MovieChat Forums > Gattaca (1997) Discussion > Shouldn’t Vincent and Irene be ugly?

Shouldn’t Vincent and Irene be ugly?


If Vincent and Irene are supposed to be genetically deficient compared to most other humans, shouldn’t they be less attractive than everyone else? Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman both are hot actors so it’s harder to take their characters as people who are seen as “lesser” in society. It would make for interesting visual storytelling if the genetically-modified people were all physically attractive (at least superficially) while the invalids were lacking in looks but still in many ways naturally beautiful.

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Irene wasn’t an Invalid. She was genetically designed hence why she was pretty. It’s just that her design had a minor flaw in the form of heart defect.

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Not necessarily. They have control over certain genetic features, but people are still a product of their parents. There isn't really a "hot" gene that gets activated. Also consider, there are very attractive people all around us that aren't engineered.

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