Gattaca: the new standard of eugenics

The genetic screening and manipulation presented in the Gattaca absolutely evoke a new king of eugenics. We are now living in a society that we are classed mainly by our gender and race. While white is privileged and even seen as “non-raced”, black is seen as savage and belong to a lower class. (Dyer 1 -2) When the race is conspiring with the gender, the issue becomes even more complex. As Ware states, “[b]lack and white masculinities and femininities are constructed not as simple binary pairings…but in a more complex and asymmetrical pattern of interconnected and self-similar attributes.” (135)

However, the genetic manipulation presented in the film is promoting a new eugenics that gender and race are no longer the measures of the class status, but the quality of the bodies and life. The quality of body function, intelligence, and character would determine the privilege of oneself.

Dyer, R. White. New York/ London: Routledge, 1997.

Ware, V. “Purity and danger: race, gender and tales of sex tourism.” Back to Reality? Social Experience and Cultural Studies. Eds. A. McRobbie. London: Manchester University Press, 1997. 133-151.