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Why does the wheelchair-bound guy live in a 2 floor apartment w/stairs

posted 9 years ago by AllieMDA
19 replies | jump to latest

Why is the original, wheelchair-bound Jude Law character living in a two-story apartment? I mean, other than for two heavy-handed reasons: 1) it resembles a "double helix" (HELLO WE GET IT ALREADY) and 2) to make the scene towards the end more dramatic, that the guy in the wheelchair made it up those stairs, went through paroxysms in order to protect everything they'd been working towards. (Of course you can't beat the leg surgery that Vincent goes through, to show dedication..I still cringe at that.)
Do they ever explain this? Why was there a second floor? Again, sure, it was dramatic, but they ought to have an explanation.

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

They never explain it in the movie. All we have is a scene and part of dialogue that briefly touches the subject:

Vincent: "So, who lives upstairs?"
Eugene: "I certainly don't."

Maybe all luxury apartments meant for Valids are two-story apartments; there simply don't exist one-story luxury apartments in the world of Gattaca. Furthermore, Eugene was living as a recluse, for obvious reasons. So it makes sense that he lives in a part of the house that is separated/remote from the neat-looking "front appearance" of the house.

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

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

I meant Eugene was living as a recluse before he met Vincent. And as far as I understand, that nightclub was an underground/illegal/subversive venue, it was not "public" life. (However, it appears that Eugene was already a patron before he met Vincent.)

I don't see any reason to regard Eugene's two-story apartment as a weak point in the story. Why would Eugene not live in that apartment (before he met Vincent)? It's a neat apartment, in a cool neighbourhood, apparently it has the amenities that allow/help him to keep private, it suits his standing, and he had the money for it...

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

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

[Sorry, I was editing my previous post in order to add a few minor details before I noticed that you had posted a reply.]

Even if he lived in a one-story apartment, a guy like Eugene is not going to clean things himself, so of course for occasional menial jobs like that he's hiring a maid anyway; some poor "In-Valid" who is treated like dirt by society and whom Eugene can trust to be discrete. (The fact that we never saw one doesn't mean that there wasn't one. Should the movie really bother us showing the loyal maid appearing every Saturday early in the morning tidying up the house in a few hours? I think every viewer can easily figure it out him/herself, we don't really need some explicit cues/exposition to complete that "puzzle".)

Suppose you were Eugene and you could choose between on one hand a two-story apartment in which the bottom story allows you to keep away from prying eyes, and on the other hand a one-story apartment in which the mailman or anyone else who walks past your front door has a chance to catch a glimpse of you in your pyjamas in your wheelchair through the windows of the apartment; which apartment would you choose?

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

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

I wondered about that too. Didn't make any sense.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.

[–] Zuider_Zee 9 years ago

Plot device!

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] forthesafetyofpuppies 9 years ago

He presumably lived there before the accident. He's depressed. He doesn't care.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qssvnjj5Moo

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

He doesn't care.

Me neither, at this point. As the OP, I declare this thread over and done with.

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

He presumably lived there before the accident.

Hmm, not sure about that. Eugene was a foreigner and it was also mentioned that the accident happened abroad. It seemed rather that after the accident, Eugene fled to the US where nobody knew him personally and where he would be left alone by his old friends and relatives (who are still abroad).

He's depressed. He doesn't care.

Agreed. Those things indeed also factor into it.

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

[–] forthesafetyofpuppies 9 years ago

It might be the kind of masochistic thing someone depressed does. A constant reminder of the things he can no longer do. Or maybe he had a roommate prior to Hawke swinging by. He obviously needs the cash.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qssvnjj5Moo

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

Or maybe he had a roommate prior to Hawke swinging by. He obviously needs the cash.

Good point. Maybe even several subsequent roommates, who each left him after only a few months because they got fed up with his depressed state and narcissistic demeanor.

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

[–] forthesafetyofpuppies 9 years ago

Sounds like the makings of a fine comic prequel.

___
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qssvnjj5Moo

[–] Technomage001 9 years ago

Maybe he owned it before the accident as his US residence. Maybe he just got a good deal on it. Maybe the stolen ladder people got it for him because of the location where he and his future companion could be left alone and if visitors came they would be less suspicious thinking no one in a wheel chair would live in such a place. Maybe the director liked it.

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

Those are good possible explanations. Which just goes on to show that this plot element is not implausible at all.

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

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

This is probably it. He might have owned the place before the accident and didnt want to give it up after and admit his crippling injuries.