Gattaca

Interesting title right? Well, it is actually the title of a movie I just watched yesterday, and I thought that it was important especially in these days of cloning, genetic testing, what have you.

This movie was made over ten years ago (1997) and stars Ethan Hawke as a genetically "inferior" man who uses the identity of a genetically "superior" man (Jude Law) to make his dreams of space travel come true. It sounds like a silly premise, but this movie speaks volumes to the dangers of eugenics and playing God with genetics.

In the movie, the world is separated by who was natural born and who was genetically engineered to be superior or perfect (perfect hair color, perfect eyes, etc.). In a world where women lop off their breast because they have the cancer gene(not the cancer itself!) and where newborns will have their DNA extracted, with or without parental consent, I think movies like this are going to become increasingly important.