This week’s film GATTACA was a look forward into a future ruled by eugenics. The protagonist Vincent, in spite of his curiosity and determination, is fated to never achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut due to an impending fatal heart failure. Rather than accept his doom, he cheats the system, adopting the genetic identity of a “superior being” to rise to the top. While the film chronicles our hero’s journey and warns against the destructive potential of genetic engineering, I also evaluated GATTACA as a critique of the America dream.

Perhaps the most disturbing element of the world that GATTACA depicts is the tacitness of eugenics. As Vincent narrates, it was illegal for employers to select candidates based on their genetic dispositions. However, the existence of technology that could alter one’s genetics ensured this was a factor ubiquitous in the ordering of a society. This parallels the vestiges of legal discrimination that leaves inequalities in today’s educational and economic structure. Additionally, the peak of society, as presented by the film, is lonely and unsatisfying. The subtle conflict between Vincent and Jerome represents this much more effectively than the cliched “clash of brothers” (Anton vs Vincent). Jerome, born with a genetic superiority than many could only dream, is unable to achieve perfection and victory in swimming competitions. His suicide at the end of the film is an admission that Vincent had done something that he never could by achieving his dream. This accomplishment rendered the original Jerome superfluous.