Gattaca (1997)

[Anonymous]

The world is genetically exclusive.  We no longer have equal rights based upon merit and value of our personal abilities and aptitudes.  Humanity has been transformed into a eugenically "perfect" mould where no negative traits are accepted.  The lower caste humans – those who have been created by natural means of human copulation – are not allowed to enter select sectors of establishment society.  The faith-birth invalids are screened and relegated to manual labour tasks.  The valid "superior" "natural" birth humans that work in the more luxurious positions of society are carefully screened through blood and urine analysis everyday to make sure they are who they say they are.  This is made possible by the careful engineering of the human organism.  A trace is kept from genetically engineered inception, to birth, to the rest of life.  Everyone is in the system, everything is known about them.  The amount of heartbeats they will have in their lifetime, the probability of developing certain heart or other health problems in life, the maximum level of intelligence.  Everything is supposedly determined by your genetic makeup.

When you want to have a baby, you will go to a lab, and discuss what genetic traits you want your child to have, while carefully removing any unwanted traits that increase the possibility of creating a less than perfect human.  No longer are children designed by natural processes allowed to be treated on an equal basis.  After all, they are not equal.  The natural way is now the genetic engineering way.  The natural way is to route out any perceivable imperfections so to create the ideal human being.  Why would you want an imperfect child when you can have a genetically superior one?  What room is left in a society for a faith-birth human when they aren't as smart, as good looking, as tall, or as strong, according to their genetics?   Or at least, that is what we are told those lesser humans are, simply by putting some genes into a formula and computing the mathematical result set.  They just are not up-to-par with the rest of the perfect creations. The only thing that matters is how you were born.

What you can do is not of any consequence.  The only resume you have is your genetic resume.  Even though there are laws against discrimination on a genetic basis, no one enforces this law, it is ignored.  If you do not disclose your genetic imperfection – that you were not created in a lab – they can always use legal drug tests to get your genetic material and determine if you are indeed perfect or not and simply state you are not qualified.  Why would an employer choose a flawed creation over a perfect one?  No matter what you actually do, no matter how much you excel, you are never as good as those who are designed to be better, even if you are in actuality better than them at a specific function or at everything.  Test scores are secondary to genetic makeup.  You are less than you are simply by being born without modification.  Discrimination is based on science now, not on any other trait.  The unifying identity is genetics.  All people see are flaws or no flaws. That is the defining characteristic of an identity: are you a flawed invalid faith-birth or a genetically engineered "superior" natural birth.

When you want to select a mate, you collect their genetic material and have it tested and ranked according to a predetermined scale based on genetic material.

The elite are the genetically superior.  The only interview you need to be in the upper-class is passing a genetic test.

[Anonymous]

We may very well see a world like this in the near future.  In one respect we are already witnessing this phenomenom with the advent of plastic surgery.  Youth and beauty are  revered in our culture.  If you have it, it can open doors that are normally closed to others.  

Gattaca's enduring message is about the will and determination of the human spirit over and above the perfect world.  It showcases that anything can and will, happen, when one has a goal and the strength to pursue it.