Gattaca

Gattaca Glossary

Tamper

Meddle with; to alter something or damage it.

Titan

Saturn's largest moon

Valid

In the context of the film, a 'valid' is a genetically engineered individual

Invalid

An 'invalid' is an individual conceived naturally; not genetically engineered

Genoism

Discriminating against an individual based on their genes

Myopia

A condition of the eye, commonly called short-sightedness

Faith-birth

Another term for invalid. Also called a God-child.

Borrowed ladder

An invalid who adopts the identity of a valid, impersonating them through posession of their genetic material

De-gene-erate

A derogatory term for a borrowed ladder. It is also a play on the word 'degenerate', meaning an individual of exceedingly low status

Flat foot

A colloquial, derogatory term for a police officer.

Quotient

An amount of a specified quantity

Geneticist

A scientist who studies the inheritance of traits

Unscrupulous

Not honest or fair, lacking moral principles

Southpaw

A left-handed boxer, who leads with the right hand

Vial

A container, usually made of glass and characteristically used for holding liquid medicines or human samples such as blood.

Hoovers

In the film, Hoovers refer to FBI agents. This refers to their activity of 'hoovering' up human samples, but also to J. Edgar Hoover, the first Director of the FBI.

Metronome

A device used by musicians to mark time at a selected rate by giving a regular tick

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