“vincent Is Not a Hero” Discuss

“Vincent is not a hero” Discuss

Andrew Niccol has created a character that is portrayed as being a struggler from the moment he was born, he was destined to play this role as soon as he was conceived naturally as he was to wear the label of “God child” for the rest of his life , this label determines they life style and quality of life he will lead and the prospects are not good -“They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say that anymore”. Niccol leads us to believe that Vincent is a man who has overcome the odds in order to achieve his dream in a society where individuality is an unrequited trait and the ability to conform plus right DNA is all a person needs to succeed. What can easily be missed is the reality that in order to achieve his dreams he had to become a criminal which raises the question, is this man who is seen as a hero defiant of his opposition, worthy for our admiration considering the un-admirable form he had to take on to gain it?.

The measures Vincent goes to, to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaught make him seem less of a hero than he is portrayed as, The idea of changing your identity from an “invalid” with problems that prevent one from leading a normal life, to taking on the identity of a “Valid” with a physical make-up so perfect that “you could go anywhere” with his “helix tucked under your arm”, again lowers the opinion of his character and makes it difficult to separate his true identity to the false one he has taken on, Throughout the film Niccol makes it hard to distinguish which parts of Vincent’s personality actually are, we see many instances where Vincent shows admirable qualities such as him romantically letting go of a strand of Irene’s hair and saying “the wind caught it” . But this incident could also psychologically be a way of ensuring if Irene ever had a piece of him, that she would do the same and his identity would be protected. His personality as we knew it before he took on Eugene’s identity portrayed him as lonely dreamer. He was the stereotypical outcast down to finest detail. He sat by himself, ate by himself , dreamt of great things and in true Hollywood style left home and took on the job that all people take when they have nothing left, a cleaner. It is up until this point that we know him as Vincent Freeman and not as Jerome Morrow, and up until this point he is no different to most people and does not deserve the status of hero based purely on the traits and characteristics he shows.

The process Vincent undertook in order to pass himself off as a superior being, a “Borrowed ladder” and a person worthy of working at Gattaca shows us that this whole time he has been holding these dreams of becoming an astronaught and leaving earth, he has build up such determination and such will to achieve it that he would go to extreme measures such as abandoning his identity, his family who believe he is dead and his former life. Is this a characteristic that we look upon respectably or is it this kind of behaviour that if happened off the big screen would make us wonder where this man’s pride and dignity has gone?. Niccol uses the murder