Okay, so I guess it’s time for another essay to be written. I’m not going to lie; this moment has come way too soon. When stopping to think about all the different aspects of Brave New World, I think I’ve decided to compare this novel to my medical ethics unit in my Biochemistry CART class. During this unit, we had to watch the movie Gattaca and analyze the problems within that society.
This movie was about an unpleasant future; Vincent, the main character, is one of the last “natural” babies born into a sterile, genetically-enhanced world, where life expectancy and disease likelihood are ascertained at birth, wants to travel into space. Because of his “natural” birth, society has categorized him as less than suitable given his genetic make-up and he has become one of the underclass of humans that are only useful for unskilled jobs. To pursue his life-long dream of traveling to the stars, he takes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a perfect genetic specimen who is a paraplegic as a result of a car accident. Vincent learns to deceive DNA, hair, skin, and urine sample testing to match Jerome, not himself. During this time society analyzes your DNA and determines where you belong in life. This futuristic society now discriminates against your genes, not your gender, race or religion. Because Vincent was born with a congenital heart condition which would cast him out of getting a chance to travel in space, he assumes the identity of an athlete who has genes that would allow him to achieve his dream.
I feel this movie we analyzed in class really relates to the futuristic society of Brave New World. One obvious example of this is that all the babies in this society are genetically engineered and given synthetic enhancements, instead of just the natural birth process. This movie and medical ethics are outside sources that I would like to compare and relate to this novel, Brave New World.
