Throughout all of history, discrimination has always existed in society, whether it is the poor against the rich, female against male or white against black. In the texts I have studied in class, the authors/directors have portrayed their views on the topic of discrimination. In my report I will analyse the overarching theme of “Discrimination will always be prevalent in society” present in my four texts and discuss the connections between them. My first two texts I studied were “Brave New World” written by Aldous Huxley, and “Gattaca” directed by Andrew Niccol. Both these texts show that “Discrimination is a part of human nature” My other two texts I studied were “Montana 1948” written by Larry Watson and “Crash” directed by Paul Haggis.
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In Gattaca, eugenics is decided by your wealth, the richer you are, the more money you can spend on perfecting your child. Whereas in Brave New World, it is completely random whether you are created to be a Alpha or a Epsilon. This is a stark difference, as in Gattaca it shows that the wealthy still hold all the power, and that the rich vs. poor stigma still exists. The poor would not be able to afford eugenics, and thus would have a lower life expectancy, and lesser physical and mental capabilities. Whereas the rich would be able to afford having a child born with eugenics, who are essentially an improved version of themselves. Thus only the poor would get discriminated against, and feel the negative effects of eugenics. In Brave New World, this means that everyone has an equal chance of being in a particular caste. In both texts, discrimination occurs due to one class of individuals being greater than the other; however the way they show that it is a part of human nature is completely different. Brave New World shows it through the juxtaposition of Bernard and the other Alpha Plus’s. Though Bernard too is an Alpha Plus like the rest, he is still discriminated against. This shows that discrimination is at a much deeper level than just class based, and is human nature. In Gattaca, this is shown through the job selection process by which everyone is DNA tested to ensure that only the “valids” get the more sophisticated jobs. However where in Gattaca the discrimination could be seen as justified, (as you want the best possible person for the job) in Brave New World it is completely unjustified as Bernard is no different from the others besides his height, “Bernard's physique was hardly better than that of the average Gamma. He stood eight centimetres short of the standard Alpha height and was slender in
In Gattaca, eugenics is decided by your wealth, the richer you are, the more money you can spend on perfecting your child. Whereas in Brave New World, it is completely random whether you are created to be a Alpha or a Epsilon. This is a stark difference, as in Gattaca it shows that the wealthy still hold all the power, and that the rich vs. poor stigma still exists. The poor would not be able to afford eugenics, and thus would have a lower life expectancy, and lesser physical and mental capabilities. Whereas the rich would be able to afford having a child born with eugenics, who are essentially an improved version of themselves. Thus only the poor would get discriminated against, and feel the negative effects of eugenics. In Brave New World, this means that everyone has an equal chance of being in a particular caste. In both texts, discrimination occurs due to one class of individuals being greater than the other; however the way they show that it is a part of human nature is completely different. Brave New World shows it through the juxtaposition of Bernard and the other Alpha Plus’s. Though Bernard too is an Alpha Plus like the rest, he is still discriminated against. This shows that discrimination is at a much deeper level than just class based, and is human nature. In Gattaca, this is shown through the job selection process by which everyone is DNA tested to ensure that only the “valids” get the more sophisticated jobs. However where in Gattaca the discrimination could be seen as justified, (as you want the best possible person for the job) in Brave New World it is completely unjustified as Bernard is no different from the others besides his height, “Bernard's physique was hardly better than that of the average Gamma. He stood eight centimetres short of the standard Alpha height and was slender in