How Is Gattaca A Dystopian

English Essay - 1984, Eve to her Daughters, Gattaca

1984 by George Orwell, Eve to her Daughters by Judith Wright and “Gattaca” directed by Andrew Niccol are three examples of Utopian literature and explores issues and ideas of their respective context and the time they were written in. All three texts explore key ideas that are indispensable in the construction of a dystopian text. These issues include the devastating and oppressive power of technology and the human spirit. The composers employ a wide range of literary and cinematic techniques to shape meaning in each text, such as lighting, metaphors and structure.

1984 is a novel, written in 1949 by George Orwell which depicts a dark vision of the future where society has been corrupted
The use of technology as a tool of oppression permeates throughout all dystopian texts and most importantly in “Gattaca”. The film forecasts society where parents are encouraged to decide the genetic makeup of their offspring before birth and individuals, who have not been genetically enhanced, suffer discrimination in all aspects of life. In this way, the society of Gattaca attempts to eradicate undesirable traits seeks perfection in its individuals by providing each human with the best genetic makeup. This idea is seen continuously throughout the film. Vincent, an unenhanced child is perpetually exposed to severe discrimination. Vincent observes a new class structure has arisen, not based on social status but on genetic makeup, known as genoism. These members of the society are usually referred to as “faith births,” “defectives”, “God children”, or officially, “in-valids.” Though it is illegal to discriminate by means of genetic profile, the obstacles encountered by the “invalids” are clearly seen throughout the film. One particular scene which demonstrates this discrimination is where Vincent is rejected from schools as the school cannot afford the high insurance rates required to cover an in-valid child. The severe effects of this are seen by the close-up shot of the gate, shutting out Vincent’s face, symbolising a jail, where the rights of Vincent is restricted. Also the opening credits of the film highlights the letters G, A, T and C, symbolising the four DNA bases, Adenosine, Guanosine, Thymine and Cytosine. This highlighting technique establishes in the beginning of the film that the letters belonging to the genetic code is more powerful than the other letters of the alphabet. The film also contains several close-up shots of blood, skin and hair, which alludes to that fact