MovieChat Forums > Gattaca (1997) Discussion > Why did Vincent take out his contact len...

Why did Vincent take out his contact lenses?


The part when Vincent and Irene are about to get searched by the checkpoint in the tunnel, Vince takes out his contacts because he notices they are scanning the eyes. I thought he wore those lenses because they matched Jerome's eye color? Obviously they also gave him better vision by replacing his glasses, as he could not see after he removed them. Can someone please clarify?

Thx, btw this is my favorite sci-fi movie ever!

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Well, it's simple really: if Vincent didn't take out his contact lenses, the men with the eye scanners (who were looking for a certain suspect who fits a certain description) would notice that he's wearing contacts, which means that Vincent was an Invalid and/or hiding something, and so they would have a "legitimate" reason to detain him. (Also, with the eye scanners the men would be able to easily pick out Invalids who've had corrective eye surgery in order to pass themselves as Valids.)

Sloppy of those men though, that they didn't notice that Vincent's actual eye color doesn't match what it says in his profile (from his blood ID). Or maybe I'm misremembering and Vincent and Eugene did have matching eye color, and the contact lenses were merely meant to correct his eyesight.

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Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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Sloppy of those men though, that they didn't notice that Vincent's actual eye color doesn't match what it says in his profile (from his blood ID). Or maybe I'm misremembering and Vincent and Eugene did have matching eye color, and the contact lenses were merely meant to correct his eyesight.
They did change his eye color in addition to correcting his vision.
You are right that contact lenses would've been noticed. (Presuming, of course, that contact lenses have not been supplanted by something better in the future.)
But as has been mentioned elsewhere on this board, you take a quick glance, it clears, and no one truly looks at the actual ID - because they can't imagine anyone defying their tests in that manner.
To go back to the driver's license analogy.. when does anyone actually look at your eye color on your license? Um, exactly never. Even if they are looking for a fake ID, they look at you, and they look at your age, and that is how they make a decision. No one says "Wait, my eye color says brown and my eyes are brown! That proves it isn't a fake!" Not even the most desperate to get into a club would say that. (Yes, Vincent is more desperate than someone trying to get into a club, but the point stands.)
Thanks for writing that answer though, yurenchu. I couldn't articulate it as well as you did.

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You're right: nobody really examines the profile anymore. They'd look mainly at the person's behavior, and Vincent was behaving confidently and normally (or what's considered "normally" for a smug Valid). As soon as the word "Valid" appears, those routinous, bored cops would finish the procedure and move on to the next person in line. Moreover, the eye color isn't shown directly on their screens when the ID pops up, instead it's information that was scrolling from right to left (like a news ticker), along with several other data. So they could have easily missed it.
- http://oi60.tinypic.com/33tks3d.jpg
- http://bilder.hifi-forum.de/max/610438/gattaca-invalid_110235.jpg
- http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lswugq9PH01qjahnho1_500.jpg

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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You gave like 3 possible scenarios as to why he took out his lenses, so the answer is not quite "simple" is it? Btw they had different eye color, they set him up with colored lenses that match Jerome's. That part Jerome says "my eyes are prettier than yours"

Thx for the reply

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No, I gave one reason why he took out his lenses: if he didn't, he would be apprehended. Simple as that.

Furthermore, I gave several rather straightforward, simple explanations why he would be apprehended if they found out about his lenses, and why those men were using eye-scanners.

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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What were the eye scanners checking for then? Just if someone had gone through eye surgery?

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Eye surgery or contact lenses, apparently. The eye scanners didn't scan identity, or else Vincent would have been toast.

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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Seems feasible, but it seems like a flaw on the part of the writer/director to not explain that. Pretty much every movie that you see with an eye scanner is verifying the identity of the person it scans. I think a lot of people are used to that and were confused like me when it didnt flag him as Vincent.

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That struck me as weird too when I saw your question yesterday; but all that time before, I never thought of it that way. Maybe because (if I remember correctly) in the movie they didn't use those devices as "scanners"; they used them as lamps that they hold above (not in front) of your eyes so that they can see your eyes better.

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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They were in a hurry, it was night time, name your excuse.

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I always thought it was ridiculous how Vincent just casually tosses his contact lenses on the ground. He could have easily put them in his pocket, avoiding having to cross traffic nearly as blind as a bat.

But, I suppose if he were apprehended, then they would probably search him thoroughly and notice contact lenses, marking him as an Invalid.

At least they were unable to take a DNA swab of his mouth.

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That bugged me too. I watched the film again today and it's possible that he doesn't toss them. He removed both contact lenses with one hand and when he closes his hand they bump each other and fall.
Or at least that's how they should have done it in the movie ;) it makes no sense to toss them

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