Gattaca (1997)

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Marrow Man

Marrow Man

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Has anyone seen the 1997 movie Gattaca? I had to watch it for a class (to identify the worldview issues in the film), and found it interesting, though philosophically flawed.

There seems to be a clear Gnostic worldview presented in the movie. I was wondering if anyone else came to that conclusion (w/o giving too much of the movie away).
 
Matthew, I tried watching it a decade ago and couldn't get into it then. When I was assigned to watch it looking for worldview issues, though, it helped me focus a bit more.

There are some interesting metaphors that seemed to be built around pagan philosophy (such as the use of elemental images -- specifically water, wind/air, and fire, though I didn't quite pick up on earth as much).
 
Marrow Man said:
Has anyone seen the 1997 movie Gattaca? I had to watch it for a class (to identify the worldview issues in the film), and found it interesting, though philosophically flawed.

There seems to be a clear Gnostic worldview presented in the movie. I was wondering if anyone else came to that conclusion (w/o giving too much of the movie away).
Click to expand...

The movie either begins or ends with "What God has made crooked, no man may make straight." which I viewed as being the assertion that the movie was expressly rejecting. If this was true, the movie assumed that the main character was flawed, and that God didn't intend for him to achieve what He did. In light of revelation, we know otherwise. I think the movie has to assume it's conclusion in order to reach it.

As to the Gnostic overtone, I can't remember ever picking up on that. What gives you the impression that it has one?
 
Zenas said:
The movie either begins or ends with "What God has made crooked, no man may make straight." which I viewed as being the assertion that the movie was expressly rejecting. If this was true, the movie assumed that the main character was flawed, and that God didn't intend for him to achieve what He did. In light of revelation, we know otherwise. I think the movie has to assume it's conclusion in order to reach it.
Click to expand...

That quote from Ecclesiastes 7.13 appears at the beginning.
 
i liked the movie. But it was a while ago, so i don't remember any gnosticism.
 
Zenas said:
As to the Gnostic overtone, I can't remember ever picking up on that. What gives you the impression that it has one?
Click to expand...

I had forgotten about the quote from Ecclesiastes; thanks for mentioning that. Apparently the movie was originally supposed to have the title "The Eighth Day," but another film was released around the same time and the title had to be changed.

Gnosticism -- there is theme running throughout the movie that seems to suggest that the body is inferior, even if we genetically engineer superior human beings. Even the "perfect" humans in the movie fail (seen in the brothers swimming, the accident that befalls Eugene, the wisdom of the "inferior" detective). The tag line of the movie is even "There Is No Gene For The Human Spirit."

The thing that cinches this for me, though (assuming I am not reading too much into it) is the apartment where Jerome (Vincent) and Eugene (real Jerome) live. There are two levels, separated by a staircase that is obviously meant to look like a double helix. There is a message about movie from the lower level to the higher level, made possible through better genetics. The only problem is that better genetics does not accomplish this. Jerome is at the higher level even though he has inferior genetics (he is an "In-Valid"); Eugene is at the lower level even though he has superior genetics (and he is an invalid). Eugene has never been able to reach the "higher level" (even when he was an Olympian, he only won the silver, and he makes a comment about being on the lower platform, even though he feels he was meant to be on the higher one). Eugene actually does reach the higher level later in the movie through sheer physical determination, but does not remain there (he is carried back down by Jerome). In the end, Eugene realizes he will never escape from his lower level and even dons the silver metal to remind us of that.

In contrast, Jerome is able to attain the higher level through abandoning his own genetic inferiority. He must leave behind his own body (though, granted, taking the body of another) to achieve his goal. In the end he climbs into the space capsule (which looks remarkably like a womb) and leaves the world behind, heading to the stars (the other world), which he describes as "home."
 
Marrow Man said:
Has anyone seen the 1997 movie Gattaca? I had to watch it for a class (to identify the worldview issues in the film), and found it interesting, though philosophically flawed.

There seems to be a clear Gnostic worldview presented in the movie. I was wondering if anyone else came to that conclusion (w/o giving too much of the movie away).
Click to expand...

:lol: It's not like a spoiler alert for a 11 year old film.

I love that movie. If anything it is a great example of the folly that our life is controlled by our genetics. It's sort of a strange tension for Hollywood: on the one hand we can't help if we're homosexual because of our genes but everything else is up for grabs I guess.
 
I interpreted it as a critique of eugenics and not anything to do with gnosticism. That's why I liked it, because it's a picture of how dehumanizing technology could potentially be.
 
Well, certainly I would agree that the film is a critique of eugenics. But the film proceeds from a particular worldview, and that is what I was asking about. The two do not need to be mutually exclusive.

In retrospect, simply saying "Gnostic" is probably not specific enough to be entirely helpful. It is more along the lines of the philosophy of Plotinus (which isn't all that much different than Gnosticism!) that distinguishes between the upper ascent (to the "nous") and the lower ascent (being stuck in the physical realm). Certainly the two levels in the apartment represent the two segregated elements of society (the different genetic types, with the ladder between the two being DNA). However, the underlying theme seems to be one of freedom (the main character's last name is "Freeman") being achieved through will and determination ("the spirit") rather than science/genetics ("the physical"). The DNA staircase and the use of pagan elements (fire, water, air) seemed to hint at an underlying element reminiscent of Gnosticism.
 
Marrow Man said:
Zenas said:
As to the Gnostic overtone, I can't remember ever picking up on that. What gives you the impression that it has one?
Click to expand...

I had forgotten about the quote from Ecclesiastes; thanks for mentioning that. Apparently the movie was originally supposed to have the title "The Eighth Day," but another film was released around the same time and the title had to be changed.

Gnosticism -- there is theme running throughout the movie that seems to suggest that the body is inferior, even if we genetically engineer superior human beings. Even the "perfect" humans in the movie fail (seen in the brothers swimming, the accident that befalls Eugene, the wisdom of the "inferior" detective). The tag line of the movie is even "There Is No Gene For The Human Spirit."

The thing that cinches this for me, though (assuming I am not reading too much into it) is the apartment where Jerome (Vincent) and Eugene (real Jerome) live. There are two levels, separated by a staircase that is obviously meant to look like a double helix. There is a message about movie from the lower level to the higher level, made possible through better genetics. The only problem is that better genetics does not accomplish this. Jerome is at the higher level even though he has inferior genetics (he is an "In-Valid"); Eugene is at the lower level even though he has superior genetics (and he is an invalid). Eugene has never been able to reach the "higher level" (even when he was an Olympian, he only won the silver, and he makes a comment about being on the lower platform, even though he feels he was meant to be on the higher one). Eugene actually does reach the higher level later in the movie through sheer physical determination, but does not remain there (he is carried back down by Jerome). In the end, Eugene realizes he will never escape from his lower level and even dons the silver metal to remind us of that.

In contrast, Jerome is able to attain the higher level through abandoning his own genetic inferiority. He must leave behind his own body (though, granted, taking the body of another) to achieve his goal. In the end he climbs into the space capsule (which looks remarkably like a womb) and leaves the world behind, heading to the stars (the other world), which he describes as "home."
Click to expand...

wow, i totally missed the symbolism of the staircase and apartment. but i'm still not sure the movie is pitting the physicial vs the spiritual, so much as saying there is a spiritual reality. our spirit or soul will never be identified in genes or seen in a microscope but is just as crucial to who we are and what we can accomplish. so in the end, i think it's simply against a purely materialistic worldview.
 
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