Gattaca: The Flawed Perfect Society

In the dystopian future of Gattaca, social ranking in society is classified by the genetic engineering of humans. Vincent Freeman, who was conceived naturally and without any technology, suffered from a myriad of birth defects that had since then been eradicated, such as nearsightedness and a congenital heart defect, and was given an average longevity of about thirty years. Due to the constraining genetic discrimination prevalent in his society, he could only acquire jobs in menial categories, such as janitorial duties. Despite this, Freeman harbors a life-long dream of working for Gattaca, Incorporated and becoming an astronaut; however, the only way he could possibly achieve this is to break the law by impersonating a socially acceptable, genetically engineered “valid.”

To achieve this, he obtains the identity of Jerome Marrow, a former swimming star who was genetically manipulated into perfection. After receiving only second place in a very important swimming competition, he attempts to commit suicide by jumping in front of a car. Instead of death, his suicide attempt resulted in Marrow being paralyzed from the waist down. However, since this incident occurred outside of the country and was never formally documented upon his return, his genetic status remained flawless. Nevertheless, becoming Marrow took lots of blood, sweat, and tears on the part of Freeman, such as breaking his legs and stretching them (since Freeman was several inches shorter than Marrow), and persistent practice to become right-handed instead of left.

With the entire interview consisting of a urine test, Freeman easily gains employment at Gattaca via Marrow’s perfect DNA. Through hard work and determination, he quickly rises through the ranks of Gattaca and acquires the rights to his first mission into outer space. However, a week before his scheduled trip, the mission director is killed and an eyelash is found at the scene, identified as belonging to an invalid. After the real murderer is found and Freeman’s name is cleared, he begins preparing for his launch. As the space shuttle takes off, Marrow tells Freeman that he intends to travel as well and that he has left him enough genetic material to last him for the rest of his existence. Later, Marrow is shown committing suicide in his home’s incinerator; he is wearing his silver medal, which turns to gold in the flames.

This movie emphases the ironic contrast between Jerome and Vincent. Jerome was a genetically perfect specimen who was given many chances at success but still inevitably failed in his eyes. Vincent faced multitudinous discrimination and abundant oppression throughout his life due to his flawed genome but, despite this, managed to overcome all the obstacles placed in his path and managed to attain his lifelong dream—a dream he once considered virtually impossible. This film has also been extensively analyzed for its ethical principles such as the hedonic calculus and utilitarianism, the Nuremburg Code, as well as a various examples of discrimination.
Both coined by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the hedonic calculus and utilitarianism are present in Gattaca. The hedonic calculus measures the morality (or lack thereof) of an action from an impartial, calculating standpoint. (Vaughn 86) When faced with a decision, consider the net happiness (happiness minus unhappiness) and the choice that provides the largest amount of happiness for the largest amount of people is the most ethical choice. (Vaughn 86) The whole basis of the film is society’s decision to manipulate genetics in order to create a utopian society. According to the hedonic calculus, the act of genetic manipulation was not an evil one since it was done with the pure intention of creating a perfect society. While no one was physically harmed by this decision, it did not represent the principle of utilitarianism—which is defined as the greatest good for the greatest number of people—as it brought pain to a lot of Invalids and happiness to only a few Valids. (Vaughn 85). However, no amount of genetic alterations can create a “perfect” society.

The Nuremberg Code, which was developed after the trial of several German doctors who were being charged with their crimes against humanity during the Holocaust in World War II, emphasizes informed consent of the human upon whom which you are experimenting or testing. In elaboration, the subject must be legally competent and consenting voluntarily. A scene in Gattaca depicts a typical interview in which the interviewer will obtain a sample of saliva or urine without telling the interviewee why. If the person rejected the request, the interviewer would extract DNA from a handshake at the conclusion of the interview, the doorknob, or possibly even the chair without the interviewee’s knowledge in order to access information on their genes. Another element of Gattaca that violates the Nuremberg Code is the principle of eugenics. In the film, parents have the ability to construct a genetically flawless baby. However, nobody stopped to consider if the fetus would want an altered genetic code or what would happen to the babies who did not have their genes pre-selected and ended up with a myriad of genetic defects, such as Vincent Freeman.

While the discrimination of race, sex, and socioeconomic status we see in our society today is virtually eradicated in the society of Gattaca, they face an entirely different form of discrimination: genetic. In the film, your entire life is predetermined during your conception using practices of eugenics to manipulate the human genome into perfection. However, some parents chose not to take this route and conceive children through traditional, natural methods. Those children became “Invalids” and were condemned to lowly existences, meanwhile the genetically altered “Valids” became the society’s crème de la crème. This theme is supported in the film when Vincent says, “the best test score wasn’t going to matter unless I had the blood test to go with it.” (Gattaca)

In Gattaca’s society, Invalids are treated as if they are criminals. As one scene depicts, Vincent’s boss is murdered while he is on the job posing as Jerome. Upon investigation of the crime scene, detectives find a Vincent’s eyelash, which is identified as belonging to an Invalid. Instead of searching Gattaca and the nearby areas as police should, they are immediately dispatched to the city, where most Invalids live. This is an example of stereotyping.

There are several times during the film where Vincent’s and other’s externalities influence their behavior and the choices they make, where externalities are defined as “a person’s background or biases.” (Du Bois, 2018) Vincent was condemned to an eternity of menial jobs, through no fault of his own, while harboring dreams of working for Gattaca, going on a space mission. In order to make those dreams happen, he went to extreme measures; including breaking his legs and stretching them because the real Jerome Marrow was a few inches taller than him. Perhaps Freeman’s most important externalities are his status as an invalid and his astronautical ambitions.

Gattaca displays a relationship between society and the desire for perfection. This film has also been extensively analyzed for its ethical principles such as the hedonic calculus and utilitarianism, the Nuremburg Code, as well as various examples of discrimination.