About this episode

The episode discusses the themes and implications of the film Gattaca with guest Nicole Hemmer.

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle is joined by Nicole Hemmer, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University and co-host of the This Day in History podcast, to discuss the 1997 dystopian science-fiction film Gattaca , directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman. In Gattaca , Hawke plays Vincent Freeman, a natural-born human being in a world of people genetically-engineered for perfection. Freeman dreams of space travel but is barred from it because of a genetic defect — a heart condition. To circumvent the system, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a genetically superior but disabled man, using Jerome's blood and urine samples to pass as a “valid” for Gattaca, the elite space program. As Vincent gets closer to his mission launch, a murder investigation threatens to expose his deception, forcing him to navigate suspicion while proving that determination can triumph over genetic destiny. You can find Gattaca to rent on Apple TV and Amazon. Episodes come out every two weeks, so see us then when we discuss The X-Files Movie . Sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/unclearpod . We do two episodes every month on…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jamelle Bouie, John Ganz

Guest: Nicole Hemmer

Topics covered

• dystopian film
• genetic engineering
• identity
• space travel
• moral dilemmas

Keywords

• Gattaca
• genetic engineering
• Ethan Hawke
• dystopian film
• space travel
• identity theft
• moral dilemmas

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apple TV, Amazon, This Day in History, Gattaca

Books & works: Gattaca

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