How does the film “GATTACA” illustrate the importance of minority rights in a free society?
The minority rights in a free society are very important. Although, majority rights get the bigger say in any situation, the minority are never ignored or left out, and the majority is never allowed to act like the minority is of a lower class. In the movie “GATTACA”, this is not portrayed as the case. In fact, in the movie, it is the complete opposite. There are two different types of people in the movie. The people who were born naturally, (also called “faith babies”) and the people who were genetically engineered, and born to be perfect. The majority in the film are the genetically born babies - they are attractive, smart, and incapable of disease. And, of course the minority are the faith babies, who are discriminated on a daily basis. The main character in the film, Vincent, is a faith baby, with a suspected heart problem, and a life long dream of going to space. He proves in the movie that the minority is just as good, and maybe sometimes better than the majority. There were a few different, big situations in the movie that were very against minority rights, which then, Vincent proved wrong. The first situation was getting jobs. GATTACA believed that only the genetically modified could become astronauts, or have any important, high skilled job, and that faith babies had to work as janitors because they were incapable of doing amazing things. Also, Vincent’s family never thought he could achieve his dream of being an astronaut because of his possible heart problem. He proves them all wrong in the end of the movie. Although he pretends to identify as his genetically modified friend, Jerome (who is physically flawless, but mentally ill. He is suicidal, depressed, and an alcoholic) it was only to help him get past most of the physical tests because he wasn’t perfect like Jerome. Vincent shows so much passion, perseverance , and determination to achieve his goals. He gets to finally go to outer space and fulfill his dream! The second situation was a battle between Vincent and his genetically modified brother, Anton. A geneticist mentioned to their parents about Anton; “This child is still you. Simply, the best, of you. You could conceive naturally a thousand times and never get such a result.” Since the day baby Anton was born, Vincent became a second priority to everyone, and experienced struggles with being the minority. Anton always beat Vincent in everything they did, such as, swimming races, who was taller, who was more handsome, who was smarter, and who got better jobs. Vincent shows that minority is just as good as the majority in a few ways. First, when they were young kids, Vincent saved Anton from drowning, and then later on, gets competes for a better job than him and gets the astronaut position, and finally when they have their very final swimming race, Vincent wins! Never giving up on anything he does is something that Vincent mastered. it makes the movie more interesting and exciting to watch. Finally, the last situation that Vincent proves that minorities are the same/equal as majority, is by dating a woman named Irene. They met because they worked together at GATTACA, and although Irene was genetically born and Vincent wasn't, they fell in love. This shows that naturally born babies and genetically born babies can still share a strong chemistry, and GATTACA shouldn't treat them differently. Maybe if they could both work high level jobs, they could have more ideas and a better work environment. Minority rights in “GATTACA” are very minimal, and the faith babies get discriminated all the time. But, a character such as Vincent is a fighter for their rights and achieves them in many ways. I think that this is a much better way to live. If everyone is already perfect, you will have no talent in the world and nothing to achieve. But, if everyone is born naturally with no genetic modifications, each person can shine at something, and have their own talents. A world where everyone is the same would be boring, there needs to be variety in people for a society to be sustained.
The main character in the film, Vincent.
DNA which they modify, and pick the best genes to create perfect humans.
Another one of the main characters that Vincent pretends to be; Jerome.
Vincent and his little brother Anton getting ready for a swimming race (as kids)
Famous quote by Vincent, which he says to Anton, and motivates him to succeed way more