I saw Gattaca for the first time some weeks ago. The one thing that I really liked about that movie was that even though it’s a quasi futuristic tale, it all had a very nostalgic and 1940s film noir feel to it. Kinda cool since I really admire the look of that era. Anyway, once I got past the green tint dominating the entire film (very popular in sci-fi movies at the end of the 90’s) I was very impressed with the story and how ambiguous the entire plot was. The ending was a bit of a let down since the main plot device kept intensely building to what one might suspect would be rather satisfying ending (yet it wasn’t). So beyond that, I found almost nothing problematic with the film save for one tiny little problem with the plot.
The more time has passed the bigger that plot hole gets to be and just screams out, “tread softly, thin plot ahead“. In the movie Ethan Hawke’s character is attempting to pass as Jude Law’s character, all the while getting help from Jude Law to do so. You see, (if you haven’t seen the movie) people in the future, the genetically engineered humans that most people are, don’t look too favorably on weak, infirm or anyone who was “naturally” born. So Jude Law, due to a broken spinal column will never walk again and his dreams of flying a space shuttle are all but smashed to pieces. Similarly Ethan Hawke (who was born naturally) can never fly, gain meaningful employment or live life without being looked down upon. So, in a case of swapped identities, Jude decides to let Ethan pass for him so that he may achieve his dreams.
Anyway, and really to the point of this “Random Thought” post, here’s my problem. I tolerated a decent futuristic film that really didn’t give any glimpses of said future, but hinted at it through mere suggestion (much like a Twilight Zone episode). I didn’t mind that and actually enjoyed what they were trying to do with this film. But I have to call some major “BS”, when you look a the following ‘futuristic’ elements: You have space shuttle travel (albeit for the most educated people on the planet), you have (even better) daily shuttle launches, you have blood and skin identification and recognition so advanced all you have to do is get near a device and your stats are wirelessly splayed across monitors around the world, finally they can use gene manipulation and engineering to make your child perfect in the womb.
Wow, makes the future seem pretty cool huh? Well here’s my problem. You have all that, but they can’t fix a broken spine of the main character? Quick someone call in a script doctor to fix this severely severed plot hole…oh wait we don’t have the technology yet? Oh well, maybe in the future? Haha, yeah right…
So that’s my one huge gripe (with what was otherwise an OK movie) and figured I’d get it out in the open. Anyone else have a problem with that in the movie, or am I the only one?
