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    Gattaca

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    Parker Hollingsworth
    1) The document is a movie review of the science fiction film Gattaca, which explores a future where genetics determine people's lives and careers. 2) In the society depicted in the film, people are genetically engineered to be disease-free and superior, while those born naturally face discrimination. 3) The review argues that while preventing disease through genetic engineering could provide benefits, basing people's entire lives and career prospects solely on their DNA in a discriminatory way violates individuals' rights and is unethical.

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    Gattaca

    Uploaded by

    Parker Hollingsworth
    277 views3 pages
    1) The document is a movie review of the science fiction film Gattaca, which explores a future where genetics determine people's lives and careers. 2) In the society depicted in the film, people are genetically engineered to be disease-free and superior, while those born naturally face discrimination. 3) The review argues that while preventing disease through genetic engineering could provide benefits, basing people's entire lives and career prospects solely on their DNA in a discriminatory way violates individuals' rights and is unethical.

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    1) The document is a movie review of the science fiction film Gattaca, which explores a future where genetics determine people's lives and careers. 2) In the society depicted in the film, people are genetically engineered to be disease-free and superior, while those born naturally face discrimination. 3) The review argues that while preventing disease through genetic engineering could provide benefits, basing people's entire lives and career prospects solely on their DNA in a discriminatory way violates individuals' rights and is unethical.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    277 views3 pages

    Gattaca

    Uploaded by

    Parker Hollingsworth
    1) The document is a movie review of the science fiction film Gattaca, which explores a future where genetics determine people's lives and careers. 2) In the society depicted in the film, people are genetically engineered to be disease-free and superior, while those born naturally face discrimination. 3) The review argues that while preventing disease through genetic engineering could provide benefits, basing people's entire lives and career prospects solely on their DNA in a discriminatory way violates individuals' rights and is unethical.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as odt, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Parker Hollingsworth

    Dr. Steven Peck


    Bio 370
    11 October 2010
    October 9th

    Movie Review: Gattaca

    Gattaca, directing by Andrew Niccol is a science fiction movie exploring the role of genetics in

    future society. In this future world, each individual's life is based on what his or her genome contains.

    Geneticists can even analyze fertilized eggs before birth, and pick the one which will develop into the

    most “fit” individual. Gatttaca explores bioethical issues that may surface in the future, as well as some

    issues that scientists and doctors face today. The biggest question this movie explores is whether or not

    it is ethical to genetically engineer a human being, even if the engineered human being will

    theoretically benefit society, more than the non-engineered human being would.

    When we analyze this issue, we can see there are valid arguments that it is ethical, and ones

    that say it is not . Genetically engineered human beings would be smarter, more athletic, better

    communicators, harder workers, and even healthier. This movie specifically explores the issue of

    creating healthier individuals. The main character, Vincent is born genetically unaltered, and at birth he

    is determined to have a 99% probability of heart problems. His parents decide later to have another

    child, but this time have him genetically engineered to be disease free.

    According to virtue ethics, deontological ethics, and utilitarianism, genetically engineering

    people to prevent them from developing diseases would be ethical. It's inherently good. It's providing

    the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Children won't have to suffer the emotional

    pain of watching their parents die from heart failure. Companies won't have financial complications

    because their keystone-CEO is forced to retire early due to liver cancer. There are a lot of good, ethical

    things that can occur because of genetic engineering. There are also a lot of bad, unethical things
    waiting just down the slippery slope.

    Like this movie portrays, people's futures and life goals could be could be completely

    determined by the sequence of amino acids in their DNA. If people were born with inferior genes, they

    would be stuck with inferior careers their whole life. According to deontological ethics, this would be

    very unethical. Individuals would be sacrificed, and used as the means of having a more successful

    society. Society as a whole would benefit, but many individuals would suffer. This situation would be

    analogous to medieval Europe , or 19th century America. Instead of racism, or discrimination based on

    the caste system, there would be a “geneticism”--where people are discriminated against because of

    their genetic makeup. The movie references this issue. In this future society it is technically illegal to

    discriminate on the basis of genes, but it is a law that no one realistically abides by.

    In conclusion, the way people use genetics in this futuristic society is unethical. By analyzing

    this situation through a deontological perspective we can see how the good of an individual would be

    sacrificed for the whole. People would not be treated as ends in themselves, therefor violating the

    deontological groundwork. People are instilled with an unalienable right of the pursuit of happiness.

    The characters in Gattaca violated this right through extreme discrimination. People should not be

    characterized as inferior on the basis of race, ethnicity, and especially their genome. These are

    characteristics of ourselves we cannot control or change. Every individual should be given a chance to

    achieve their lifelong goals and dreams; success occurs when people achieve their goals. Inflicting a

    human being with the curse of never being successful is unethical.

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