gattaca posting in 2025 because i think theres something to be said about how water tends to be seen as something cleansing and positive
and then in gattaca, how vincent and eugene subvert this expectation with having this constant suddenly become inconsistent which subtly emphasises the story's theme that 'human interference with nature results badly'
to elaborate, look at the respective body of water related events of vincent and eugene
vincent comes out of the ocean and now hes a new reborn man with new ideals and new expectations of himself
eugene comes out of the competitive swimming pool and now hes a broken man with no ideals and limited expectations of himself
why is 'water = positive cleansing' suddenly inconsistent? look at the difference between their respective bodies of water
one is natural. the other is man made.
and how that seems to tie in with the story's 'human interference with nature results badly' theme