Discussion of Whether Gattaca Portrays A Realistic View Of The Future And Gene Manipulation

Discussion 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.

Lately, there have been many talks on the issues regarding genetic

manipulation and human cloning. Parents who once disagreed with the

idea of cloning are now beginning to reconsider, as to whether or not

genetic manipulation should be considered as good and right.

Genetic manipulation is the process in which genes from a fertilized

egg are changed or modified by doctors/ scientists to produce the

‘best’ from the parents. One form of media- the film Gattaca, nearly

all the characters are gene- manipulated. Those who are born

naturally, referred to as ‘God Children’ in the film, are looked down

upon and as an inferior to those who are gene- manipulated. It can

happen at work, at school, outside and even in the family. This is the

case with Vincent- he is a God Child, whereas his own brother, Anton

(this was to be Vincent’s name at birth, but his father did not

approve of it, as he wanted his middle name to be given to his ‘best’

son) is a Gene- manipulated child, hence, always being portrayed as

superior to his brother, Vincent.

This is shown many times in the film, from their childhood through

into adulthood, where both brothers meet again.

I think that the mo...

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...ery tense, and the tempo increases,

with the music also making an impact on this.

Also, the use of camera angles is very good. When it is focused on

Jerome, you only see his top half of his body, therefore indicating

there must be some problem with his legs, which there is. Vincent is

always shown higher than Jerome, showing that there is no difference

between a gene manipulated and God child, because in the end, Vincent

did make it up into space.

I think that the movie does portray a very true and realistic view of

the future. It clearly showed what the effects of gene manipulation

could be, and that the results are not always 100% good, and 100%

perfect. The movie created awareness in the eyes of parents and

scientists. What they are doing is wrong, and the consequences are not

always as we expect them to be.