GATTACA
GATTACA: 9.5/10"You want to give your child the best possible start. Believe me, we have enough imperfection built-in already. Your child doesn't need any additional burdens."
Thinking on this statement has me perplexed about a possible decision I would have to make as a parent. Who doesn't want the best for their child? Who wouldn't want them to have an easy life and take care of any issues and problems that aren't their fault but rather a result of random (scientifically) chance? There are two big issues I'd have to mull over. The first being that I'd like for my child to have every advantage possible. If I can take care of any diseases or in-habitations that would prevent him or her from succeeding and having a suitable path growing up, then I'd gladly take that opportunity to provide them with such a life. The second issue is that of discrimination, and how in the movies' setting people wouldn't give you the same treatment and respect if you were genetically not suitable for the "high end" of society. Would I want my child to have to be a part of a different social class and treated like a second class citizen because of a decision that I made to not take care of any potential aliments that could have been easily prevented? Obviously I'd do everything in my power to see to it that they are given the utmost respect and granted all the courtesy any other human being should rightfully deserve.
Of course the main conflict of this issue would that be of ethics and whether or not you'd leave your child's fate in the hands of God or that of science. In my opinion, I'd see genetic treatment as a progression of human medicine and the strides it has made over the times with improvements to help humans deal with our imperfections. Of course it is a very radical approach and something that steers closer towards "fixing" humans then anything before, but that is just the quick paced change of technology and innovation that occurs as humans gain knowledge and are able to attain new information that can help make all of our lives just a bit easier.
Now, on the theme of the movie I'd say it illustrated a very unique point about genetics. Is there a gene that controls emotions? Is there a gene that can control the human conscious and give us the mental focus, motivation, dedication, and everything else that drives human beings to succeed? Can genes determine a state of a persons mind and what they can create within the concepts of their mind? That is the turning point and difference that separates humans apart from genetics. The will to succeed and give everything you have. Vincent proved this in the movie, that even if he was an "invalid" and not suited to being an astronaut, his will power and determination alone helped him achieve his goals. He didn't take steroids, HGH, or any body enhancers. It was his own mind that gave him the power to seek out his goals. Jerome's blood, urine, skin, and hair did nothing but give him the access to be accepted into society, but everything else he did on his own. He succeeded because he wanted to and that is what gave him his edge.
The human body is chemically made up of many different elements. Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium, are just seven of the sixty elements that make up the human body. Yet when you add them all up you still can't come up to 100%. There is something that is either too hard to find or not accounted for. Some would say this is the "soul" of a human. It maybe very very tiny and insignificant, but it is what makes us different from one another and can determine our future. Scientifically wise, I'd say the soul is the human conscious. That thinking that goes on within our heads? That "person" who we speak to within our minds eye, who we argue against or seek help from is what separates us as humans. Something which science has not yet been able to figure out completely and understand as of this point is what separates all of us and is in my opinion the deciding factor in how well humans can succeed in their lives, no matter their genetic code.
GATTACA is the scifi version of Rocky. Vincent is given no chance of being able to venture on a quest that he is seen as inept in completing. But through hard work and determination he is able to continue is conquest of reaching outer space. His spirit defeats the odds and common placed conception that those of lesser talents (i.e. inferior genes) aren't up to the task of reaching new heights and ascending to the top. However, as the movie showed his progress from a child to adult and how no matter how tough the going got, he always pushed harder to get past it. He epitomizes how indomitable the human spirit really is, and that if you really believe in something and give your full effort, you can make your dreams a reality.
