Why Is Gattaca Unethical

Survival of the fittest is one of the most common themes in ecology. Through natural selection, the organisms most capable of adapting to an environment will be the ones to pass on traits for their offspring to inherit. Although the natural process of passing on traits will supposedly take millions of years, geneticists have discovered that procedures such as eugenics and embryo selection will facilitate this process. However, one can reason that disposing of the rejected live human embryos, discouraging the sexual fertilization between certain groups of people, and regarding people with certain physical and mental traits as being the inferior are unethical.
Primarily, one can argue that simply “flushing the other embryos down the drain” is the waste of potential human life. Discarding unwanted embryos is the direct result from embryo selection: when a woman’s eggs
This is best portrayed in the 1997 film Gattaca, where a futuristic dystopian society displays extreme segregation between the genetically-engineered “valids” and the unwanted “invalids,” those born of natural birth. Even after several years of exercise and studying, Vincent, who was born of natural birth, could not change the fact that he was an invalid and resorts to literally changing his identity in order to be accepted into Gattaca. Today’s society is beginning to resemble Gattaca in the sense that the physically and intellectually competent are sometimes looked upon as having more worth or value than one who is not. Although a disabled man might not be able to contribute to a society as much as Albert Einstein did, it does not change the fact that he is still a human being who is just as capable of being appreciated and loved by others. Therefore, labelling a person with disabilities as being “retarded” or “mental” and treating them as an inferior is being dangerously