Event #2: Gattaca

Movie poster for Gattaca

The model concept of a utopian society is the beauty of perceived equality and the removal of the problems of the modern world. Gattaca follows such an idea through the glorification of genetically engineered humans by eliminating harmful genes and creating the most successful conception. Those who let chance took control of the genetic lottery were deemed as “faith births,” like the main protagonist Vincent. The movie follows his life as he attempts to impersonate a high valued “valid” Jerome to become a space navigator, a job only occupied with an elite set of genes. 

This movie is an encapsulation of the artistic representation of ethics of biotechnology. Similar to when Kathy High did an installation named Embracing Animals by showing the mistreatment of lab rats as mere test subjects, lacking autonomy and emotions. The movie questions the audience if it is morally feasible to negatively select against traits. I find it interesting that the pockets of scenes involving music are still held up by the elite “valid." Typically, those more artistically inclined are more likely to rebel against the status quo. Vincent’s parents are a perfect example of rebelling against the norms, but they later regretted this and created his perfect brother, Anton. Through quantifying one’s contribution to society based on life expectancy and health, a class system emerges, one genetically superior capable to progress society and the other doing menial jobs. 

A scene from Gattaca showing Vincent's childhood

Truthfully speaking, I don’t imagine a world like this ever happening. This class teaches us the constant intermingling of the scientific community with the arts, while this movie highly favors the former. No successful society lacks a culture in which the primary influence is creativity. In other words, there’s constant communication between the two where one intensely valued the other. For instance, Eduardo Kac made a bunny glow by combining jellyfish and bunny DNA in GFB Bunny, evoking an uproar in both the art and scientific community. 

In Week 3, Walter Benjamin called attention to the mass production of films to limit the “authenticity” of art. That through ease of consumption, art will lose all of its meaning. The audience will become prey to its mindless distraction. This is why Gattaca is one of my favorite movies and why I highly recommend it. Because no matter how much people do practice escaping reality to films, science fiction movies put the balls onto the audience’s court. These types of movies force the audience to be an active member of the fictional world and make you question your reality. 

How Film Transforms the Way We See the World, A Ted X talk

References

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Germany, 1936.

BIO ART, www.ekac.org/transgenicindex.html.

“Embracing Animal.” Kathy High, www.kathyhigh.com/projects/embracing-animal/

“Film: GATTACA.” · Halperin Building, 25 May 1970, www.harrisonpl.org/events/harrison/12949.

“Gattaca (1997) - Vincent's Childhood.” YouTube, YouTube, 28 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=92JNATyHcFM&ab_channel=Blink41.

TEDEducation, director. How Art Gives Shape to Cultural Change - Thelma Golden. YouTube, YouTube, 24 Feb. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FCihq5n-hE&ab_channel=TED-Ed.

TEDtalksDirector, director. How Film Transforms the Way We See the World | Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. YouTube, YouTube, 23 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKS7HWy2TRU&ab_channel=TED.

TEDxTalks, director. Use Gene Editing to Treat Patients, Not Design Babies | Marcy Darnovsky | TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool. YouTube, YouTube, 4 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKOfbgIJxuI&ab_channel=TEDxTalks.