I did not enjoy Gattaca. I found the acting forced, and the writing clichéd. I suppose, based on the subject matter, that this might be the result of intentional stylistic decisions, but I disliked it nonetheless.
I struggled to sympathize with the character of Vincent, though he was ostensibly the protagonist. His character was closed, angry, and one-dimensional. His anger was, of course, understandable, and justified. Because of his “inferior” genes, Vincent was denied the opportunity to join Gattaca, despite being-it would seem from the film-more than qualified. He was forced to take on the identity of another, and suspected of a crime he did not commit simply because of his genetic identity.
While I understand the plot of Gattaca is supposed to be a demonstration of power of the human spirit, Vincent struck me as being a “power feminist”-one of those women who have incredibly successful business careers, and write books about them, and are supposedly feminist icons for doing so, but who don’t really do anything to change the status quo. Vincent made no attempt to change the system in which he lived. Instead, he found a way to cheat. I think that of undermines whatever allegorical purpose the film intended. It seemed like it was saying that discrimination is bad, but so long as you try hard enough (and borrow someone’s blood) you can be whatever you want to be, anyway.
Near the end of the film, there was a moment when the Gattaca doctor revealed he had known Vincent was not Jerome Morrow for a while, and implied Vincent made him believe in the potential of his son. But really, this just proves Vincent could come back from his space mission, say, “Hey everyone, I’m not Jerome Morrow, I’m a normal person”, and actually change a few minds.
I know I am reading a little far into the “meaningful themes” aspect of this film, but as I said, as entertainment, it is abysmal. So I hoped the message the film told would be redeeming.
Hi Elizabeth, I have to say that I disagree with your views on the movie. Namely, I don’t think that Vincent needed to sacrifice himself to try to change a few minds. Yes, it would demonstrate that invalids still possessed the capability of excelling at high-ranked jobs, but I think that is something that people would have either already believed or been totally against. Not to mention the fact that Vincent would have been unable to achieve his dream after all of his excruciating sacrifice. He focused on fulfilling himself rather than changing the world, but in the end, a lot of people making small changes can still bring down a system.
i agree it seems like the message of the film on some level was, “hey if you can’t change a discriminatory system for the better–at least exploit it.” and i said this in my post but i’ll say it here too, having a high chance of dying from a heart condition unexpectedly is a very, very legitimate reason to not allow vincent to be an astronaut. it puts the other astronauts and the whole mission in jeopardy. it’s like if you watched a movie about a guy who tricks the air force into thinking he’s not color blind so he can fly fighter jets. it’s cool you were passionate and clever enough to do that, but you’re still kind of a selfish prick.