MovieChat Forums > Gattaca (1997) Discussion > Why would Jerome/Vincent be out of breat...

Why would Jerome/Vincent be out of breath? (Treadmill scene)

posted 9 years ago by BigRich
10 replies | jump to latest

I just watched this last night for the umpteenth time. One of my all time favorites, but this scene always bothered me. Minutes before Jerome steps off the treadmill and we hear his 'real' heartbeat beating fast, it was stated (by the Hoovers and the janitor) that Vincent used to work at Gattaca a few years ago but disappeared. So if Vincent, now Jerome, had been at Gattaca for at least 2 years, why would he be this out of shape "jogging" on a treadmill for 20 minutes?

I understand the point the directory was trying to make, but it doesn't seem reasonable that Jerome is this out of shape less than a week out from launch.

_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

[–] JFox93 9 years ago

Well, Vincent / Jerome had worked at Gattaca as a janitor, so his previous position didn't include any physical training. That said, if we're to assume that Vincent had been living as Jerome for the entirety of those two years - I'm not exactly clear on the timeline - then it would certainly be unlikely that this particular scene was the only instance in which he had to display physical stamina at work. And if he appeared winded after a standard work out every day, then yeah, that would raise suspicion. My guess is that his heart rate may have been raised by overhearing the talk about his status as a suspect in the murder case.

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

It seems to me that the GATTACA Organization didn't train their employees (neither to attain shape nor to stay in shape); the organization merely trusted that their "carefully selected" elite employees already had all the necessary capabilities and that they would take their own responsibility to stay in shape. The organization merely tested them once in a while. Vincent and the other employees on treadmills in that scene were probably tested because they had a mission upcoming.

Furthermore, I think Vincent wasn't really out of shape (we saw him train himself repeatedly before he changed his identity into Jerome Morrow), but he had a deviating heart condition, which is reflected also in a deviating heart beating pattern.

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

[–] BigRich 9 years ago

No, the point I was trying to make was that Vincent was always trying to exercise or at least that's the impression he gave when he was doing those hanging sit-ups prior to being assuming the identity of Jerome. IMHO, that set a presidence that he needed to be in far better shape. Plus he was great at swimming.

IDK, but the treadmill scene and other equipment indicated that Gattaca did train their employees. Especially where Gabby Reece was telling people they were excused from running on the treadmill... you know what I'm saying? She looked like a trainer to me. If they didn't train their employees, what was that scene? A final test before the flight? And if it was, again, he shouldn't have been that out of shape. It wasn't the first time, otherwise Dr. Lamar wouldn't have said, "Jerome, Jerome. The metronome. You can play the piano by his heartbeat."

They probably should have had that scene earlier, not later, like a few days before his flight.

_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

[–] johnsonium 9 years ago

Simple. He did a good job hiding how out of shape he was.

[–] hollyhollytree 9 years ago

I don't think they're trying to say that he's not in shape. You don't get a six pack from not working out. There's a lot of talk about his heart condition- I assumed his breathlessness was due to that.

Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?

[–] The_GoldenGod_Reigns_Supreme 9 years ago

I would probably go with his potential heart problems (he had a 99% of having heart problems). And I also thought his heart beat may have increases when hearing the detectives talking about the case (knowing he was the in-valid) so he got nervous.

My Personal Top 30 TV Shows
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls059266199/

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kaskait 9 years ago

He was not out of shape. He was healthy as possible for a man his age could be. It isn't known if he has a bad heart just a large possibility that he might.

Everyone can over train. Everyone can reach a point where when pushing their bodies too hard it stops any kind of aerobic benefits. Jerome reached that point and he caused himself heart palpitations. In severe cases, it can cause heart attack.

Remember, Jerome was over exercising because he was paranoid that Gattaca would be on to his ruse. So he over compensated.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/339396-irregular-heart-beat-due-to-too-much-exercise/

[–] bartsz 8 years ago

It wasn't that he was out of breath, but that he was having a panic attack and his heart was starting to beat faster. He was listening to people talking about the murder investigation, which made him really nervous.

[–] Hodgey8806 8 years ago

I never actually picked up on this! I think that is part of it.
However, we notice it's at the exact 20 minutes moment that he pulls the monitor off.

I think the issue isn't that he's out of shape, but that he did have arrhythmia. That doesn't mean necessarily that he had a bad heart, but that he doesn't have a metronome heartbeat.

We note that, when doing situps, there's only so much he can do before his heart is too stressed that it starts beat abnormally.