Where GATTACA's DNA Goes Wrong

While Gattaca is both a thought-provoking and interesting movie, it neglects to answer key questions that evolve from its setting and storyline. As a result, what appears to be a complex and multi-faceted film is actually one that poses questions and scenarios that it is unwilling to answer or make clear. The most glaring of these omissions are the unknown circumstances surrounding the formation of the movie's societal structure.

The protagonist Vincent faces discrimination as a degenerate, but is worshiped when thought to hold superior genes. In fact, in one of the film's insultingly simplistic and over-explanatory monologues (of which there are many), he describes the unsurmountable levels of prejudice he experiences when applying for jobs. Yet, what isn't explained (and perhaps would have been a better way to use one of those damn monologues) is how and why society has reached this point.

Perhaps my point thus far is a bit convoluted; I demand more explanation for some ideas, but condemn the explanation for others, such as those in the monologues. But this convolution is at the root of my issue with the film: when a movie can choose to make certain aspects explicit and leave others ambiguous, why should it waste time spoon-feeding the viewer the self-explanatory points instead of focusing on the meatier and more intriguing ones?

Is the government run by the genetically superior? Why are there still genetically inferior beings if DNA-altering technology is available? And to what extent can one's genes be modified? These are just a few of the many questions I had while watching the film. The latter question is hinted at in the piano concert scene where it is revealed that the pianist has twenty-some fingers, but again, how far can such technology go? There are also a few scenes showing the "proles" of society who are presumably genetically inferior, but why they exist and why they are left genetically inferior is seldom hinted at.

I may have a few qualms about with the film's unanswered questions, but I do, however, applaud its efforts at creating an environment (namely Vincent's place of work) in which there is little personal identity due to everyone's exceptionally good genes. Nonetheless, the ideas surrounding society's evolution and its inferior beings are little explored and, as a result, go to waste.