- Gattaca - Columbia Pictures Corporation
Visualize the scene: It’s “the not too distant future,” and genetic engineers have erudite how to ‘interpret’ human DNA with such correctness that they’re capable of predicting our future health, and the professions that will be most appropriate according to our genetic talents. The genetically modified elite are recognized early and prepared for lives of headship and brilliancy – in shorter terms: they’re bio-engineered superheroes who are wealthier, healthier and beyond suspicion in crime investigations. Sounds familiar; dress them in a black cape, a pair of bat ears, high-tech gadgets, and a bat mobile and they’ll be ready to unveil their inner Batman. Unfortunately, the biologically “Invalids” are demoted to the performance of janitorial manual labor.
Gattaca's Invasion of the Genome Snatchers - Looking for DNA, anyone?
The film’s legendary name derives from the trademarks of the four DNA molecular bases of our genetic code: guanine, adenine, cytosine and thymine. The visual representation of these four letters established, throughout the course of the film, a genetic code in which the human DNA is associated metaphorically with certain objects. For instance, the representation of DNA is depicted in the double-helical outline of the staircase in Jerome Morrow’s (Jude Law) residence. The film portrays Jerome who “has the heart of an ox,” but he is paralyzed after a suicide attempt; a car accident turned him into an alcoholic in a wheelchair. The only solution for Jerome is to sell his genetic identity to Vincent (Ethan Hawke), an “Invalid.”
Gattaca's Greatest Joke is on You
Clearly, warning signs of futuristic experiments with human DNA are written all over the film. Vincent’s indomitable human spirit assists him in managing not only to fool the genetic geniuses, but also – this being a Hollywood produced film – sleeping with the gorgeous elite Irene (Uma Thurman). The message of Gattaca draws on the idea that humanity cannot be distinct and shaped by genetic odds. The joke of the film is an obvious one. The “burden of perfection” has, most definitely, spoiled these elite individuals, and of course, Vincent, the hero of the film appears to have caught on. Vincent understands the insight of human nature; after all, he fools his co-workers, the authorities and even the woman he loves.
