Frankenstein and Blade Runner Comparative Contexts

Frankenstein and Blade Runner Comparative Contexts

  • Submitted By: aclift
  • Date Submitted: 02/24/2014 5:02 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 355
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 34

Frankenstein experiences having violated the natural order, bemoaning the deaths of William and
Justine as “the first hapless victims of my unhallowed acts”. The equilibrium of the natural order is
only restored through death of bo
th Frankenstein and the monster, the creation announcing that “Ishall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the winds play upon my cheeks … sense will pass away,and in this condition must I find happiness”. The unnatural being itself is able to seek so
lace fromnature, but ultimately realises that he must die to bring about restoration, revealing the Romanticbelief in the natural order and the reason for opposition to the Industrial revolution.The importance of nature in the same way in Blade Runner, however the influence of a disparateand changed context is evident. The rise of the capitalism and global exploitation, the wall street
mantra that “greed is good”, led to a new emphasis on nature, now viewed as a scarce resource.
Feeding upon this, awareness of global warming and the possibilities of the Cold War had manyfearing the complete disappearance of the natural world. Scott establishes this concept in theopening shot, accompanied by a futuristic and pulsing soundscape, of an expansive and all-encompassing built environment. Scott further builds on this through his use of the grungy film-noirstyle, flickering lights and darkness symbolic of a totally dystopic society. Scott goes on to establishthe destructiveness of a society where reality is
indistinguishable through Deckard’s question, “is itartificial? … of course it is”, and Rachel’s haunting rhetorical question, “have you ever retired ahuman by mistake?”. In an allusion to Frankenstein Scott orchestrates the necessary deaths of Tyrell,
similarly accentuating the importance of the natural world symbolised by the dove and clear sky inthe closing sequence and the balance that must be achieved between the corporate and naturalenvironments in the global economy.Thus it...

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