Gattaca (1997)

This is a really good movie. It's a sci-fi, so I was slightly skeptical and was half expecting the cheesy acting or second-rate plot line that can sometimes be found in some sci-fi movies. I can happily say however, that this movie was pretty gripping.

The film places itself in a not too distant future, a time that is more heavily practicing genetic engineering. Our protagonist is name Vincent, who was born at a time where more and more people were choosing to genetically modify the fetuses of their children to create 'ideal' children. They remove less than ideal tendencies, such as alcoholism or depression, and they also make more desired genes more prominent, such as desired height or muscle mass, behavioural practices. At one point the characters go to a musical show and the pianist has six fingers on both hands, which we can only assume were chosen by his parents before he was born. Vincent, being born on the turning point of this trend, is one of the last generations to have parents voluntarily choose to not modify their baby's DNA, and in fact choose to genetically modify his younger brother. As more and more 'ideal' people are being 'created', the people who were not genetically modified slowly become second class citizens. Because of his blood, Vincent was only able to get janitorial work, as no well paying or reputable company would employ a non-genetically modified person. The whole idea of an interview is replaced by a blood test to differentiate between the two kinds of people.

Maybe because of his blood, Vincent is obsessed with the idea of becoming an astronaut and traveling through space, and was since he was as a child. He studies hard, and steadily works hard to get into the company that dealt with this... but is only able to get in as a janitor. He seeks out a guy who, under the table, helps people like Vincent pass themselves off as genetically modified people by pairing them with a genetically modified person who underwent an accident or is in some way unable to work. The crippled person will give samples of blood and urine (which are tested almost daily in workplaces), and pieces of hair or skin that can be spread around a workstation, and in return, that person will be allowed to live with the non-modified person and receive a portion of their paycheck. Vincent it set up with a man named Jerome, and from that point on, becomes 'Jerome'. He applies to the company he wishes to work for, and gets in easily. Things seem to be going well for Jerome/ Vincent, until there's a murder at his work, and one of his hairs are found at the crime scene. The problem is that the hair registers as an invalid... aka non genetically modified person, and endless surprise DNA tests pop up all over, which endangers Vincent's secret identity. Worst of all, with this untimely murder, he is now selected to go to space, but will never get there if is secret is discovered.

This was a really great movie exploring both the mechanization of society and the idea of discrimination. The society is tailoring a new generation of people who are almost 'super people', with only the best qualities present in their genetics. It's like creating an army of robots, in that there is no chance left to their creation. They are intentionally selected to be smarter, faster, stronger, taller, etc. than generations that came before them, and indeed than they may have naturally turned out being. We can clearly see how this is beneficial to a workplace and how this can be seen as an ideal state by a society, so it follows then that we can understand why people who were not 'made' to be better, faster, etc. might be seen as and treated like second class citizens. Why would you want to hire or date someone not as smart, not as fast, not as amiable, when they could have someone better? Why would they  even waste time asking the question when a simple blood test will determine if your genetics were 'improved' or not? There's also a Big Brother aspect to this world as well. Everyone's DNA is in a universal data base and the government/ law has complete access to it and people are literally created to meet a social standard. A sort of caste system arises, wherein people who were not manufactured to meet the social ideal are worth less as individuals. For people who do not deal with racism or sexism or class-ism or ageism on a daily basis, this film provides an example of what living with that constant and completely bigoted and illogical injustice is like.

The interesting thing that the film does to provide a sort of counterbalance to that idea is to make Jerome, the man Vincent is pretending to be, unable to use his legs, and so even though he is this super person, is still limited to the flesh and is dependent. On the other hand, Vincent, who is a lesser being, is able to easily pass off as a person who was made to be 'ideal'. This suggests that he is mentally the same or better than some of the people he's working with, and the largest distinction between the two kinds of people is the general perception of their class.

This was an interesting film, and the acting was spot on. Jude Law, Uma Thurman, and Ethan Hawke all perform really well, and the plot keeps you guessing. It's worth the watch.

Ginger Snaps (2003)

I delayed watching Ginger Snaps for years because of the DVD cover. It gave me the impression of some really cheesy 90's b movie and I didn't want to waste the time. But. A friend strongly recommended that I watch it, and thank god I did. This is one of the best paranormal movies I've seen.

The story is about two sisters and one night walking home, the elder, Ginger, gets bitten by a 'dog'. Slowly the bitten sister begins to change, in a social sense as well as a physical sense. She begins taking an interest in a boy she and her sister previously looked down upon, she distances herself from her sister, Brigitte, with whom she shared a very close bond before the bite, and she even experiments with drugs. In addition to this, her hair begins to change colour and she grows more of it all over her body. She even grows a tail. Brigitte becomes concerned and looks into many possibilities, one of which is that her older sister was bitten by and is now changing into a werewolf. She then goes about trying to find a cure, while having to deal with Ginger, who is getting cravings for blood and is changing into something that is less and less like the sister she was once so close with.

What makes this movie different than a lot of other paranormal horrors is that there is a really strong feminine voice present in both of the sisters. Other than Buffy, women play the wilting heroine in horrors, and in a lot of other genres as well. Not so in this movie. Ginger has a very powerful personality throughout the whole movie. Even before the change, she'd stick up for Brigitte when she got picked on and would talk back to people who would speak against either her or her sister. After the change she exuded an even more pronounced air of self- confidence. she doesn't show doubt. Brigitte on the other hand at first seems very timid and meek, which she might be, Brigitte displays an inner strength that ginger lacks. She resists the temptation of power, which she would get if Ginger bit her and she turned into a werewolf. She seems like a follower at the beginning, but she's just loyal.

Something else that makes this movie interesting is that it's an allegory of puberty for girls. After Ginger gets bitten, she also gets her period for the first time. Then when she is reacting weird to being bitten by a werewolf, adults just assume she's acting so abnormal because 'its that time of the month' instead of seeing it for what it is. It's a great social commentary on how society tends to deal with women as something foreign and potentially scary, especially around menstruation. The funny thing was that it was women voicing these views. The mom just fluffs off Ginger's moody behaviour as 'growing up', and the school nurse does the same thing when Ginger tells her about her symptoms. All of the Ginger Snaps movies have some sort of feminist theme if you look for it, but this one is the most blatant and deals most directly with how as a society we choose to perceive women as foreign, evil, and abnormal.

Even without the allegorical reference this was an awesome movie. It was fast-paced and suspenseful. On my top five list for paranormal movies of all time!

Evil Dead: the Musical soundtrack

This musical was hilariously amazing! It's based off those old horror movies, called evil dead, about a bunch of kids who go up to an abandoned cottage for spring break aannd get attacked by zombies. The songs are catchy and funny, though in my opinion better watched than listened to, but we won't complain about the awesomeness. I recommend that EVERYONE go see the musical as it's really funny, and after you do that you'll want the cd, because yes its that good. It's like rocky horror picture show, that kind of thing, except you laugh in this one.