[ExI] GATTACA discussed by the rest of the world

[Stephan Magnus]

I don’t think that the film is about the topic you are talking about. It is
not about genetical engineering being good or bad or about the possibilities
of enhancement or if you want it.
It is in a way about the same question like in “Amadeus”. What can you do if
your wishes or dreams do not fit the genes/ talents given to you? And could
you reduce the personality and its possibilities to genetics? The whole
point of the film is that you cannot.
And that is not so far from transhumanist ideas: What counts is you as an
individual and as a personality! If you can use enhancement to develop you
farther: well enough. But the best genes will bring you nowhere without
personality and wishes.

I found the movie in no way mediocre. For this special topic, the script is
pretty smart, just like “Truman Show” from the same guy. And that the
society is a little bit styled and too perfect: that is like in classical
fables. To make the point clear you have to make the background exaggerated
and easy to grasp. That is the canvas to paint the story on.


Stephan Magnus
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-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org]Im Auftrag von Anne Corwin
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 23. August 2007 04:51
An: ExI chat list
Betreff: Re: [ExI] GATTACA discussed by the rest of the world

I think part of the problem was that there was no way for him to, you know,
seek treatment for his heart condition in that society.  If you weren't
perfect from birth, you were basically screwed.  And if you got into an
accident (like Eugene or whatever his name was) you were also screwed,
because there were no real services or treatments for people with acquired
disabilities (plus, a colossal social stigma).

Though I agree the main character shouldn't have put other people's lives at
risk, I think the entire social structure they had in that movie was
extremely dystopian.  I also think that level of social control would be
impossible in the real world, though.  The whole film was mediocre fiction
but not much more.

- Anne

Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com> wrote:

>http://www.gnovies.com/discussion/gattacca.html
>
>
>There's more proof why no amount of funding or genius script can
>produce an H+ movie for the masses.

Actually I thought it was a shithouse movie (despite its prettiness),
but not for any reason a tender hearted humanist would accept. The
wonderful damaged natural human with a dud heart swims out after his
(by hypothesis) supermanized gene-optimized big brother who's always
(of course) beaten the pants off him before but is now about to
drown, and saves him, driven by *sheer human dogged grit and pluck*!
At the end, I dimly recall, he passes himself off as a standard
superman for a trip to Mars or somethun, even though his heart will
with p = 0.997 explode en route from the stress; instead of
chastizing him for putting everyone else's lives at risk by bumping
the real expert, we're meant to see this as a triumph for sheer human
dogged grit and pluck, rather than selfish bastardry. Ah well.

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