control is in the hands of government which is where it needs to stay. The ability alter the chemical make-up of a population or food is too much power and responsibility for one person to hand, which is why it needs to be in the watchful eye of our government superiors. We have trusted our government to directly deal with issues we as Americans would rather ignore like war and discrepancies regarding the value of money over the past; consequently, this emphasizes my main idea, which is that genetic engineering should be monitored and overseen by our…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird Essay + Related Text (My Name Is Khan)
    • 2029 Words
    • 9 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird Essay + Related Text (My Name Is Khan)

    Justice is a complex matter affecting issues in all contexts of our society; it can affect both the individual and society at large. Justice can be defined in 2 different ways; there is moral justice and legal justice, moral is the right to being treated fairly by society, regardless of skin, religion or disability and legal being defined as the actions taken when the moral code has been broken. For example, in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written Harper Lee and ‘My Name is Khan’ directed by Karan Johar, both protagonists fight against the injustices in their societies based on an individual injustice and through this they have a massive impact on their community at large.…

    • 2029 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Pros And Cons Of Designer Babies
    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Pros And Cons Of Designer Babies

    Without the factor of designer babies, there is already competition between who runs faster and who can play better. Although that is the reason for extra-curricular activities, the rise in competition will be an extreme amount if designer babies are thrown into the picture. The fear of having “a race of super humans” (Baird 16) will not only create competition, it will also create a more defined level of social classes because the “genetically enhanced children [will have] an advantage over the children born with the ‘luck of the draw’ genes” (Designer Babies). Another concern that some people have is that messing with the genetics of a human could damage the gene pool and have long term consequences that doctors and scientists have not yet discovered (Baird 16). Similarly, some people wonder that if this procedure was safe then why are animals dying after being genetically engineered. Even if scientists can prefect this process through animals, are multiple humans going to have to die in order for scientists to be able to do this procedure safely and efficiently? Most of these people think it is a stupid risk to jeopardize human lives in order to create “super humans” (Baird…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca Movie Responses
    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gattaca Movie Responses

    1. When it comes to the depiction of genetic engineering in Gattaca, there are multiple outcomes of the scientific procedure that are positive. The first positive outcome of genetic engineering in the movie was that it allows the parents of children to choose how they want their children to be. When having a child, in the first few months, parents do not know the gender or any of the traits, unless they are genetically tested to determine the phenotype of their offspring. With the genetic engineering the movie, Anton’s parents were allowed to pick out exactly what they wanted their son to look like and also what they wanted his genetics to be. Secondly, the genetic engineering would diminish the chances of offspring being born with any diseases, conditions or disorders. Since scientists could take the genetic fault and fix it before the mother was even impregnated, there wouldn’t be any more children with conditions and disorders that affect them their whole lifetime. In the movie, Vincent was born with a condition that affected his heart and caused him to have a very short life expectancy. On the contrary his brother, Anton, since he was genetically engineered, didn’t have any disorders and was almost in perfect genetic and physical condition. Due to the fact that Vincent had a heart condition and his brother did not, his brother was accepted into Gattaca and Vincent was not (as himself). The last pro of genetic engineering shown in the movie was the fact that if a baby was genetically engineered, they could potentially do anything because their genetics would be perfect. The task of finding the correct person for a job would not be an issue anymore because specific people could be genetically engineered to be good for a certain activity or job. This would mean that people that want to do a certain job but don’t have the correct body for it, wouldn’t be deprived the job that they want. Seemingly, Vincent didn’t have the correct genetic…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Purpose of Australias Modern Criminal Justice System
    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Purpose of Australias Modern Criminal Justice System

    White, R., & Perrone, S (2010) Crime, Criminality & Criminal Justice Melbourne Australia: Oxford University Press…

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Gattaca - Genetic Engineering
    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gattaca - Genetic Engineering

    Race, sex, height and gender; discrimination of which is unseen in the world of Gattaca. Genoism, the neologism coined by Niccol to describe unethical and illegal genetic discrimination is more prevalent in the film than any other message. Based in the “not-so-distant future”, genetic discrimination is depicted as misguided, dividing within a society.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Pros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering
    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Pros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering

    As the testing of genetic engineering furthers on animals, the testing will eventually go onto humans. One of the major subjects of discussion is "Designer-Babies". These are babies that have genetically designed almost from scratch. This will allow parents to have their children be born with more capabilities than others. These ideas derive from Danielle Simmons, a Ph.d and genius in the field of Genetic engineering. Those ideas present a very real possibility for where things may go with genetic engineering. It is not unlikely at all for babies to start getting genetically engineered to fit what the parents would like their child to be like. It is entirely likely that this will become a large market with people all over the world having…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gattaca Effects Of Technology
    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gattaca Effects Of Technology

    “The major challenge posed by new technology is whether or not it will be used for positive or negative ends.” In history, technology has been a double edged sword for humanity. It had been shown as the cause of destruction of a civilization or the saviour of one. Now in our modern era, visionaries and inventors alike would have to face the challenges of avoiding negative effects caused by how it is implemented in our society.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gattac Living In A Utopic World
    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page

    Gattac Living In A Utopic World

    Although Gattaca for many might be a complicated and exciting movie, I believe that its ideas and beliefs are not only clear but simple to understand as well. While the movie suggests that people live in a Utopic world, where humans can be engineered to be perfect, it is very clear to me why that is not the case. If history has shown us anything, is that people with determination, will and focus can overcome others who might be stronger or smarter. Some examples of that could be David and Goliath or even an old story written for children by Aesop involving a race of a turtle and a bunny to determine who is faster. My personal belief is that Gattaca’s world is a Dystopia just like the world we currently live in.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Social Conflict Theory Paper
    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Social Conflict Theory Paper

    To explain the theory of this article I will use the theoretical perspective of conflict. In this article it gives details about the racial and ethnics of injustice. The theory of this article is to let the reader know that society is not fair. If the White respondents of this article would come to the same agreement of the Hispanics and African Americans about injustice, then the crime and experiences would be excluding in the world that we live in today. However, in the article, it also explains that the Hispanics that have had contact with previous negative encounters of criminal justice will distinguish more of the injustice than African Americans with almost the same type of prior criminal justice.…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Sociology: Gattaca Movie Paper
    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Sociology: Gattaca Movie Paper

    Gattaca is a movie that contains a very interesting society. As in all societies, discrimination exists and it is primarily between two groups. The valids, as they are called here, are the dominant group who oppress the group known as the invalids, which is the group consisting of the less privileged individuals. However, in this society, privileged and less privileged does not refer to the individuals in terms of wealth or power, but instead, in terms of genetics. Here, discrimination has been reduced down to genes, and this determines your place in society.…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Equality In Criminal Justice Essay
    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Equality In Criminal Justice Essay

    The idea of justice is one applicable to various facets of life due to the possibility of conflict that exists in the space of interpersonal interactions. Modern society allocates the task of making these decisions to the criminal justice system, which is thereby the primary destination when seeking fairness and equality in justice. However, the reality is less than ideal since here are various elements that can curtail the delivery of equal justice, such as racial and socioeconomic backgrounds among other factors. As a result, there is an increasing need for the criminal justice system to come to terms with the biases that hinder the effective delivery of justice and thereby create imbalances in our society. In order to achieve this notion of equality in the delivery of justice, it is thereby imperative for the justice system to…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Custom Designed Drugs
    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Custom Designed Drugs

    In the world of their visionary fervour, parents can now afford the latest genetic "improvements" for their children. According to the advocates this is the human future (or, as some terms it, "post-human" future), the exercise of consumer preferences for offspring options will be the prelude to a grand achievement: the technological control of human evolution.…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics