Genoism In The Film Gattaca

650 Words2 Pages

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heart break, every loss, contains its own lesson on how to improve.” Malcolm X. Throughout the entire existence of mankind, there have been countless scenarios of individuals facing adverse conditions. War, famine, freak, weather. Malcolm X faced cancerous adversities plagued within the society; racism. Racism is slowly being squeezed out, however, new challenging adversities are evolving. The future is not utopia. Mankind continues to evolve, where groups and individuals are faced with the harshest circumstances. However, like Malcolm X they will triumph, in a way the world won’t. Just like Malcolm X in the past, the 1997 film “Gattaca” has replaced the traditional racism with a thing called Genoism. The main protagonist, Vincent, is able to overcome these adverse conditions. Contrasting to triumphing over adverse conditions, various other films including ’12 Monkeys’ and ‘The Pedestrian’ explore individuals not capable of triumphing. This leaves the main protagonist to feel failure and exclusion from the norm.
Imagine being considered an invalid, someone who means nothing or has no possibility of succeeding in life. How would you feel? In Andrew Niccol’s 1997 futuristic film ‘Gattaca’ individuals are classed in different social groups. Genetic engineering, and DNA are just some of the categories people may be identified by. For the main protagonist, Vincent, he has struggled with life from the very beginning. Having a 99% heart disease, being naturally conceived are just a couple of reasons why he is known as an invalid. He got to an age, where he thought he was capable of doing great things in his life and would do anything he possibly could do, to travel to space. Althoug...

... middle of paper ...

...olice robot who thinks he is up to no good. Leonard tells the robot he is against watching television, however the robot doesn’t care. He thinks Leonard is crazy and quickly whisks him up, and sends him for psychiatric treatment. Leonard, being the individual he was, is unable to overcome adverse conditions of which he thought was right. Although he strongly believed against watching television, it didn’t help him in the end and the feeling of triumphing over adversity was invisible.
In conclusion, to the above points, anyone is capable of triumphing over adversity. No matter how hard the circumstances are, each individual is able to. Unfortunately for some, they lack the need to triumph and in the end fail to beat adversity. Passion and commitment is all it takes to knock down those barriers and succeed in life. “Become the person you have always dreamt of being”.

Open Document