Eugenics, genetic discrimination and

genetic destiny

Ideas in Gattaca

Vocabulary• Look out for new vocabulary in this

presentation that will be useful to use in your essays – it will be coloured red

What is Eugenics?

• The study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population especially by selective breeding

• The term was coined in 1883 by an English scientist

• The word ‘eugenics’ comes from the Greek word eugenes which means  "well-born, of good stock,"

• from eu-  "good" + genos  "birth"

• Therefore Eugene’s name is significant in the film (this is not a coincidence…)

• "Eugene Morrow," literally means the "best gene of tomorrow."

History of Eugenics

• Eugenics was widely popular in the early decades of the 20th century, but by the late 20th century it had become unpopular, having become associated with Nazi Germany

• What is the link between Eugenics and Nazi Germany? Discuss in pairs for a few minutes

• People have associated eugenics with Nazi abuses, such as enforced “racial hygiene", human experimentation, and the extermination of "undesired" population groups

• Today Eugenics is widely regarded as a brutal movement which inflicted massive human rights violations on millions of people

• The "interventions" advocated and practiced by eugenicists in the early 20th century involved:– The identification and classification of individuals and their

families as "degenerate" or "unfit", including:The poorMentally illBlindDeafDevelopmentally disabledPromiscuous womenHomosexuals Entire racial groups -- such as the Roma and Jews

– The segregation or institutionalisation of such individuals and groups, their sterilization, euthanasia, and in the extreme case of Nazi Germany, their mass extermination

• While all people were allowed to procreate in Gattaca, there were obvious disadvantages to those that chose not to eliminate "undesired" traits

• What are some of the “undesired” traits Vincent has?

• Gattaca deals with issues surrounding Eugenics and genetic discrimination, or ‘genoism’

• Genoism is a neologism coined by Andrew Niccol used to describe unethical and illegal genetic discrimination

“My father was right. It didn't matter how much I lied on my resume. My real resume was in my cells. Why should anybody invest all that money to train me when there were a thousand other applicants with a far cleaner profile? Of course, it's illegal to discriminate, 'genoism' it's called. But no one takes the law seriously. If you refuse to disclose, they can always take a sample from a door handle or a handshake, even the saliva on your application form. If in doubt, a legal drug test can just as easily become an illegal peek at your future in the company.” —Vincent Freeman

Society in Gattaca functions on the ideology of Liberal Eugenics

• Liberal eugenics is an ideology which advocates the use of reproductive and genetic technologies where the choice of enhancing human characteristics is left to the individual preferences of parents acting as consumers, rather than the public health policies of the state

Draw up and fill in the following table:

Positives about life in a society like the one in Gattaca

Negatives about life in a society like the one in Gattaca

Overall, do you agree or disagree with the ideology of liberal eugenics that we see in action in Gattaca?

When Vincent is born, the nurse announces:

• “Manic depression, 42% probability, attention deficit disorder 89% probability, heart disorder 99% probability, early fatal potential, life expectancy: 30.2 years.”

• Vincent goes on to say - "My destiny was mapped out before me—all my flaws, predispositions, and susceptibilities, most untreatable to this day."

• To what extent do the ‘predictions’ of Vincent’s genetic shortcomings affect his life?

• How does he manage to overcome them?

Genetic ‘destiny’• What is the director trying to teach us when

Vincent manages to overcome his genetic shortcomings – such as when he manages to outlive his life expectancy, work at Gattaca or beat his brother at chicken?

• Is it really genetics that determines what we can and cannot do?

• If not, what does determine this?

•Overall, what is the message of the film?

Vincent: “There is no gene for fate”