Gattaca presents a vision of a future society driven by eugenics, where children are genetically manipulated to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents. Genotype profiling is used to identify “Valids”, whose genetic perfection qualifies them for professional employment and higher social status.  Conversely, the “In-Valids” are relegated to jobs that serve the former, such as custodians. While such profiling is illegal, the new social system inherently favors those who are deemed genetically superior.

The film follows Vincent Freeman, played by Ethan Hawke, who was conceived without the aid of genetic manipulation. He is thus born with predisposition to several disorders, one being heart disease, and his life expectancy is about 30.2 years. Hawke must struggles to overcome genetic discrimination to realize his dream of traveling into space. The film addresses concerns over reproductive technologies which facilitate eugenics, and the resulting impact such developments would have on society. It also explores the idea of destiny and the ways in which it can and does govern lives. With so much of people’s lives already predetermined (in the early portion of the film, it is mentioned that as soon as you born the manner and time in which the individual will die is already known), Ethan must struggle against society and with himself in order to find his place in the world and challenge the destiny assigned to him by his genes.

I enjoyed the film, and it made me think about my own thoughts on genetic manipulation. I think that anyone would want what would be best for their children. But what if, for example, a couple learns that their child would be born with severe autism or a mutation that would render the child paralyzed? And what if through genetic manipulation, the child’s life could be improved? The film depicted the possible consequences of genetic manipulation, but does it reject all manners of it, if it could improve the quality of life of an individual? I’m not sure that I have an answer. I thought that the film raised interesting questions about conceptions about the human experience, and found Ethan’s journey to be a message that you are more than what you appear to be, and in his case, more than what his genetics indicate.