GATTACA: Embryo Disposal and Abortion

    Embryo Disposal in GATTACA

In the movie, GATTACA, people have learned how to genetically modify babies before they are born so that they have the best genes from the parents, usually considered “perfect” genes. In this process, the parents are shown a few of the embryos from the in-vitro fertilization, and pick the one they like best. At this point, it is really just a matter of preference of gender. The other embryos that are not chosen serve no other purpose. It is a seemingly normal situation - they picked one and that is all that really matters - but what did happen to the other embryos? According to most peoples’ morals, human life is the top priority, so what is to be done about the discarded embryos?

    In the movie, nothing after the selection of the embryo is shown, so there is no real evidence to what actually happened. It is to be assumed that since there are so many people doing this kind of fertilization, they must have a system for disposal of the other embryos. There does not seem to be any other purpose for the excess of embryos, so why wouldn’t they be thrown out? There could be some kind of surrogate system in place, where a couple who was unable to have any children could “adopt an unborn child”, but it seems unlikely. With so many people having so many extra embryos, at some point a substantial amount of excess would need to be disposed of. And that raises the question of how are they disposed of? Are they simply thrown out with the rest of the unwanted trash? That seems a bit humiliating, for human life, even at its earliest stage, to be disposed of like it doesn’t matter.

    And then, it is also important to consider the morals of the whole event. Essentially, the parents are creating a few embryos and picking one as the best and discarding the rest. That seems a little unfair - pre-birth favoritism. And sure, there is a lot of debate over when a fertilized egg becomes a human life. Some of that is deeply personal to each individual person because people have different beliefs about life. I understand that while some people believe even at the stage of a zygote, life of the zygote has the same value as the life of a 40 year old human, while others believe that it is not even a conceivable thought that that tiny embryo could eventually be a person. What makes the difference is that the people are choosing to have multiple children, if they were to keep all, but then keep one and forget about the rest. The fact remains though, that this is not the mindset of the parents. The purpose of this in-vitro fertilization is to give their child the best shot at life that they can give it. That’s not cruelty or murder of the other embryos - it is unconditional love for one of them. The other embryos are just a byproduct of their perfect child. Not even a thought in the parents’ minds. And while that sounds horrible, it isn’t really. While the whole process may be looked at as morally wrong, what the parents are doing, I think, is not.

When discussing the discarded embryos and their value as humans, it is impossible to not see the similarities between it and abortion. They are very similar in that they deal with the themes of when human life begins. Abortion is generally known as termination of a pregnancy, usually within the first 28 weeks. By that definition, abortion and what is happening with the embryos in GATTACA is not all that similar. In GATTACA, one of the babies still lives, and the disposal of the embryos isn’t the main goal like it is with abortion. The similarities occur in the whole human life side of things. If one person says that abortion is murder and another argues that the child is not alive yet, who is to say who’s right? The same goes with the embryos that aren’t used in GATTACA. Personally, I believe in letting the mother have the choice of abortion. I find it hard to condemn a woman to a life with a baby that she does not want. And if she is forced to keep it, then what is saving that child from having a possibly horrible life with a mother that can’t take care of it? An even bigger issue is the conflict of children of rape. Should a mother be forced to keep the child then? Of course not, because what mother would want that child as a living reminder. This highlights the issue in GATTACA. In most abortions, the child is some form of accident. In GATTACA, the extra embryos were creating consciously with the will and consent of both parents. And then, they are discarded, to probably never be thought of again. I make no claim that this is immoral, because I don’t know when a human becomes alive. I do think that it is very different from abortion, because of the thought gone into what could be successful lives. The parents chose to create those embryos, but care no more after the one they want is chosen. It is odd, however, to consider the extreme controversy of abortion compared to the ignorance of embryo disposal in GATTACA.

In GATTACA, a world where people can be genetically modified to a “perfect” form, it is hard to think about the steps along the road to the genetically perfect human. The goal is the person, a person who can be the higher order of society. Who would ever stop to consider the the process of getting there? For one perfect baby to survive, other embryos have to be discarded. The question remains of is that a bad thing? Each person who chooses to have a child has to do some serious thinking about life with that baby. Serious consideration on if it is truly a good idea to have a child must take place. For the embryos that aren’t thought about, that aren’t picked as “the one”, there is simply nothing for them. It is not good or bad, they have not been killed or preserved, they just are. Neither right nor wrong. Simply a byproduct of the perfect human.

GATTACA: Overcoming Great Adversities

Matt Miller

Period 5

Honors Biology

GATTACA

   

Another theme that’s portrayed in the movie GATTACA is the ability to overcome great adversity. The main character, Vincent Freeman, was born with several disabilities, including an unhealthy heart, awful eyesight, and possibly worse of all, a predicted life span of just 30.2 years. These setbacks limited what Vincent could do in the GATTACA, since that society discriminated people with below average genetics, like Vincent. But because of his determination and strive to succeed, he overcame all the nasty comments so he can reach his goal of going into space.

    Vincent was born without the assistance of genetic engineering, which limits his strength, height, and other physical traits. Because of this, his parents lost faith in him and his future, and put all their faith in their younger son Anton, who had fantastic genetics. There was a scene in the movie that portrays this: His mother states, “You have to be realistic, with a heart condition like yours..” In defense, Vincent states, “ Mom, there's a chance there's nothing even wrong with my heart.." His father states, “ 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."

Even though Vincent was receiving all this “hate mail”, he still had one great characteristic: he was motivated. When Vincent and Anton were young, every time they went to the beach they would take part in their favorite game, Chicken. Chicken is a game where the competitors swim out to see, and the first one to withdraw, loses. Vincent lost every single one of these games because of his endurance, or lack of. Part of this horrendous losing streak was the difference in stamina, but was also because Vincent knew he was going to lose. As he got older, he realized he could win, he just had to believe. So the times after that, he would put more effort and determination into each contest. As a result of all the extra work, the last two times the brothers played the game, Vincent had to carry Anton to safety, therefore willing by default.

    In the movie, the real Jerome Morrow was born genetically perfect. But he had three major setbacks; no passion for what he does, addiction to alcohol, and depression. Even though Jerome had all the physical qualities needed to be successful, his imperfections led him onto a different path. The path that led him to becoming an alcoholic and attempting to commit suicide. Oddly enough, Vincent is the complete opposite. He has the desire to become an astronaut, but doesn’t have the physical qualities to achieve that goal. When Vincent uses the fake identity of Jerome Morrow, he faces a number of challenges each day. Right when he wakes up, he goes into this mini vat and shaves every hair on his body, clips his nails, scrubs away all the dead skin, anything that can be tested and might give away his true identity. Basically every room he enters his identification is checked through blood samples, eye color, fingerprint, and so on. All this hard work payed off, with a little assistance from Jerome, as Vincent finally reached his lifelong goal: to go up into space.

    Throughout his lifetime, Vincent encountered genetic discrimination and disheartening criticism from his family, colleagues, and head honchos. What he did to overcome all these negative obstacles was to stay positive and motivate to reach his objective. After months of strenuous servitude, Vincent Anton Freeman achieved his lifelong goal: to go to space.

GATTACA: Perfection Vs. Happiness

Perfection Vs. Happiness

     In GATTACA, Vincent’s parents believed that a child created in love had a greater chance of happiness, but in the end Vincent was miserable because his genetics were not accepted by society. Vincent’s parents tried to make sure he was happy in life, but they actually did the opposite because people who are not genetically engineered can not be perfect. The people who are not “perfect” are rejected and become victims of discrimination. This caused a roadblock in Vincent’s plans to become an astronaut.
     I believe that parents do want their children to be perfect and have the attributes of physical attractiveness, intelligence, and athleticism so that they can do whatever they want and be whoever they want to be when they grow up. I know this from my own experience. Ever since I started school, my parents always told me to always to do my best at school so I could have high marks. When I entered middle school, there was a lot more pressure to get high grades. Once, in sixth grade, I had an A- in math and my mom got upset because it wasn’t good enough. In my family, intelligence is more important than attractiveness or athleticism, but looking your best and staying fit is also pushed even though my family isn’t really into sports. Through these experiences, I know that parents would like their children to have the aforementioned attributes for their image and/or the image of their child.
     In my opinion, the society in GATTACA is devoid of happiness, vitality, and fun because almost everyone is perfect and there are no imperfections. Everything seems to be good from our perspective, but in order to have good, you have to have bad, and if you don’t have either, you don’t have happiness. The movie just seems to be sad, but in their opinion, it could be a good life to them. In the back of their minds, they feel that there is more to life, but they just cannot figure out why they feel that way. I don’t know about you, but I can see their emotions through their actions. Their actions and body language reflect their emotions and how they feel like there is something more.
     At one point, Vincent was studying aeronautics and his parents got upset at him because they believed it was hopeless for him to get into space. They told him to stop trying because they did not want him to become depressed when he would find he would not be able to get his dream job. They wanted him to be happy, but they truthfully never could. They did not want him to dwell on something that would make him unhappy in the future. They thought that if they could get him to stop thinking about becoming an astronaut, they could make him not be as unhappy. They were wrong, as his determination got him into space. If anyone has a lot determination to do something, they will be able to do it. Nothing is impossible, just highly improbable. He beat the odds and he got what he wanted. He was imperfect, but that did not mean he had to be unhappy.
     In conclusion, it is quite obvious that most parents want their children to be perfect, but they would want their child to be happy and successful more than being perfect. The personal experiences I have had and Vincent’s experiences both prove this. People in this world are biased. There is no way around it, It is only human. They can be picky and say that they want a perfect worker. The truth is, as long as you know who you are and have the determination to do something, you can do anything you want. It may be highly improbable and the odds may be against you, but if all else fails, just keep trying. People will put you down and say you aren’t good enough, but if you just be yourself and remember who you are, you can do anything you want. Every action, every word spoken, and every thought is important. They can determine what your life will be like. Vincent’s parents decided to take a risk by procreating in a way they may have an imperfect child. They thought he would be happy, but they were wrong. He thought he could become an astronaut and he did. This is what I learned from GATTACA and I hope you were able to see what I was able to see.

GATTACA: Genetic Discrimination

Teo Martinez

Period 5

In the film Gattaca, the idea is presented that genetic engineering has been perfected by scientists, and parents have the ability to choose their children’s genes.  However, not all parents choose this option, and the people not genetically engineered are considered inferior to those who are.  This prejudice causes an extreme discrimination that, in the film, has replaced racism.

According to Vincent, the main character, it is technically against the law for an employer to make a decision based on an applicant’s genes, but this law is ignored and non-engineered people (AKA “invalids”) are not hired into any high paying or important jobs.  This is most likely due to the imperfections of the invalids, since valids (the engineered counterparts) are genetically sculpted to be perfect.  The general assumption, therefore, is that the invalids will be more incompetent than the valids at any assignments or jobs given.  The invalids are then only able to acquire the lowest jobs, of small pay and much physical labor.  The valids, assumed to be superior, are allowed into offices like Gattaca, where they take on important roles like space exploration that invalids are considered to not be able to achieve.

The discrimination against the invalids spreads out of job employment and into the public’s minds.  Because of the advancements in genetics, doctors are able to genetically assess a newborn child and gauge any genetic imperfections, like inherited diseases, heart problems, and even the projected age of death.  This would cause prejudices in average people’s minds, thinking that invalids would be physically weaker and less important.  Because the invalids are conceived naturally and are not engineered to be perfect, many of the genes they inherit from their parents would have negative effects on them, like disabilities or diseases.  The valids would be engineered to have peak physical conditions, able to achieve great feats, and because the invalids are not engineered with these traits it is assumed that they cannot achieve any feats above average human standards.

Due to the previously mentioned prejudices of invalids’ abilities, invalids are not even allowed into building such as Gattaca, unless they are of the janitorial staff.  When the director was murdered and the inspectors discovered Vincent’s eyelash, they are not surprised to find that the eyelash is of an invalid.  The public picture of invalids is so low that it is expected that an invalid would murder a valid, in what the public would assume is sheer jealousy or envy.  The invalids are so oppressed that people believe that invalids would want to find ways into places allowed only for valids, whether it is only to explore or to seek harm on a valid in jealousy.

In Gattaca, racism is replaced by genetic discrimination, where people not genetically engineered are considered inferior, to the point that they feel jealousy boiling over to a point of violence.  Invalids are only hired for simplistic laboring jobs, are considered physically weaker than the engineered, and are assumed to be so bitter and envious of the engineered that they feel like exacting vengeance for no true crime.