Names vs. Genes?
Today in class when we were talking about the opening credits of GATTACA and how the letters of base pairs were highlighted in each name, I thought of something and forgot to mention it in class. Someone said that the genes stood out in the name and the rest of the letters in the casts' names faded out because names for the sake of identification are unnecessary when you can identify people by there genes via a finger prick of blood. That makes sense and all but even in that advanced state of genetics I argue that names are essential to a person's identity. I once heard somewhere that the most soothing sound to an individual person is hearing someone say their name. I highly doubt reciting a few pairs of their DNA to them would produce the same effect. A name is so much more than just something you call someone to get their attention. A name is a personalized set of words that each person has possession over. And sense technically we are not born with a name assigned to us, (our name wasn't tattooed on our foreheads)it is something that comes from outside of our being (usually from our parents) and is incorporated into ourselves entwining our internal selves to the external world in a very intimate way.
In the movie, when Vincent officially became Jerome and Jerome became Eugene, their identities were lost. For all intensive purposes Eugene still had his superior genes even though he was lending out his body's bi products and Jerome was still just a guy with "natural" genes. But as soon as Vincent took possession of Jerome's name he became a legitimate member of society because within the walls of GATTACA, Vincent Anton was just a janitor regardless of if he had borrowed Jerome Morrow's blood to get in. And as soon as the real Jerome became Eugene, still possessing his superior genes, he just became a hired help that was incapable of taking care of himself because he could no longer claim his name and superiority in public. In essence, Vincent and Jerome never permanently switched genes, only names, and that is what had the greatest effect because "it was no surprise that Jerome Morrow would achieve success."
I know that is a really provocative interpretation, but I just don't think genes and names serve the same purpose. Thoughts??
In the movie, when Vincent officially became Jerome and Jerome became Eugene, their identities were lost. For all intensive purposes Eugene still had his superior genes even though he was lending out his body's bi products and Jerome was still just a guy with "natural" genes. But as soon as Vincent took possession of Jerome's name he became a legitimate member of society because within the walls of GATTACA, Vincent Anton was just a janitor regardless of if he had borrowed Jerome Morrow's blood to get in. And as soon as the real Jerome became Eugene, still possessing his superior genes, he just became a hired help that was incapable of taking care of himself because he could no longer claim his name and superiority in public. In essence, Vincent and Jerome never permanently switched genes, only names, and that is what had the greatest effect because "it was no surprise that Jerome Morrow would achieve success."
I know that is a really provocative interpretation, but I just don't think genes and names serve the same purpose. Thoughts??
posted by Kristian at 2:20 PM
2 Comments:
I agree that genes and names do not serve the same purpose; however, I understand the important role that their "interchangeability" plays in GATTACA. This is the second time that I have seen this movie, and it still is remarkable to me that people never questioned that Vincent was not really Jerome Morrow--the fact that the DNA sequence and the name matched was enough for them to believe that he was Jerome. GATTACA's presentation of the interchangeable qualities of names and genes seems to eliminate the uniqueness of faces. It was enough for Vincent to comb his hair in a fashion similar to Jerome's picture and for him to wear contacts instead of glasses, and his identity as Vincent disappeared. Whether or not his face showed his true identity, his new identity only included the name and DNA sequence that he bought from Jerome.
That's a really good point. Whenever one of the officers would stare at the photo of Vincent and then gaze at the new Vincent (Jerome), I thought for sure he'd be recognized and caught. But rather than saying, "Wow you guys look alike...maybe you're him!", a quick blood test deterred the officers completely. Like you said Maxine, faces don't mean anything in Gattaca. The only thing that matters is if that little screen says VALID or INVALID. Who you are is measured by a single word. I also think this lack of physical uniqueness adds to the lack of sexuality in the film, from the awkward relationship between Vincent and Irene to the almost deathly portrayal of Vincent’s parents in the car. Sexuality has disappeared and everything is now solely about producing genetically superior offspring.
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