2010-05-01 11:44:24

Film viewing provokes thought in students

1. Film viewing provokes thought in students

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Written by Theresa Hawes Collegian Staff

It was a cold, dark and gloomy Thursday afternoon when sophomore Alyssa Cave made the trek from her Basil’s dormitory to Holroyd Hall.  As the wind twisted in and around her brown, curly locks, butterflies began to flutter in her stomach.

Long has she been a movie buff who basked in the glory of great story lines and climatic plots, and at last her thirst for a good film would be quenched courtesy of the La Salle University Science department, sponsored by Explorer Cafe. The film was Gattaca, a 1997 American science fiction drama based on a futuristic society run by liberal eugenics staring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.  

 On Thursday April 22, La Salle Biology Professor Stefan Samulewicz, Ph.D. held a special movie viewing and formal discussion based on the thematic principals discussed in the movie.

 The film is centers on Vincent Freeman, played by Ethan Hawke, whose life is determined by genetic engineering rather than education or experience. The wealthy can choose the genetic makeup of their children through the use of technology while the poor must accept the fateful system of biology that can harvest heritable inferiority. 

 As a result, Vincent, who is born with myopia and a fatal heart condition, is faced with constant genetic discrimination and prejudice from not only his parents but also the society in which he lives. He exists in an impersonal world where people are fashioned to become perfect specimens, and the inferior minority are the vile scum of the universe.  Because Vincent is considered an inferior “in-valid” based on his genetics, he is forced into menial occupations that nobody wants.  Nevertheless, he dreams of becoming an astronaut even though this feat involved breaking the law and impersonating a superior being.

Gattaca comes from the same screenwriter, Andrew Niccol, who brought the American public The Truman Show and The Terminal. His innovative, creative plot poses several questions that plague our society today such as: What is personal identity? Can we create genetic superiority? Can perfection better human nature? While these questions may seem rather arbitrary in today’s world, they are really reflective of what can be. 

And while science fiction films are more of a taste acquired than a taste given, with all the right ingredients they can be an interesting narrative that gives realistic insight to the idealistic world around us.  Gattaca did this very thing for Cave who usually stays away from the SciFi genre. 

After watching the movie she said, “I’m not usually a fan of this kind of stuff, I like the more realistic movies and comedies.  But after watching this it really got me thinking. It seems farfetched and crazy that we can create the perfect human but in a world of science and technology anything is possible.”