Symbolism of language and ideas
GATTACA - G A T C - Genetic sequence, The succession of letters that indicate the order
of nucleotides within a DNA (using GACT)
Vincent - Latin verb vincere, "to conquer or win"
Freeman – Free man
Jerome – Genome (the genetic material of an organism)
Eugene – Greek meaning ‘well-born’, reference to Eugenics (improving the genetic quality of
humans)
Morrow – The future
Irene – Greek for ‘peace’
Cassini – the astronomer who discovered the rings around Saturn.
Director Josef – reference to Joseph Mengele the eugenist who conducted experiments on the Jews
in the war.
Hoover – reference to Edgar Hoover, the FBI director and the vacuum cleaner that picks up genetic
material
Valid – meaning ‘strong’ or ‘potent’ or ‘correct’
8 – meaning of infinity, no end,
In-valid – weak, not right
Symbol of the cross – invalid / faith birth
Vision and eyes: vision seeing the future / eyes, window to the soul / Irene has a telescope in her
apartment, Vincent needs lenses to see the world a different way / Irene looks at reflection of
sunrise and has vision of beach in bedroom (even as she lives on the beach) = fake nature for
engineered person.
Water: womb, life, purity, truth, reflection
Blood: Life-force, Mortality, Pain/Experience, Offering/Sacrifice, Sanctity, Purity, Inheritance
Black, blue, white: the sterile nature of society
Warm glow: the beauty of things in their natural state
Quotations and themes
Opening epigraphs
Consider God’s handiwork: who can straighten what he hath made crooked?
Ecclesiastes 6.13
I not only think we will tamper with Mother nature, I think Mother wants us to.
Willard Gaylin
The first of these texts is taken from the Old Testament of the Bible. It states that God is responsible
for all of Creation, even the accidents and defects of our own individual births. It is, therefore, also
claiming that it would be wrong of us to attempt to change, or perfect or straighten what God has
created in a certain way. As everything is God’s will, it is our duty to accept our fate and our
limitations.
The second epigraph represents the opposite view. This scientist is arguing that our scientific and
technical advances should not be stopped by moral, religious or ethical concerns about what we
might be doing to nature or to God’s handiwork. Rather, it is our right and our duty to improve
nature and ourselves, rather than just accepting our fate and our limitations. If we have the
knowledge and the ability, the science and the technology, we should do whatever we can.
Class/division/discrimination
KINDERGARTEN MANAGER: [refusing to admit Vincent] I’m sorry, the insurance won’t cover it.
[closes barred gate on Freeman family]
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [after Marie and Antonio’s visit to geneticist] That’s how my brother Anton
came into the world, a son my father considered worthy of his name. [the boys being measured,
Vincent erasing his name and inferior height/status]
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [first swimming scene] By the time we were playing at blood brothers I
understood there was something very different flowing through my veins and I would need an awful
lot more than a drop if I was going to get anywhere.
MARIE: [at dinner table] You have to be realistic. With a heart condition like yours…
ANTONIO: Vincent, for God’s sake, you’ve got to understand something. The only way that you’ll
see the inside of a spaceship is if you’re cleaning it.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [whilst attending job interviews] My real resume was in my cells… Of course,
it’s illegal to discriminate, genoism it’s called but who takes the law seriously… A legal drug test can
just as easily become an illegal peek at your future in the company.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [after leaving home] Like many in my situation, I moved around a lot… I
must’ve cleaned half the toilets in the state. I belonged to a new underclass, no longer determined
by social status or the colour of your skin. No, we now have discrimination down to a science.
[arrives at Gattaca as a cleaner]
VINCENT VOICEOVER: … and when for one reason or another a member of the elite falls on hard
times, their genetic identity becomes a valued commodity for the unscrupulous. One man’s loss is
another man’s gain.
DR LAMAR: [checking urine sample] Congratulations.
VINCENT: What about the interview?
DR LAMAR: That was it.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: Eugene never suffered from the routine discrimination of a utero, a faithbirth, or in-valid as we were called… I was now a member of a relatively new and particularly
detested segment of society, one of those who refuses to play the hand that he was dealt. I was
what is commonly known as a borrowed ladder or a de-generate.
VINCENT: [to Irene, outside Eugene’s apartment, after Anton has blood tested Eugene] They have
got you looking so hard for any flaw that after a while that is all that you see.
Determination
IRENE: [exterior Gattaca, watching rocket launch] You’re the only one who watches every one of
them… If you’re going to pretend like you don’t care, don’t look up.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [first swimming scene] … I would need an awful lot more than a drop if I was
going to get anywhere… Our favourite game was Chicken… It was about who would get scared and
turn back first.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [boys mapping out the planets in a car park] Maybe it was a love of the
planets. Maybe it was my growing dislike for this one, but for as long as I can remember I had
dreamed of going into space… My goals didn’t change a lot in the intervening years.
ANTON: [second swimming scene, young men] You sure you want to do this? You know you’re going
to lose.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: … Until finally the impossible happened. It was the one moment in our lives
when my brother was not as strong as he believed and I was not as weak. It was the moment that
made everything else possible.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [exterior, as cleaner on Gattaca roof] I was never more certain of how far
away I was from my goal as I was when I was standing right beside it. [exterior, watches rocket
launch; interior, sits at computer console and pretends to type, watches Gattaca employees at
entrance.]… [To head cleaner, Caesar] If this glass is clean it’ll be easier for you to see me on the
other side of it. [interior, training room, finds heart monitor; interior, Vincent’s apartment, training,
using Celestial Navigation as a weight] No matter how hard I trained or how hard I studied, the best
test score in the world wasn’t going to matter unless I had the blood test to go with it.
GERMAN: [referring to Vincent offering 100%] That’ll get you halfway there.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [submitting to leg-lengthening operation] Jerome never questioned my
commitment again. I took my mind off the pain by reminding myself that when I eventually did
stand up I would be exactly two inches closer to the stars.
VINCENT: [exterior, Gattaca, night] I don’t want to be in there. I want to be up there.
EUGENE: What’s up there?
VINCENT: That’s what I want to find out, Jerome.
EUGENE: Call me Eugene, my middle name…
EUGENE: [about his failed suicide attempt] If at first you don’t succeed… I’m proud of you, Vincent.
Interior, training room, Vincent on treadmill during Anton’s questioning of Director Josef.
VINCENT: [to Irene in concrete Gattaca forecourt] I see I’m not the only one who looks up every time
there’s a launch.
Scenes of Vincent removing dead skin and loose hair.
VINCENT: [to Irene after piano recital] Twelve fingers or one, it’s how you play.
VINCENT: [dancing with Irene at restaurant] It’s funny, you work so hard, you do everything you can
to get away from the place, and when you finally get the chance to leave, you find a reason to
stay. A year’s a long time.
IRENE: Not so long, just once around the sun.
IRENE: [running with Vincent from Anton, gasping] Don’t you understand, I can’t do that.
VINCENT: You just did.
Fourth swimming scene, Eugene’s heroic climb up the spiral staircase.
IRENE: [outside Eugene’s apartment, after Anton has blood tested Eugene] It’s not possible!
VINCENT: You are the authority on what is not possible, aren’t you Irene?… For what it is worth, I
am here to tell you that it is possible. It is possible.
Director Josef’s murder of his colleague to safeguard the Titan mission.
VINCENT: [to Anton, interior Gatacca, at Vincent’s workstation] Do you have any idea what it took to
get in here? There’s still a few million miles to go… If you haven’t noticed, I don’t need any rescuing,
but you did once…
VINCENT: [fifth swimming scene] You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton. I didn’t
save anything for the swim back.
EUGENE: I got the better end of the deal. I only leant me your body. You leant me your dream.
[hands Vincent an envelope]
DOCTOR LAMAR: [during Vincent’s final substance test before lift off] I never did tell you about my
son, did I? He’s a big fan of yours.
VINCENT: Just remember that I was as good as any and better than most… I could have gone up and
back and nobody would have been the wiser.
Perfection
VINCENT: [to director Josef about the cleanliness of his work station] It’s next to godliness.
DIRECTOR JOSEF: I reviewed your flight plan. Not one error in more than a million keystrokes. It’s
phenomenal. It’s right that someone like you is taking us to Titan.
DOCTOR LAMAR: Jerome… pisses on command. You’ve got a beautiful piece of equipment… I
wonder why my folks didn’t order one like that for me… By the way, did I ever tell you about my
son?
VINCENT VOICEOVER: For Jerome, selection was virtually guaranteed at birth… a genetic quotient
equal to none… No, there is nothing truly remarkable about the progress of Jerome Morrow…
GENETICIST: [to Marie and Antonio] You want to give your child the best possible start. Believe me,
we have enough imperfections built in already. [cut to child-Vincent playing on floor with molecular
model] The child doesn’t need any additional burdens. And keep in mind this child is still you, simply
the best of you. You could conceive a thousand times and never get such a result.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [first swimming scene] It was about who would get scared and turn back
first. Of course it was always me. Anton was by far the stronger swimmer and he had no excuse to
fail.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [first exterior shot of Eugene’s apartment building, walking with German] For
the genetically superior, success is easier to attain, but it is by no means guaranteed. After all, there
is no gene for fate.
GERMAN: [crossing over from exterior to interior, Eugene’s apartment] His credentials are
impeccable. He has an expiration date you wouldn’t believe. The guy’s practically going to live
forever. He’s got an IQ off the register, better than 20/20 in both eyes and the heart of an ox. He
could run through a wall… if he could still run. He was a big time swimming star. You could go
anywhere with this guy’s helix tucked under your arm… They don’t care where you were born, just
how. Blood has no nationality. As long as it’s got what they’re looking for, it’s the only passport
you’ll need.
EUGENE: [showing silver medal to Vincent] With all I had going for me, I was still second best.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: ‘… A valid, a made man, he [Eugene] suffered a different burden, the burden
of perfection.
DOCTOR LAMAR: [interior, training room] Jerome, Jerome, the metronome. You could play a piano
by that heartbeat of his.
DIRECTOR JOSEF: [interior, training room, in response to Anton’s questioning] Naturally, our
standard here is beyond that of the common citizen… Occasionally we’ve been forced to accept
candidates with minor shortcomings… But now there are enough of the right kind of people to
warrant a new measuring stick, bodies with minds to match, essential as we push out further and
further… We have to ensure that people are meeting their potential… No one exceeds their
potential…
VINCENT: [Gattaca forecourt, day] You’re engineered just like the rest of us.
IRENE: Not quite like the rest of us. Unacceptable likelihood of heart failure. That’s what the
manual said. The only trip I’ll take in space is around the sun on this satellite right here.
VINCENT: Well, if there’s anything wrong with you, I can’t see it from where I’m standing.
IRENE: If you don’t believe me, here, take it. [offers single strand of hair] If you’re still interested, let
me know.
VINCENT: [letting it go] I’m sorry, the wind caught it.
DOCTOR LAMAR: Unfortunately, my son’s not all that they promised. But then, who knows what he
could do?
Key quotations Vincent
“There is no gene for the human spirit."
" Jerome had been engineered with everything he needed to get into Gattaca, except the desire to
do so." -Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
" They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say
that anymore."-Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
“I got the better end of the deal. I only leant me your body. You leant me your dream. [hands
Vincent an envelope] – Eugene
"They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say
that anymore. I'll never understand what possessed my mother to put her faith in God's hands
rather than those of her local geneticist. Ten fingers, ten toes, that's all that used to matter, but not
now. Now, only seconds old, the exact time and cause of my death was already known." (Vincent)
"Heart disorder: 99% probability, early fatal potential, life expectancy: 30.2 years." (midwife)
"From an early age, I came to think of myself as others thought of me: chronically ill. Every skinned
knee and runny nose was treated as if it were life-threatening." -Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
"Maybe it was a love of the planets, maybe it was just my growing dislike for this one, but for as long
as I can remember, I have dreamt of going to space. My goals didn't change a lot in the intervening
years, much to my parents's dismay."
"You have to be realistic, with a heart condition like yours..." (Vincent's mother)
"Mom, there's a chance there's nothing even wrong with my heart." (Vincent)
"One chance in a hundred!" (Vincent's father)
"Well I'll take it all right?" (Vincent)
"The trouble is that they won't." (mother)
"Listen for God's sake, you gotta understand something, the only way that you'll see the inside of a
spaceship is if you're cleaning it." (father)
Each day I would dispose of as much loose skin, fingernails and hairs as possible, to limit how much
of my in-valid self I would leave in the valid world.
Eugene never suffered from the routine discrimination of a 'utero', or a 'faith birth' or an 'in-valid' as
we were called. A 'valid', a 'vitro', a 'made-man', he suffered under a different burden, the burden of
perfection. I was now a member of a relatively new and particularly detested segment of society,
one of those who refuses to play the hand that he was dealt. I'm more commonly known as a
'borrowed ladder', or a 'de-generate'.
"For all my brave talk, I knew it was just that. No matter how much I trained or how much I studied,
the best test score in the world wasn't gonna matter unless it had the blood test to go with it. I made
up my mind to resort to more extreme measures."
Until finally the impossible happened. It was the one moment in our lives when my brother was not
as strong as he believed and I was not as weak. It was the moment that made everything else
possible.
"I understood there was something altogether different flowing through my veins." ~ Vincent
(voiceover)
"Vincent Freeman: You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it. Young Anton: I never saved
anything for the swim back."
"He had everything except desire."- Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
"For someone who was never meant for this world, I must confess I'm suddenly having a hard time
leaving it. Of course, they say every atom in our bodies was once part of a star. Maybe I'm not
leaving... maybe I 'm going home." – Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
"I belonged to a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the color of my skin. No,
we now have discrimination down to a science."
"If at first you don't succeed... try, try again."- Jerome Eugene Morrow, 'Gattaca'.
"I could've gone up and back and nobody would've been the wiser."- Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
"Unfortunately my son's not all that they promised. But then again, who knows what he could do."- Dr. Lamar, 'Gattaca'.
"Blood has no nationality."-Vincent Freeman, 'Gattaca'.
"They've got you looking so hard for any flaw, that after a while, that's all that you see. For whatever
it's worth, I'm here to tell you that it is possible. It is possible.
VINCENT: Just remember that I was as good as any and better than most… I could have gone up and
back and nobody would have been the wiser.
Jerome
"The most unremarkable of events: Jerome Morrow, navigator first class, is about to embark on a
one-year manned mission to Titan, 14th moon of Saturn. A highly prestigious assignment, although
for Jerome, selection was virtually guaranteed at birth. He's blessed with all the gifts required for
such an undertaking: a genetic quotient second to none. No, there is truly nothing remarkable about
the progress of Jerome Morrow... except that I am not Jerome Morrow."
“After all, there is no dream for fate” Vincent
“Is the only way you can succeed to see me fail?”
"'Jerome Morrow was never meant to be one step down on the podium'" ~ Jerome
EUGENE: [showing silver medal to Vincent] With all I had going for me, I was still second best.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: ‘… A valid, a made man, he [Eugene] suffered a different burden, the burden
of perfection.
Identity
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [interior Gattaca] The most unremarkable of events. Jerome Morrow, First
Class Navigator is about to embark on a one year manned mission to Titan, the fourteenth moon of
Saturn… No, there is nothing truly remarkable about the progress of Jerome Morrow, except that I
am not Jerome Morrow… [exterior, looking down on Marie and Antonio making love in large car
parked by beach] I was conceived in the Riviera, no not the French Riviera, the Detroit variety…
[delivery room, Vincent’s birth] They used to say that a child conceived in love had a greater chance
at happiness. They don’t say that any more… I’ll never understand what possessed my mother to
put her faith in God’s hands rather than those of her local geneticist. Ten fingers, ten toes, that’s all
that used to matter, not any more…
ANTONIO: [other side of the glass in delivery room, refusing Vincent his name] No! Vincent Anton…
VINCENT: [interior, Eugene’s apartment] We don’t look anything alike.
GERMAN: It’s close enough. When was the last time anyone looked at a photograph? You could
have my face on your nametag for Christ’s sake.
The process of Vincent becoming Jerome: eyesight, contact lenses, dentistry, hair, clothing, height,
right-handedness, signature.
VINCENT: Jerome Morrow, it’s a nice name.
EUGENE: It’s my name.
VINCENT: I can’t be you without it.
EUGENE: What makes you think you can be me at all? [taking out swimming medal] Look at
this. Look at it… Are you colour blind as well? It’s silver. Jerome Morrow was never meant to be
one step down on the podium.
EUGENE: [exterior, Gattaca, night] Call me Eugene, my middle name. If you’re going to be Jerome,
you’d better start getting used to it. [rocket launch]
VINCENT: Listen, it’s not too late to back out. This is the last day that you’re going to be you and I’m
going to be me.
VINCENT: [coming down spiral staircase] I got it.
EUGENE: [remorsefully] Of course you did.
VINCENT: [interior, restaurant] You should be going instead of me.
EUGENE: Why is that?
VINCENT: Because up there your legs wouldn’t matter.
EUGENE: I’m scared of heights.
IRENE: [to Vincent] Jerome, I had you sequenced, I read your profile. I’m sorry. Seems you’re
everything they say and more.
VINCENT: [on toilet] They think I killed the Director… They’ll recognise me!
EUGENE: [at lab table] I don’t recognise you. They won’t marry the eyelash to you. They won’t
believe that one of their elite could have suckered them all this time. We change nothing. We do as
planned. You’re Jerome Morrow, Navigator First Class.
VINCENT: I’m not Jerome Morrow. I’m a murder suspect…
EUGENE: I could’ve rented myself out to somebody with a spine if I’d known you were going to go
belly up on me at the last fucking gasp. You can’t quit on me now… [pursuing Vincent in wheelchair]
VINCENT: Eugene, they’re going to find me.
EUGENE: You still don’t understand, do you? When they look at you, they don’t see you any more,
they see me.
DIRECTOR JOSEF: [to Detective Hugo] Take another look at my profile Detective. You won’t find a
violent bone in my body.
ANTON: [in alley behind restaurant] Vincent! Vincent!
IRENE: [to Vincent] Who’s Vincent?… Don’t say anything. [kisses him]
ANTON: You don’t know who he is, do you Irene?
VINCENT: [on phone] Eugene, I need you to be yourself for the day.
EUGENE: I was never very good at it, remember?
EUGENE: [to Anton during blood test] Who were you expecting?
VINCENT: [to Eugene, in front of Irene, coming up staircase after Anton’s departure] How are you
Jerome?
EUGENE: How are you Jerome?
IRENE: Don’t touch me. I don’t even know who you are.
VINCENT: I’m the same person I was yesterday. My name is Vincent, Vincent Anton Freeman, and
I’m a faith-birth or a de-generate, whatever you want to call it, but I’m not a murderer.
IRENE: You’re a god-child?
EUGENE: [to Vincent] I think she likes us.
ANTON: Has it been so long you don’t recognise your own brother?
VINCENT: Are we brothers?… Is that the only way you can succeed, to see me fail?… Even you are
going to tell me what I can and can’t do now…
ANTON: You didn’t beat me that day. I beat myself.
VINCENT VOICEOVER: [during lift off] For someone who was never meant for this world, I must
confess I’m suddently having a hard time leaving it. Of course, they say every atom in our bodies
was once part of a star. Maybe I’m not leaving. Maybe I’m going home.
Key Scenes
The swimming scenes
There are five in total.
First – as two little boys, Anton has refused the offer to become Vincent’s blood brother and easily
beats his genetically inferior older brother.
Second – as two very young men, just prior to Vincent leaving home. The unthinkable happens as
Vincent not only wins but saves his brother’s life. In the story of his heroic quest to overcome the
odds against him and to beat the system, the science of discrimination, the second swimming scene
is Vincent’s and the film’s turning point.
Third – adult Inspector Anton swimming alone in a solo swimming pool. A man trapped in the
competition for a perfection that has been denied him?
Fourth – Eugene’s heroic climb up the spiral staircase to meet Anton and prevent Vincent from being
unmasked, this swim reminds me of salmon forging upstream against the currents to their spawning
grounds.
Fifth – Vincent defeats and saves his brother a second time.