Gattaca
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“They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They dont say that anymore.” The sci-fi, thriller Gattaca was written and directed by Andrew Niccolin in 1997. The name, Gattaca, is composed of the letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA. Overall, the movie is about a genetically inferior man, or invalid, who buys the identity of a superior one, or valid, in order to pursue his life long dream of working at Gattaca and going into space. According to the movie, Gattaca, genetic engineering should not be used because it leads to sibling rivalry, the burden of perfection, and genetic determinism.
Gattaca argues that science should not be the way to reproduce in the future because it leads to sibling rivalry. First, signs of sibling rivalry occur when a family has two sons and only one of them is born through genetic engineering. “Thats how my brother, Anton, came into the world – a son my father considered worthy of his name.” The father favors his genetically engineered son because he was given more advantages than the naturally born son. This makes the naturally born son hate his brother for receiving more love than him and being thought better of. The next example of sibling rivalry is seen when the two brothers challenge each other to a swimming race. The naturally born brother wins when his brother starts to drown. His father blames him and believes it was he who was drowning and that the genetically engineered brother almost died from having to save him. Neither of them argued what the father had said and once again the naturally born son was looked down upon, when for once he was actually stronger. “It confirmed everything in the minds of my parents – that they had taken the right course with my younger brother and the wrong course with me. It would have been so much easier for everyone if I had slipped away that day. I decided to grant them that wish.” When the