Gattaca at 20: Looking Back, Looking Ahead…


Promotional banner advertising the event. On the right and left sides are information about the events. The left side reads: “March , 6, 5 to 9 pm, Berkeley David Brower Center.” In white letters, text below reads the names of this event’s panel: “with Troy Duster, Karen Nakamura, Mel Y. Chen, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, and Osagie Obasogie” The two logos of the organizations who are co-sponsoring the Berkeley event are below, including: the HAAS Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley, which features multiple vivid colors that create a dynamic structure; and the Center for Genetics and Society, which shows outlines of three overlapping circles in the colors blue, green, and gray.” The right hand side displays information for the San Francisco event, with text that reads: “Thursday, March 8, 5 to 8 pm San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Room.” Information about the SF panel is below, which reads: “

 

Twenty years after its release, the film Gattaca remains an enduring touchstone for discussions of human genetic technologies. Starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law, Gattaca presents a dystopian vision of the “not-too-distant future,” in which society is divided into genetic “haves” and “have-nots.” The “Valids,” conceived through IVF and selected for supposedly “superior” genetic profiles, monopolize high status careers and positions in society; the “In-Valids,” conceived without technology, are discriminated against and excluded, presumed to be “inferior” because they differ from a narrowly defined standard of genetic perfection. The story follows Vincent, an “In-Valid” seeking to defy this system and achieve his dream of space flight.

In the twenty intervening years, “Gattaca” has become shorthand for the potential that genetic engineering could be misused to produce an oppressively unequal and intolerant society.  Today, as technical developments raise anew the possibility of genetically modifying future generations, and a resurgence in overt racism and race science gathers steam, the film’s lessons are more relevant than ever.

So what can we learn from Gattaca about the possibilities of human genetic technologies for supporting the common good or intensifying and increasing social inequality? And how close is our present-day reality coming to its dystopian vision?

To explore these questions, the Center for Genetics and Society co-sponsored two Gattaca-centered public events in the Bay Area. Each included a screening of the film, followed by discussion among a panel of scholars and activists. Lively audiences engaged each panel with questions and comments about the film.

Read more about these events and watch the videos below.


Podcast

Check out Living in Gattaca from Life of the Law, which features our two Gattaca events.

 

Video

Panel Discussion of Gattaca in Berkeley

 

Troy Duster (UC Berkeley) offers opening remarks about the film Gattaca, followed by a panel discussion between Duster, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Emory), Osagie Obasogie (UC Berkeley, CGS), and moderator Karen Nakamura (UC Berkeley).

The event, co-sponsored by CGS and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley, took place at the David Brower Center in Berkeley on March 6, 2018.

Panel Discussion of Gattaca in San Francisco

 

Catherine Kudlick (Longmore Institute, SFSU) offers opening remarks about the film Gattaca, followed by a panel discussion with Kudlick, Marcy Darnovsky (CGS), Sara Acevedo (California Institute of Integral Studies), Lawrence Carter-Long (Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund), Dominika Bednarska (Performer/Activist), and moderator Karen Nakamura (UC Berkeley).

The event, co-sponsored by Center for Genetics and Society, Superfest International Disability Film Festival, San Francisco Public Library, and UC Berkeley's Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, was held at San Francisco Main Public Library on March 8, 2018.

 


About Gattaca

Set in the not-too-distant future, Gattaca presents a dystopian society that uses technology to enforce a new form of inequality. Almost every child is born through assisted reproduction; embryos are screened for perceived deficiencies and only those with what are thought to be desirable traits – highly intelligent, attractive, and able-bodied – are implanted for gestation and birth. Those born without these perceived genetic advantages have little opportunity or support. Instead of becoming rocket scientists, they clean the floors.

Gattaca raises important conversations about the nature of health and disability, and whether diversity and inclusion are meaningful values in a society where genetic technologies determine opportunity and resources. It also suggests uncomfortable questions – how close is our present reality coming to Gattaca’s fictional dystopia?


Image ©SonyPictures


Additional Resources