Episode description

This week, our 2nd time having used the season 2 "Wheel of Insanity" feature to pick our movie randomly, we review the 1997 sci-fi film, "Gattaca."  This is a film about a future (or maybe an alternate reality) in which status, opportunity, and personal value, are measured solely by DNA, not by experience or determination, with fetuses being genetically enhanced & optimized in the womb.

This ends up being an impassioned review for at least one of our co-hosts.  We discuss how the injustices faced by the main characters reflect racism and other biases in real life.  There's a bit of a debate between co-hosts as to just how much society was stacked against one protagonist whose parents did not have him genetically modified and how much he would have had to work hard & study certain things, no matter what, even if he had the same opportunities as an engineered person.  We also debate the visual style of the movie which seems to be an intentional blend of retro and futuristic.  We even have differences as to the narrative lessons & visual presentation of the movie's conclusion.  And, while the discussion might be impassioned, one co-host argues that there's not much passion in the movie itself, despite a compelling premise.

We admit, this discussion is a little longer and a little more serious than some of our reviews.  *But*, near the end, we also compare the movie to a Chipotle burrito bowl...and toast.

In the end, opinions are all over the map on this one.  But, it's these unique perspectives that make discussion among Discerning Geeks so compelling...or, at least, we hope so (it's one of several reasons we do this).

Grab your hair brush, fingernail clippers, blood syringes, urine bags, and exfoliating brush -- and, don't forget to incinerate your discarded skin & hair cells -- as we engineer a discussion about...Gattaca.

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