Blade Runner vs Frankenstein
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- Date Submitted: 10/15/2011 07:32 PM
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Blade Runner and Frankenstein
All texts are a gateway to the prevailing ideas and contextual values of the composer’s time. Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein explores the dangers of uncontrolled scientific venture and the blurring definition of what it means to be human through the defining in relation to ‘the other’ and the monster. Sharing in these ideas, Ridley Scott’s Sci-Fi cult film Blade Runner is a replica of the same moral teachings offering further understanding to the responder of the dynamic and illuminating purpose of both composers. Humanity’s disruption from itself as it strives for the summit in scientific and technological advancement is the unified argument of Shelley and Scott. Furthermore, the primary textual features and similarities in construction are utilised by the composers to evaluate values of scientific rationalism and consumerism that continue to echo in meaning with modern audiences.
A heightened understanding of Shelley’s personal context and her account of looming events is revealed in the timeless present setting of Frankenstein similar to Scott’s not too distant futuristic setting of Blade Runner. Shelley attacks an imminent danger of Male-controlled science revealing the influence of her feminist author mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, whereas, Scott explores a consumeristic Science that reflects Reagan’s political and economic era. Scott’s prophetic warning of future events is demonstrated in his dystopian futuristic setting in the permanent neon haze of Los Angeles 2019. The saturated scenery, futuristically fashioned with advanced technological gadgets and the clash of cultures further adds to the authenticity of the urban setting. The environmental degradation of the nature stripped world of Blade Runner juxtaposes the awe-inspiring sublime of nature present in Shelley’s conventionally Gothic setting and natural imagery. Thus, Scott’s choice of using the medium of film demonstrates the immediacy of humanity’s...
All texts are a gateway to the prevailing ideas and contextual values of the composer’s time. Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein explores the dangers of uncontrolled scientific venture and the blurring definition of what it means to be human through the defining in relation to ‘the other’ and the monster. Sharing in these ideas, Ridley Scott’s Sci-Fi cult film Blade Runner is a replica of the same moral teachings offering further understanding to the responder of the dynamic and illuminating purpose of both composers. Humanity’s disruption from itself as it strives for the summit in scientific and technological advancement is the unified argument of Shelley and Scott. Furthermore, the primary textual features and similarities in construction are utilised by the composers to evaluate values of scientific rationalism and consumerism that continue to echo in meaning with modern audiences.
A heightened understanding of Shelley’s personal context and her account of looming events is revealed in the timeless present setting of Frankenstein similar to Scott’s not too distant futuristic setting of Blade Runner. Shelley attacks an imminent danger of Male-controlled science revealing the influence of her feminist author mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, whereas, Scott explores a consumeristic Science that reflects Reagan’s political and economic era. Scott’s prophetic warning of future events is demonstrated in his dystopian futuristic setting in the permanent neon haze of Los Angeles 2019. The saturated scenery, futuristically fashioned with advanced technological gadgets and the clash of cultures further adds to the authenticity of the urban setting. The environmental degradation of the nature stripped world of Blade Runner juxtaposes the awe-inspiring sublime of nature present in Shelley’s conventionally Gothic setting and natural imagery. Thus, Scott’s choice of using the medium of film demonstrates the immediacy of humanity’s...