Gattaca: Difference between revisions

[[File:l_19832_0119177_ba6772aa_4006.jpg|frame|There's no gene for fate. ]]

 

However, a week before Vincent is scheduled to leave Earth on a mission to Saturn's moon Titan, the Mission Director is murdered in his office and one of Vincent's In-Valid eyelashes is found on the scene. He must now avoid being discovered despite intense police scrutiny and his progressing relationship with his [[Love Interest]] Irene Cassini ([[Uma Thurman]]).

 

 

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* [[The Alcoholic]]: Jerome.

* [[Always Someone Better]]: The reason Jerome is so disillusioned with himself.

* [[Badass Boast]]: "If the glass is clean it'll be easier for you to see me on the other side of it."

* [[Bigger Is Better in Bed]]: Despite his overall genetic inferiority, Vincent is mentioned to be superior in one notable area. The doctor {{spoiler|reveals at the end that he knew it was fake all along, and is literally complimenting Vincent on the ''equipment'' he used to pull off the scam, which would by necessity require a fake phallus to cover the delivery system from the urine pouch}}.

* [[Born Winner]]: Played straight and subverted throughout the movie.

* {{spoiler|[[Bury Your Disabled]]}}: Jerome, Type 3, {{spoiler|although his suicide is presented as strong and noble, rather than pathetic or induced by [[Wangst]].}}

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: Despite looking pristine and well-organized, the world of Gattaca is not a nice place to live for anyone with less than perfect genetics.

* [[Days of Future Past]]: Specifically, a blend of early 60s style and 30s noir. The plot and theme has a very 50s [[Science Fiction]] feel as well.

* [[Designer Babies]]: This film is the former [[Trope Namer]]. The embryo products of in-vitro fertilization are screened for genetic predispositions to unwanted traits. Embryos without genetic defects are brought to term and these children are considered superior to children born by random chance. Whether they actually are or not is played with:

** Vincent has a high probability for developing a heart condition, but his heart is fine. Despite this, he can't match Jerome even with his training.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Jerome's backstory; he attempted to kill himself because of the intense pressure upon him to succeed (thanks to his supposedly perfect genes) and was left disabled.

* [[Easily Forgiven]]: Despite lying to Irene about his identity and status as an In-Valid, she forgives Vincent the next time she sees him after finding out, possibly because her genes aren't perfect either.

* [[Everybody Smokes]]: Which seems strange given the vision of the future presented.

* [[Failed a Spot Check]]: Whenever they check Jerome's blood, his name and photo show up on a computer screen with the word "VALID". That said, the guy giving the sample is ''Vincent'', who looks nothing like Jerome. Vincent himself brings this up the moment he meets Jerome; the forger explains that photo ID is so outdated Vincent could use the forger's photo (played by Tony Shalhoub) and people wouldn't notice. People have grown so complacent in depending on the DNA checks that they commit the first-week-of-basic-training mistake of not comparing the ID to the ID holder.

* [[In the Blood]]: The true murderer isn't even considered a possible suspect for most of the investigation, on the dubious grounds that his genotype contains no markers for violent behavior.

* [[Ironic Echo]]: After Irene mentions her heart condition:

'''Vincent:''' (drops hair) Oops. The wind caught it. }}

** Later, after Irene discovers Vincent isn't actually Jerome:

'''Irene:''' (drops hair) Oops. The wind caught it. }}

* [[I Want My Jetpack]]: Now that the scientists have finished the Human Genome Project, no one knows what exactly to do with it. We still don't have [[Designer Babies]] yet, though we're a lot closer to being able to do a lot of what was done in the movie, what, with medical technology having come as far as it has now. We can screen for all sorts of things with prenatal testing and it is possible to create "designer babies". Ethics, of course, are heavily involved in all this, which may explain why we don't live in Gattaca yet.

** In-vitro fertilization already uses the technique of identifying the most optimal embryos as candidates for uterine implantation and it is already possible (for an exorbitant sum of money) to clone your favorite cat for the next generation.

* [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]: A lot of the space issues and program in this movie [[Handwaved|don't make a lot of sense]], and understandably so because the movie is about [[Sci Fi]] genetics, not [[Sci Fi]] space.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Vincent ''Freeman'' and Jerome ''Eugene'' Morrow.

** The title of the movie and eponymous agency is spelled using the initials of the four DNA bases (the parts that define genes).

** Cassini from the Cassini Space Probe.

** In the Greek from which it comes, "eu" means "good" - so it literally means the incredibly blatant Jerome Good-Gene Morrow.

* [[Planet of Hats]]: With the planet in question being the future Earth, of course.

* [[Police Are Useless]]: The police constantly focus on Vincent, assuming that the In-Valid must be responsible for the murder at Gattaca. If not for the one rational cop on the investigation ({{spoiler|Vincent's brother}}), they not only would have failed to find the murderer, they wouldn't even have come close to finding Vincent.

* [[Prim and Proper Bun]]: Irene's default hairstyle.

* [[Readings Are Off the Scale]]: Jerome's superior genetics are described this way.

* [[Screw Destiny]]: A biological take on this.

* [[Second Place Is for Losers]]: {{spoiler|The reason for Jerome's attempted suicide.}}

* [[Shown Their Work]]: The device used to lengthen Vincent's legs? Pretty much completely accurate.

* [[Spare Body Parts]]: A pianist with twelve fingers is mentioned, who plays music you ''need'' extra digits to perform.

* [[Spot the Imposter]]: Vincent spends the entire film trying to avoid being outed as an In-Valid.

* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]: The beginning of the movie actually notes it being "The Not-Too-Distant Future". Whether or not it's [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|next Sunday AD]] is anyone's guess.

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Anton experiences this when Vincent tells him that his real motivation is to deal with his own jealousy and insecurity.

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: The staircase in Vincent and Jerome's apartment is twisted and spiraled just like DNA.

** {{spoiler|As Jerome burns himself in the furnace, his silver medal he's wearing turns gold.}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hugo Award]]

[[Category:Gattaca]]