The movie Gattaca (1997) depicts a future society where genetic engineering is used to create designer babies. These children are endowed with every genetic advantage possible from the elimination of inherited diseases to an extra finger on each hand in order to reach otherwise unattainable piano performances. Parents bestow on children the best possible genetic traits to insure success in life. However, a new caste system arises between the Valids (those born with modifications) and In-Valids (those born without modifications). The new social structure based on enhancement or the lack of it creates a new system of genetic discrimination where Valids are able to raise to the top and In-Valids are left to do the menial labor. The movie was hailed as prophetic when first released and continues to serve as a science fiction reminder of the potential dangers of biotechnology gone too far.
But the movie isn’t about the future. Like all prophecy it is about the present. Gattaca takes the same track as all futuristic thinking in identifying current trends either social, scientific or technological trajectories and then logically extends them into the future in order to evaluate their results. Futurism or prophecy operates as a form of social criticism either affirming our current conditions by creating a romantic and idealized version of the future, such as the dream of moon colonies back in the 1960’s, or denying our present condition and offering a warning of future debacle, such as Gattaca. The movie presents us with a criticism of our own social ethic of radical competition. Parents are so obsessed with their children’s success that they will go to any length to insure it. When watching Gattaca I do not see the near future, but present values projected onto the future. There is no good reason why biomedical technology must be used to create genetic discrimination. It is our values that dictate that such a system will exist. People will chose certain traits over others based on a value system that favors a particular type. If we change our values we will control the direction new technology takes to include everyone and not just an elite. The future does not have to be this way if we change the present.