The House of the Scorpion - Film Study

My comparison of Vincent from Gattaca and Matt from The House of the Scorpion.

           After the completion of The House of the Scorpion, we watched a movie called Gattaca. It was a tale about a man named Vincent who grew up in a society that looked down on genetically flawed individuals. Vincent dreams of going into space but if a company is getting thousands genetically superior applicants, who would take someone who is genetically flawed?

            In many ways, Vincent and Matt are alike. They are both constantly fighting to obtain a higher place in their society, they are both shot down, being told what they can and cannot do. They both shadow somebody and are considered the worse half of their shadow (For Vincent he shadows Anton and for Matt he shadows El Patron). Both also become somebody else in the end, the only difference being that Matt became El Patrón when he died unwillingly, and Vincent became Jerome when he killed himself. Also the two of them suffer some kind of an internal condition (in Vincent’s case, his heart condition, and in Matt’s case, being a clone). Most importantly, they both have people in their societies who care for them. In both societies, discrimination isn’t done by race any longer, but by the role that society gives you.

            Even with all those similarities, everyone is different. Each of the two protagonists had a different dreams, Vincent’s being to go into space and Matt’s being that people would someday accept him for who he is. Another difference between the two would be that Matt wouldn’t change himself. He wanted the society to accept him for who he was and he didn’t try to hide anything until he got to Aztlan. Vincent however was willing to do anything to get into space. The whole story talks about Vincent trying to hide his identity and the difficulties he faces as a genetically flawed individual. Vincent also didn’t have a mother or father figure to support him, his parents looked down on his dream, never believing it was possible. As for Matt he had Celia throughout the story and he was also introduced to Tam Lin quite early. All in all, if you both read The House of the Scorpion, and watch the movie Gattaca, you would immediately see how alike the two are.