Study Guide to GATTACA Director: Andrew Niccol Screenplay: Andrew Niccol Starring: Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal Release date: 24 October 1997 Running time: 106 minutes Key Concept Genetics, genetic engineering, determinism, freedom, identity, discrimination Summary As soon as Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is born, his DNA is analyzed and his future capabilities are predicted—including the fact that he has a 99% chance of dying of a heart disorder when he is 30 years old. As a result, he is doomed to a life of menial labor. However, he is determined to get to Gattaca Space Academy and join space missions. Through his sheer determination—and the use of someone else’s very superior DNA which he buys illegally—he manages to achieve his ambition. Advertising Taglines: “How do you hide when you are running from yourself?” “There is no gene for the human spirit.” Cultural significance Hardly a week passes without claims by scientists that they have isolated the gene for some particular disease or trait. Increasingly we are told that mental and emotional characteristics can be attributed to our DNA. Insurance companies want to increase genetic testing in order to identify high-risk applicants for life insurance. More and more we are being defined by our genetic make-up. Gattaca explores these issues. Biographical background Gattaca is New Zealander Andrew Niccol’s second major screenplay and was his debut as a director. He says, ‘My genes made me do it. I don’t know when I first thought of it, but you can open a newspaper today, and I’m certain that you’ll read something about a new gene, and it became inescapable for me as a story idea.’ He had earlier written the screenplay for The Truman Show. Overview The film opens with a text from the Bible – Ecclesiastes 7:13 "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?" It continues to tell how our civilization may, in the not too distant future, attempt to do this. This is a world in which women take swabs of their lips to catch the saliva from a potential husband’s kiss in order to have the DNA analyzed - to assess their positive and negative attributes. It is a world in which pianists are genetically engineered so that they can play pieces "that can only be played with 12 fingers". It is a world in which police and security checks are carried out by immediate DNA analysis from blood samples. Vincent, the main character, was conceived by a young couple in love – in the back of a car rather than in a laboratory. Thus he was destined to be a second class citizen along with others born in the same way – and called "faith births" or "degenerates" or "invalids". Within seconds of his birth his DNA was analyzed and his parents were told that he had a 99% chance of a heart disorder and should die when he was 30.2 years old. His parents decided to have a second son through "natural birth" as it was called – a process involving careful genetic selection and manipulation. This carefully engineered the child from the best bits of the father and mother, producing a child that (this time) was good enough to take the father’s name – Anton. The struggle between the two brothers, with their regular swimming competitions, illustrates the struggle between "faith births" and "natural births". No matter how hard he works Vincent is rejected by schools and then by employers. He observes "My real resume is in my cells. They have discrimination down to a science." In time Vincent becomes a cleaner at Gattaca, a space exploration centre, where he watches the rockets take off and longs to be able to fly one - a dream made impossible by his genes. But then Vincent decides to make the impossible become possible by "borrowing a ladder". He teams up with Jerome Morrow, a competition swimmer with excellent genes, who had broken his back when hit by a car and who now needs money to pay for his excessive drinking. Vincent dyes his hair, has colored contact lenses fitted, has an operation to lengthen his legs and assumes Jerome’s identity. Each morning Vincent scrubs off all his loose skin and hairs before sticking on his finger tips small patches containing Jerome’s blood and strapping to his legs a bag of Jerome’s urine. Thus, whenever he gives a sample, it is Jerome’s DNA which is identified. Vincent applies to train at Gattaca and finds that the interview process is nothing but a quick analysis of his urine. With genes like that he is immediately accepted and is soon scheduled for a flight to Titan. During his training he also falls in love with Irene, another trainee – who’s DNA is good, but sufficiently flawed that she is told that she will not be allowed to fly any long missions. The flight is nearly canceled by the mission director – but someone murders him in Gattaca. The police are called and the building is swept for human hairs, skin and saliva. One of Vincent’s hairs is discovered and the police set out to track down this "invalid" whom is their most obvious suspect. They eventually discover the real murderer to be another of Gattaca’s directors (someone who had earlier thrown the investigators off by saying "look at my DNA profile, I don’t have a violent bone in my body"). The film ends with Vincent taking off in the rocket on his flight to the stars. GATTACA: Viewing Guide Name: ______________ Define the following terms for genetic technologies used in the movie. State how these technologies are currently used in today’s society and how they were used in the GATTACA society. DNA Fingerprinting/Profiling Definition: Current Uses in Today’s Society Uses in the GATTACA Society Genetic Screening Definition: Current Uses in Today’s Society Uses in the GATTACA Society Genetic Engineering Definition: Current Uses in Today’s Society Uses in the GATTACA Society Viewing Questions: 1. As the opening credits are rolling, the letters A, T, C, and G get highlighted in the people’s names. Describe the significance of these letters. 2. Write the complimentary strand of DNA nucleotide bases for a segment of DNA with nucleotide base sequence: GATTACA 3. What is the significance of the spiral staircase in Jerome and Vincent’s home? 4. How does the filmmaker, Andrew Niccol, seem to view developments in our use of genetic technology? Personal Response Questions: 1. What do you think the film maker, Andrew Niccol, is trying to say by using the quotation from Ecclesiastes 7:13 "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what He has made crooked?" at the beginning of the film? 2. Health benefits provided by employers and health insurance companies help to pay for their employees when they become ill. Explain how a gene test could be used against a prospective employee or someone applying for health insurance. How were Vincent’s genes used against him in the movie? 3. Genetic information, including identifying genes which make it more likely to develop certain diseases, can even be revealed about an unborn baby by performing an amniocentesis. Describe one risk and one benefit of performing a genetic test for diseases on an unborn baby. 4. DNA for testing can be collected from a small amount of blood, hair, saliva, and other body fluids. During a gala party scene in GATTACA, a woman submits a saliva sample from a recent kiss to screen her potential boyfriend/husband’s DNA. Do you think that she violating his rights by doing this without his knowledge or is she just protecting herself from choosing an unsuitable partner? Is this in anyway similar to performing a background check? How much would a DNA screen reveal about someone’s personality and intelligence? 5. In GATTACA, the police sweep the place where Vincent works to look for genetic material (e.g. skin cells and eyelashes) that have fallen off people. Later the authorities stop traffic and perform genetic tests on every person. Do you think authorities should have the right to collect samples and perform DNA testing without a person's permission or knowledge? Do you think that an individual has the right to refuse to provide a sample for authorities to perform DNA analysis and keep his or her genetic details private? 6. Molecular biology scientists have developed a technique which enables parents to select the sex of their future child. This technique simply separates the X carrying sperms from the Y carrying sperms, and then females are inseminated with the preferred sex chromosomes. This procedure is currently banned in Canada except for medical reasons. Potential parents with sexlinked diseases may choose to have a girl, avoiding the possibility of having a boy with hemophilia, for example. Should sex selection for medical and non-medical reasons be available for parents in Canada? In the rest of the world? What do you think are some implications of this technique? 7. During a scene in Gattaca, Vincent’s parents visited a doctor who specialized in child conception to select for the best traits for his future brother. They hoped that his brother would have the best possible chances for a successful life. Some of the traits mentioned in GATTACA included intelligence, height and any possibility of inheritable diseases. If you decide to have a child one day and are given the opportunity to select for special traits, would you do so? Why or why not?
