DHD 102 - Week 8 Assignment

Prompt: Discuss the different fates of Jerome and Vincent at the end of the film. What meaning does this difference make about disability?

Transcript:
The fate for Vincent and Jerome changed throughout the course of the film but it ended with Jerome committing suicide and Vincent going into space.

Vincent was considered an “in-valid” because he was born the natural way that came with health problems. For the rest of his life, Vincent was not expected to get far – his quote on quote fate was destined to meritocracy at best because of his genes. However, with the help of Jerome, he was able to become an elite in Gattaca and accomplish his dreams.

Unlike Vincent Jerome was destined for greatness. However, Jerome’s first suicide attempt after failure to place first and failure to be perfect left him paralyzed from the waist down and in need of a wheelchair. It was at this point that Jerome’s fate of being perfect and elite changed. Instead of being quote on quote great, Jerome’s purpose was now to provide Vincent with his identity and forms of DNA. that eventually became his purpose in life. After Vincent managed to reach his goal and dreams (which Jerome lived through) Jerome committed suicide by burning in the incinerator.

The fact that Jerome was not able to continue his life and travel (like he had told Vincent) shows that individuals with a disability cannot continue living once their goal - their purpose has been met. Even before that, when Jerome was unable to fulfill the idea of perfection and became paralyzed, his fate was degraded. This furthers the idea that once someone is labeled as disabled, their impairment is seen as something that holds them back. As previously mentioned by Mitchell and Snyder, the issue of Jerome’s disability is resolved through his death – through his suicide. Jerome could have continued to practice swimming or gone onto something greater but instead his only option was to rent his body and when that was completed, it was depicted that he is better off dead than disabled. Whereas for Vincent who was discriminated because of his genes wound up being greater than what was expected of him; there were options provided for him unlike Jerome. Ultimately, Vincent was given the opportunity to change his fate for good and Jerome was left with the short end of the stick.

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