GATTACA

Questions about GATTACA!

(I wasn't here for the second part of the movie. :[ )

1. The following terms were used in the movie. How do they relate to the words we use: degenerate and invalid?

         De-gene-erate 

         In-valid -  an invalid in the movie meant that a person wasn't "perfect" They weren't created artificially through the country's program to make the perfect child.

         Borrowed Ladder

2. Why do you think Vincent left his family, tearing his picture out of the family photo, after winning the swimming race against his brother?

I think he finally proved his point to his brother that he could do what he wanted even though he was an invalid, but after he accomplished that he felt that he could move on with his life and pursue the things he wanted to pursue, without his family.

3. Describe the relationship between Vincent and Anton.

Vincent and his brother, Anton were very competitive in the beginning of the movie, always trying to beat the other one in a competition or race. Anton was then the detective investigating Vincent's case.

4. When Jerome Morrow said to Vincent/Jerome, “They’re not looking for you. When they look at you, they only see me,” what did he mean? Can you find any parallels to this type of situation in real life?

 He meant that Vincent technically didn't exist anymore because Vincent became Jerome. The government didn't realize that Vincent was even around because he was pretending to be Jerome. 

5. Choose your favorite character from the film. Explain why you choose that person. Would you want to be that person? Why? Why not?

 My favorite person was the real Jerome, oddly. I wouldn't want to be that person, but it seemed throughout the movie he became friends with Vincent, instead of using him for his money. I know Jerome had a rough life but he was still there for Vincent. I wouldn't want to be Jerome because he was stuck in a wheelchair and had a lot of drinking and smoking problems, eventually ruining his life. 

7. The technology to do what was done in the movie is definitely possible within the next fifty years. Do you think that Vincent’s world could eventually happen in America? Why?

 I do think this is possible because we are already so close to this. Manipulated babies are becoming more accepted. Throughout the years this will become more common, possibly eventually making manipulated babies the only population. Also, our personal information is becoming more and more publicized, just like their health records and everything were publicized.

8. What do you think is wrong with the society portrayed in "GATTACA"? What is right?

 I don't think anything was right in that movie. I think the fact that the parents got to choose the baby was extremely wrong. The fact that they discriminated against the "invalid" or the unhealthy ones, in order to get a perfectly normal job was wrong. It seemed that if you weren't "valid" and had perfect health, history, etc you were basically an outcast because you could possibly have a .1% possibility of having a heart problem or something.

10. You and your spouse are having a child and are at the Genetic Clinic pictured in the movie. What characteristics would you want for your child and what would you ask to be excluded? Why would you make those choices?

I wouldn't choose to have my child chosen from the Genetic Clinic. Basically because of my religion and believes that's not okay with me in any way. It's basically determining the future.

 

11. Picture yourself as either Vincent, Jerome, or Anton. Would you have acted the same or done things differently if you were in the same world as them?

 I probably would've acted the same as them. All of them. I think they all handled the situation the way that they thought best, especially because they couldn't do anything extremely beneficial in order to change the growing problem. 

12. How does the society in GATTACA resemble the type of society America was during the height of the eugenics movement?

People were going crazy with "making their own personalized babies" just like in GATTACA. In GATTACA the clinic babies were the only babies thought acceptable, which was probably what some people thought during the eugenics movement.

I really enjoyed this movie. It taught me a lot about how America could possibly turn out if we keep digging for information or going against our beliefs to make our lives perfect. It's scary how close we could be to a world like this.