Set in the near future, the movie Gattaca (1997) presents a world in which genetic engineering has become the norm, and society is stratified not according to class or race, but rather by genetic potential. After a semester of discussing the way that science and society are intertwined, what themes do you see in Gattaca that reflect some of the issues we’ve discussed in class?
For instance, how do themes of eugenics permeate this movie? How does this reflect optimism in science? How does it reflect criticisms of science? How are issues of science and commercialism present? What about issues of reductionism and holism? These are just some issues, and there are plenty more. Choose one or two themes for your paper.

In your essay, you should not only analyze aspects of the movie, but also draw from the class readings (Larson, Wolfe, Maienschein, etc). To write an effective paper, you will need to first watch the movie (I have placed two copies on reserve at Randall Library; it is also available through services such as Netflix) and then use some of the historical examples we’ve discussed to illustrate the themes you’ve chosen to analyze in Gattaca. Overall, be sure to use plenty of examples (i.e. details!) to back up your claims and find examples and arguments from lecture and our secondary readings that provide the evidence you need to be convincing. Remember, you need to make sure to give weight to your arguments by drawing on some of the historical episodes that we’ve discussed in class.
Format
Papers should be 5-7 pages double-spaced with one-inch margins and choose Times New Roman, Cambria, or something very similar in 12-point font. There is no need for a title page or works cited page; merely start the paper with your name, my name, and the class section.
When you quote from something we’ve read, make sure you cite the author’s name and page number in parentheses after the quote, e.g. (Wolfe, p. 22). If you quote from Gattaca, you do not need to include a parenthetical citation, but be sure to make it clear that you are quoting from the movie (e.g., In Gattaca, the character Vincent Freeman states, We now have discrimination down to a science. ) If you are going to use a quote that is more than 4 lines long you should put it in an indented block citation form. Refrain from doing outside research beyond the movie and our materials from this class, as I am only interested in what you think.