Gattaca (1997) | Sci-Fi Saturdays

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There is no gene for the human spirit.

Gattaca is a film that tells an uplifting story of an individual that was never destined for achievement, but is able to make that achievement through sacrifice and hard work. It also is a science-fiction story that presents the fallacy that an orderly society can be genetically bred. It’s a tale of the haves and the have-nots played out in a dystopian future where skin color is no longer the basis for segregation, but the actual genetic makeup of every cell in the body.

First Impressions

The trailer describes a future where individuals are placed in their job, and within society, based upon their genetics. Ethan Hawke has somehow infiltrated these ranks by posing as someone he’s not, and is now in danger of getting caught. The narrator says that one cell in your body can betray you, and you shed 500 million cells a day. It looks like a suspenseful thriller where one’s own body is both a blessing and a curse.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

The Fiction of The Film

A young man named Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) works at the Gattaca Space Flight Center where more than a dozen rockets launch everyday for the outer solar system. Entrance to the facility is coded in a single drop of blood taken from each employee’s finger as they enter. Vincent, genetically identified as Jerome Morrow, will be going to space within a week. When he leaves his workstation he carefully vacuums his keyboard and then places a single hair in his comb while sprinkling some dust back into the keyboard. His urine test, given by Dr. Lamar (Xander Berkeley), also identifies him by name. He watches one of the rockets depart from the atrium with Irene Cassini (Uma Thurman) when news of a murder rocks the campus. Vincent is in danger of being found out.

The film jumps back in time to Vincent’s parents (Jayne Brook and Elia Koteas) deciding to give birth to him without the use of genetic alteration. He is born with a heart defect and his mother coddles him throughout his young life. When it comes time to have a brother, the Freeman’s choose to have genetic abnormalities removed from Vincent’s sibling, Anton (Loren Dean). The younger brother proves superior in all things, except for a swimming challenge the two boys issue amongst themselves. Vincent swims further into the ocean than Anton, who runs out of energy and requires the older brother to save him from drowning. After this, Vincent leaves home, never to be seen by his parents again.

As a young adult Vincent works as a janitor, one of the few jobs for In-Valids (those with less than stellar genetic profiles), at the Gattaca facility for an older man (Ernest Borgnine), but dreams of being able to go to the stars on one of the rockets someday. He eventually hires a German (Tony Shaloub) that will help him masquerade as a genetically Valid person. The man introduces Vincent to Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), a paralyzed Valid in a wheelchair. Vincent makes the necessary changes with contact lenses, teeth whitening, and the physically painful extension of his legs. In exchange for a stipend and a place to live, Jerome provides Vincent with the necessary genetic material, skin flakes, hair, blood and urine, for Vincent to successfully become someone else. Jerome takes the name Eugene.

Vincent, as Jerome, must be cautious about losing DNA evidence wherever he goes. He scrubs himself every morning to ensure as little skin or hair falls from his body, disposing of the waste in a home incinerator. Now, with the investigation surrounding the murder, an eyelash of his is found by Detective Hugo (Alan Arkin) and his group of “Hoovers.” Irene, who is interested in Vincent, surreptitiously takes a hair that he planted for people to find. She has it sequenced to find out what his genetic makeup is, which of course returns Jerome’s meticulous pedigree. They begin dating.

A younger investigator (revealed later to be Vincent’s younger brother, grown up) speaks with Director Josef (Gore Vidal) about the killing. He feels that the eyelash belonging to an In-Valid janitor doesn’t explain the motive to kill one of the mission directors. Detective Hugo continues upturning stones at Gattaca, instituting random stops and checks, which Vincent is still able to pass, but it becomes more difficult for him to hide. Anton visits Jerome’s house to test him, suspicious that there is something familiar about this man. In the meanwhile Hugo discovers that Director Josef is the actual killer.

Unfortunately all the investigations lead Anton to discover that Vincent has been masquerading as a Valid. Thinking his brother would have died of his heart affliction by this time, Anton is genuinely surprised that Vincent has made it as far as he has. Anton tells Vincent it’s over, but Vincent sees only his future ahead of himself. Anton challenges him to a swim, like when they were young, to reassure himself that he is still superior to his In-Valid brother. Vincent once again wins, admitting he never saved any energy for a swim back. Having proved his worth to his brother, Vincent takes his rocket into space, as the real Jerome commits suicide in the incinerator having left enough genetic material for Vincent to live two lifetimes.

“We now have discrimination down to a science.” – Vincent

History in the Making

Gattaca was the debut film both written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It was released about eight months before The Truman Show, which was also written by Niccol prior to filming Gattaca. Both films deal, in their own way, with characters shunning the life “written” for them, and setting out on their own to live their own reality. In The Truman Show, Jim Carrey is the product of a strange experiment in which a young boy is raised in a controlled environment where he is the center of attention for a 24/7 reality tv show. All actions by his friends and neighbors are designed to keep him complacent and inside the town, which broadcasts his waking life to a wide fan-base of viewers. Here in Gattaca, Vincent is trapped in reality where he is told what he can and cannot do based upon his birth, and a series of factors outside of his control. He too yearns to escape the confines of his reality, wanting to write his own story.

Niccol’s future is one that he wrote as well, choosing to direct films written by himself. Over 60% of his seven films are sci-fi based. These include S1m0ne, In Time, The Host, and Anon, which each cover various science-fiction themes about humanity, surveillance, and identity. He also wrote and directed two dramatic films, Nicolas Cage’s Lord of War, and a reteaming with Ethan Hawke on Good Kill. His talents were also utilized on the story and screenplay for the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks film, The Terminal.

Genre-fication

Much like last week’s Contact, Gattaca is more of a realistic sci-fi film, and maybe more of a hard sci-fi story too. Nothing that the film deals with is outrageous science-fantasy. Maybe when the film was created, some elements were more conjecture than they might be today, but there doesn’t seem to be much that stands out as fantastical. Gattaca became one of the first major biopunk films to be released as a major motion picture. The subgenre of biopunk derives from cyberpunk, and like its kin, takes place in the near future. It details itself more with synthetic biology instead of cybernetic or information technology. Genetic experimentation within a dystopian setting is also part of the world building. Biopunk, like cyberpunk, has roots in William Gibson’s Neuromancer novel, and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner film. However, Gattaca is much more closely equated with the trend. Other examples of the biopunk style tend to fall into the horror genre, and include films like Splice, eXistenZ, and the Alien prequel, Prometheus.

The elements of eugenics and genetic engineering also are a prominent element in this film, and ones not often explored in films previously. Eugenics, literally meaning “good genes,” concerns itself with the betterment of society, and individuals, by consciously manipulating heritable traits via breeding, or in more futuristic cases, genetic alteration. The Island of Dr. Moreau was a precursor to this style of story, in which a 19th Century scientist creates a race of animal-men by cross breeding animals with humans. Genetic engineering in films is most often in the sci-fi genre, but like biopunk, slips into realms of horror as with David Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly. But these films don’t necessarily need to include humans, with the Jurassic Park series being a strong example of genetic manipulation of dinosaur DNA in order to revitalize these extinct creatures. The superhero offshoot of sci-fi films also provides numerous examples of genetic manipulation to achieve super beings as seen in Ang Lee’s Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man films, or Morbius.

Societal Commentary

Gattaca’s main theme is one as old as time. How does one group elevate themselves while subsequently making other groups seem less than. Rather than framing the depiction as Europeans against indigenous peoples, or even white skinned against dark skinned, the film uses traits that are invisible to our eyes: genetics. Of course, discrimination in this scientifically advanced future is illegal, which just means there are more creative ways to circumvent it. Just like the Dr. Seuss story of The Sneetches, which separate their factions between those that have stars on their bellies and those without, the distinction of the Valid’s and the In-Valid’s are just as arbitrary. First, a new language is concocted to divide the haves and the have-nots. Those born naturally are considered a “faith birth” or “utero” versus being “vitro.” This language provides a further barrier to exclude and separate. For those that choose, like Vincent, to buck the system, they receive unsavory monikers such as “borrowed ladder” or “de-gene-erate” to indicate their attempt to cross the social barrier.

Where does science stop and the eugenics begin? When the parents visit the geneticist to “conceive” Anton, they specify the physical traits (hair color, eye color, skin color) that interest them. Elements that High School students learn about in basic biology classes as traits that are hereditary. The doctor also mentions he has removed any “prejudicial conditions” such as baldness, myopia, alcoholism, and propensity for violence. While it may seem like breeding out violence, anti-social behavior, and addiction might be beneficial, it leads to the slippery slope of a few individuals choosing the path of evolution for the remainder of society. Especially people that may not have been educated or have no say in their reproductive rights. In addition the film goes on to explicitly state that no one exceeds their potential. Since everyone is bred to be the best that they can be, there is nothing left to achieve–or at least, no one pushes themselves to achieve more. What a sad commentary on a society that has diluted itself to know exactly what to expect from its citizens. There are no longer happy accidents where art and science would interconnect. No stories of random achievements. There is no longer free will, but the fate of the doctrine of determinism based on available genetic material.

Vincent becomes the X-factor in this case. He proves that the society is flawed by achieving beyond his (genetic) station. Listening to the doctors at his birth, he should have died in his early thirties of heart issues. Instead, he forces his body and mind to literally adapt to a new regime, becoming stronger in this case. He proves to Anton that he can be, and actually is, better than his genetically perfect brother. However it’s only Anton that realizes the flaw in the system. As Detective Hugo solves the murder case, it reinforces his belief that the system, with its genetic fingerprints, works. Using the available tools he was able to find the real killer. However he becomes blind to the fact that the killer exists in the first place. Within a society that chooses the desirable traits for individuals, how does a killer like Director Josef come into being? Probably in the same way that Vincent bucks the system. Through sheer force of will, and by allowing chaos to become the normal state of affairs by disrupting the abnormality of order.

The Science in The Fiction

Since the discovery of DNA by Watson and Crick, mankind has sought to understand the genome that makes up the human species. The four nucleotides of DNA include guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine, abbreviated using the letters G, A, T and C. These letters, when rearranged spell the title of the film, just as the rearrangement of the nucleotides in the body define different traits. Science has been able to figure out how the genetic material from a sperm and an egg creates traits such as eye and hair color, or if the earlobe is attached or not. We have reached a point in the early 21st Century that genetic screenings can be used to help understand the propensity for development of diseases or genetic abnormalities, such as cancer or even Down’s syndrome. At the present time there is no genetic manipulation to alter a fetus’s DNA. The question of what would warrant appropriate change is ethically dubious at a minimum and there is ongoing discussion of what constitutes appropriate use of this information

One dramatic scene in the film, which is not outside the bounds of medical science, is Vincent’s procedure to gain inches on his legs. It’s a quick moment, but he receives surgery to break the bones in his legs. As they heal, and through the use of pins and rods, his bones will grow to fill the void providing him an extra inch or two. This surgery is a metaphor to the way that Vincent inserts himself into society. He physically breaks himself to use the potential in his body to create a new life. His swimming abilities, which was always more about his will to win, than his actual abilities themselves, also belie the self-determination to evolve and adapt outside of the regimented system. Gattaca, as with Jurassic Park, reveals that life will find a way to grow beyond the constraints that man attempts to use to control it.

The Final Frontier

The design and look of the Gattaca helps to set the tone for the themes of the film. The 1950s attire and aesthetic, coupled with the choice of architecture creates a film that feels a little out of time. It may be set a few minutes into the future, but also has a retro quality that seems timeless. The architecture style Niccol and team chose for the buildings, which include the Marin County Civic Center as the Gattaca Headquarters (also seen in the genetically-dire future of THX 1138), are all based on the concrete block Brutalism-style made popular in the 1950s. This formidable style eschews authoritarianism and control and can be seen in films like Fahrenheit 451, Alphaville, and A Clockwork Orange.

Niccol also creates many small touches of nuanced dialogue or shots that reinforce his themes. A prominent example is the names of the characters. Some may seem a bit too on-the-nose, but are not completely obvious on first viewing. Vincent’s last name is Freeman, which is what he yearns to be. Irene has the surname of Cassini, which she shares with Giovanni Cassini, an Italian mathematician and astronomer who discovered four satellites of Saturn, as well as the division in the planet’s famous rings. She yearns to travel to the stars with others in her company, but is held back due to unexpected health reasons. Coincidentally the trips are all being made to Titan, a prominent moon of Saturn. When Jerome cedes his genetic material to Vincent, he adopts his middle name, Eugene, as his new moniker. This name comes from the word eugenics which is the belief of, literally, good genes, and the development of advancing humanity through science.

Other smaller touches include the real Jerome having a Silver Medal for swimming–something for which his proxy, Vincent, excels at. Vincent admits to Anton that he never needed saving, referencing his hiding in plain sight at Gattaca, as well as in their swimming races; of which Vincent rescued Anton–twice. At another point, when Anton is examining Vincent’s computer keyboard, he removes the ESC key–literally removing his escape, or so he thinks. It’s these touches that provide a richer story on future re-watches. Gattaca may seem heavy handed in some of its themes of equality, discrimination, and elitism. But just because it doesn’t try to sugar-coat the realities of poor treatment of an underclass, doesn’t mean it’s not correct in assumptions. The film continues to be a valid example of the foibles of discrimination even 25 years after it was released.

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