Gattaca

What would the world be like if we could pick how everyone would grow up to be? Would it create a better place to live in? Would it take the natural aspect out of human nature? Would the process even be considered human? There would be the endless questions of whether it was morally right or wrong, or if we should bother trying to perfect a person when they are just not made to be without imperfections. It could possibly be that the imperfections that make us who we are. The imperfections could be what make us ‘human’. And then, what happens when the superior beings have taken over and everyone excels at everything? What do we do then?

Gattaca Corp. is an aerospace technological organization in the future. During this time frame the world quickly determines who you are going to become, what roles you will play in life, and where you belong, simply by changing and monitoring your DNA. Identifying individuals now only requires a small drop of blood or a stray hair to be able to find endless information on them. Genetically enhanced beings are what are wanted in the world, the humans without imperfect qualities. Life for unaltered humans is poor, as they are regarded as useless, and are to take on the roles in society that are deemed unfit for the genetically enhanced. Genoism, which refers to the genetic discrimination, is a common factor that ‘normal’ humans have to deal with.

This genetic discrimination is widespread, and affects what jobs they can hold, what areas they have access to, and even just what they are stereotyped as being like. The typical naturally born human would be expected to take a low class job, and be unfit to enter a high institution such as Gattaca Corp., except for the occasional janitor. Since they didn’t have the genetic enhancements, they are generally considered to be uneducated. They are expected to be the hard laborers, the criminals, and the lowlife. Genetically altered humans are the ones who hold the high, prestigious jobs, who are the upstanding and respectable citizens of the world. They come with an advantage; they are naturally superior in many or all ways to those born under nature’s complete influence. Vincent’s life as an invalid proved that he wasn’t expected to be able to do much of anything, even live that long. Once he assumed the guise of a valid, his life changed for the better. He was still the same person under a different identity, and yet the person who he had assumed the identity of was to be the better human.

This practice of genoism is much like our various forms of modern day discrimination. Just