Gattaca
1. I went to the official website for Gattaca: the index page design brings together the winding staircase of the apartment shared by Jerome and Eugene, and the DNA helix. But the site also allows you to participate in the ethical and scientific debates about genetic research in very interesting ways. You can vote on specific ethical questions and participate in the discussion groups, and design the trajectory to Titan.
2. Also, you can Design-A-Child in a series of steps that feel uncannily realistic. After I made my selections and gave some of my own family information (my dad is 5' 5", my sister is a bit overweight, there has been some heart disease in my mom's family), I got the following message:
I was very interested in the process of selection of traits, and I urge you to try it. When given this opportunity, is there an acceptable average that we all gravitate towards? Do we choose all the minimum specifications, or all the maximum ones? One choice allows you to specify that the child should not be smarter than the two partners, isn't that weird? Do we desire that?
3. Describing his society, Vincent says in the film:
4. Think about this quote from James Watson -- Nobel Prize Winner and developer of the Human Genome Project:
The name "Gattaca" is composed entirely of the
letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA.
The four nucleotode bases of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.
After the deal, the "real" Jerome asks to be called by his
middle name, Eugene. "Eugene" comes from the
Greek for "well born," which Jerome is. "Eugenics"
(the science of improving the hereditary qualities of
a race or breed) is the central theme of the film.
Uma Thurman's character is named Irene Cassini.
Cassini is the surname of the 17th century
French-Italian astronomer, Jean Dominique Cassini,
who discovered the prominent gap in Saturn's main
rings, as well as the icy moons, Iapetus, Dione,
Rhea, and Tethys. The space mission in Gattaca is
destined for Saturn.
The Gattaca building (interiors and exteriors) is, in
reality, the Marin County Civic Center in San
Rafael, CA. It was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957. The largest Wright design ever constructed, it was largely built after his death in 1959. The central dome
(prominent in the roof-cleaning scene) contains the county library.
The FBI agents are called "Hoovers," a reference to
legendary top-G-man J. Edgar Hoover, but also a
clever reference to a vacuum cleaner brand. There
are numerous shots of vacuums being used to gather
DNA evidence.
Gore Vidal, who plays the Director of Gattaca, is a well known literary figure, whose novels, essays and political writings have been influential since the 50s. Look at this website for his writings and an index of his works.
Vincent Freeman/Jerome Morrow: Ethan HawkeCongratulations!
You have chosen a healthy and highly desirable child.
Unfortunately, the number of your own undesirable traits will mean an additional cost in the amount of pre-embryos required to meet your desired specifications, or the insertion of genes outside you and your partner's gene pool. If you cannot afford the additional costs, rest assured that your child will have an acceptable health quotient with minimal cosmetic defects and physical inadequacies.
They used to say that a child conceived in love
has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say that
anymore.
How is the social reality portrayed by the film affected by this emphasis in genetics? What types of discrimination do we see? What do you think happened to the legal structure to make this reality possible? What human or civic rights have disappeared in the society we see in this film? How do you understand "genoism?"
We now have discrimination down to a science.
"We used to think our future was in the stars.
This film brings the two projects together, and even contrasts them (in the visual design of the poster for example). How do you see these two projects as markers of futurity?
Now we know it is in our genes."
Irene Cassini: Uma Thurman
Jerome: Jude Law
Director Josef: Gore Vidal
Lamar: Xander Berkeley
Marie: Jayne Brook
Antonio: Elias Koteas
Delivery Nurse: Maya Rudolph
Geneticist: Blair Underwood
Gattaca Trainer: Gabrielle Reece
Detective Hugo: Alan Arkin
Anton: Loren Dean
Caesar(the janitorial supervisor): Ernest Borgnine
German (the gene merchant): Tony Shalhoub
Contact the instructor: dk2244@yahoo.com