I never saw Gattica in the theatres, but I recall a reviewer at the time arguing that Uma Thurman's looks could never have been deliberately engineered, since they're built on weird facial proportions that somehow work; although thinking about it now (and having seen Lily Cole in the intervening years) perhaps the lesson here is that clear skin trumps Vitruvian symmetry.
See, I have no problem believing that people with quirky looks will continue to exist in this society so long as they are considered attractive, which Thurman demonstrably is. It's more things like baldness and bad teeth and obesity that are explicitly tailored out. Which leads me to note that I think it is actually interesting that Gattaca is making (even accidentally) a case for body positivity alongside its celebration of individuality and determination, I just wish it had done so without demonizing an entire branch of biology and without linking it somehow to deservingness, which I think may also be part of what burns me about the premise. The movie says: the world deems Vincent an "In-Valid" because of his mediocre genes, but look, he's going to do something wonderful for humanity by participating in the Titan mission—and he's bringing something to it that none of his more privileged genetic superiors ever could—so just think what would have been lost if he had accepted the world's verdict of him and stayed a janitor and some interchangeable ticky-tacky superchild had gone to the rings of Saturn instead. And that's fine, but marginalized people should be allowed to survive and thrive and enjoy their lives even if they don't do anything wonderful for humanity because that is an essential human right. I know that's just not as conventionally dramatic.
I haven't seen Rocketeer in a long time; what I mostly recall is a background gangster made up to look like Rondo Hatton, and the rather affecting moment where the model of the H-4 Hercules is knocked off its pedestal and glides across the room, injuring some villains and prompting Hughes to mutter, with a look of awe, "What do you know? The damn thing *will* fly."
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See, I have no problem believing that people with quirky looks will continue to exist in this society so long as they are considered attractive, which Thurman demonstrably is. It's more things like baldness and bad teeth and obesity that are explicitly tailored out. Which leads me to note that I think it is actually interesting that Gattaca is making (even accidentally) a case for body positivity alongside its celebration of individuality and determination, I just wish it had done so without demonizing an entire branch of biology and without linking it somehow to deservingness, which I think may also be part of what burns me about the premise. The movie says: the world deems Vincent an "In-Valid" because of his mediocre genes, but look, he's going to do something wonderful for humanity by participating in the Titan mission—and he's bringing something to it that none of his more privileged genetic superiors ever could—so just think what would have been lost if he had accepted the world's verdict of him and stayed a janitor and some interchangeable ticky-tacky superchild had gone to the rings of Saturn instead. And that's fine, but marginalized people should be allowed to survive and thrive and enjoy their lives even if they don't do anything wonderful for humanity because that is an essential human right. I know that's just not as conventionally dramatic.
I haven't seen Rocketeer in a long time; what I mostly recall is a background gangster made up to look like Rondo Hatton, and the rather affecting moment where the model of the H-4 Hercules is knocked off its pedestal and glides across the room, injuring some villains and prompting Hughes to mutter, with a look of awe, "What do you know? The damn thing *will* fly."
Both of these things are in it!