Study Guide to

GATTACA
Director: Andrew Niccol
Screenplay: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal
Release date: 20 March 1998
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 predictedincluding 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 determinationand the use of someone elses very
superior DNA which he buys illegallyhe manages to achieve his ambition.
The film ends with him taking off in a rocket for Titan: he has overcome his genetic
limitations and is free.
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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 Niccols second major screenplay and was his
debut as a director. He says, My genes made me do it. I dont know when I first
thought of it, but you can open a newspaper today, and Im certain that youll 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 husbands 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 fathers 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 Jeromes identity. Each
morning Vincent scrubs off all his loose skin and hairs before sticking on his finger
tips small patches containing Jeromes blood and strapping to his legs a bag of
Jeromes urine. Thus, whenever he gives a sample, it is Jeromes 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 whos 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 Vincents 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 Gattacas directors (someone who had earlier thrown the
investigators off by saying "look at my DNA profile, I dont 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 todays society and how they were used in
the GATTACA society.

DNA Fingerprinting/Profiling Definition:

Current Uses in Todays Society

Uses in the GATTACA Society

Genetic Screening Definition:

Current Uses in Todays Society

Uses in the GATTACA Society

Genetic Engineering Definition:

Current Uses in Todays 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
peoples 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 Vincents

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 Vincents 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/husbands 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 someones
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 sex-linked 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, Vincents 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?