Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay examples

During the Enlightenment Age of the 1700s, creative progression and brilliant new ideas were encouraged, and the scientific advancement of the time shaped the world that society knows today. However, the plaguing reminders of science overtaking the natural world, and order, brought concern to the minds of the individuals within the Industrial Revolution. Similarly, the New Age World brought with it further implications of technological life being inextricably interweaved into the lives of all people; controlling them rigidly and systematically. Fearing its omnipresent power, composers such as Mary Shelley with Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner effectively demonstrate the large extent to which concerns as ‘science vs. nature’, ‘role of the creator’ resonate with the context of the composer making their texts timeless reminders of the threat of science privileging emotion.

The natural order of the world has always been seen as overriding, however, as technological advancement occurs, the balance shifts towards scientific dependency. For the Romantics of the time, nature was perceived as a wondrous and awe inspiring, yet distant and enigmatic force. However, the scientific advancements of Mary Shelley’s time disrupted this order and created an inherent tension between those who supported technology and those who believed that nature held supreme power. In Frankenstein, Shelley follows the Romantic view of the sublime essence of nature, demonstrating it as a giver of life. The wretch, once escaping his maker’s fortress “gradually saw plainly the clear stream that supplied me with drink, and the trees that shaded me with their foliage”, the colourful and natural imagery exemplifying nature’s role as the protector of her habitants. Clashing with this, when confronted with scientific progress of building life Frankenstein argues “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” his rhetorical question emphasising the initial pathway to dependency on his monster. This dependence only further striped him of any rationality as his sole focus was lost on that of his creation, no longer seeing the cost he would truly have to pay for it, eventually dying as a result. Therefore, the unbalance in the natural world from technological progress, shifts humanity into a reliance on technology to function.

This codependence on technology can drive humanity away from their spirituality in replacement for a new creator. This privileging of science over emotions paved the way for the New Age World, in which it’s inhabitants have given the image of technology as their new ‘god’. Scott’s film, Blade Runner, describes a world completely overrun by conglomerate organisations, controlling the lives of its people. To assist the humans, companies have produced ‘Replicants’ (robots that look human). The creator of these, Dr. Eldon Tyrell, suits the criteria for a new ‘god’, in which his creations see him, as Roy Batty states, as a “father”. Batty’s stretching out of the word suggests the Replicants hatred at the idea of being under the whim of a man. This role as the creator is further seen with the bonsai trees which demonstrating Tyrell manipulating nature to his whim. He represents a flawed portrayal, as his ziggurat like monolith demonstrates himself as higher above the rest of the population. Furthermore, his bed and bed room, is a replica’s of Pope John Paul II, additionally presenting Tyrell as the role of the new creator. Thereby,

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