Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
A great number of similarities, despite their more obvious differences on many levels, are found in the styles, techniques, and symbolism of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and Ridley Scotts Blade Runner. While Shelleys book was written in 1816 and Scotts movie was released in 1982, and thus forming a gap of more than two centuries between the works, the number of character similarities and shared themes alone are remarkable. Both stories portray individuals of high intelligence attempting to act as a creator of life, both of the created creatures in the stories are ultimately mistreated both by their society and by their creators, and in both stories, the reader or viewer is coaxed towards feelings of sympathy for the created rather than the creator despite the created. In both stories, ultimately the creator was unaware of the repercussions of their actions and the power of the forces which they were attempting to wield.
The creators in the stories each have a special fascination for human life. However the creations can be regarded as either monsters or lesser beings as far as society is concerned. Many examples of science fiction apparently show antagonistic creatures of this kind while directly compared to humanity, as is the Frankenstein creature and the replicants in Bladerunner. The creatures have human traits however they are not fully human, and for the reasons they are not fully human the societies which they are part of seeing them as essentially non-human and furthermore treat them as enemies for this classification alone. The creatures are ultimately shunned and despised for their mere existence. While the terrible traits which the monsters are treated as if they possess are never actually evident, the unconscious human mind is to blame for the perception of such negativity without physical cause.
A sort of role reversal is evident in Shelleys Frankenstein with the monster as an antagonist and the human as a hero, as the creator of the monster possesses more actual traits of what is thought to be terrible than the accused monster. Other characters within the book are able to perceive this, as evident in the passage Abhorred monster! fiend that thou art! the tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! you reproach me with your creation (Shelley p.72). The creator is portrayed as a character incapable of changing in course of action, due to levels of enthusiasm, anxiety, and self-imposed slavery in this regard. This flavor would ultimately be self-imposed doom and a lack of true free will implies man generally possesses an internal monster (Shelley; Scott).
The monsters of Ridley Scotts Bladerunner, the replicants, possess so many human traits that the creation company in the film refers to them as more human than human. Four primary replicants attempt to communicate with their maker so that they can gain a kind of help that is comparable to Frankensteins monster. Unlike Frankensteins monster, however, replicants are not legally allowed to exist. A legally sanctioned task force, the blade runners are to hunt and kill replicants entering the world from where they are made on the external slave colonies. A role reversal is also evident here, as the hunters ruthlessly slaughter replicants who are entirely harmless and may have lived beneficial lives. As such it is easily argued that the hunters are monstrous while the replicants seem more human overall, while society and law dictate the reversal be the reality of the situation.
It is also important to note that many humans in the Bladerunner movie are physically deformed or otherwise abnormal, a trait quite similar to the monster in Frankenstein. This may have been done intentionally to help to further illustrate a role reversal. Ultimately, in Bladerunner, the only perfect beings, both physically and seemingly morally, are the replicants. This level of innocence is comparable to the Frankenstein monster, whose ignorance of the world leads him to perform the only unpure actions which he does, though ultimately he is driven by very human and innocent desires and motivations. The replicants are, however, more victimized than the Frankenstein monster, as memory implantation is used in some cases to make the replicants feel more human and believe they are more human. While the Frankenstein monster can be said to have the rights to humanity since he was created to be a part of it, this same argument can be better argued for the replicants who were not only created to look identical to humans but furthermore act human and have human memories (Kerman; Scott).
Similar to the ultimately doomed existence of the Frankenstein monster due to the views and effects of society, the replicants in Bladerunner are doomed to be hunted and killed despite the fact they have programmed memories and life actions. Both stories are thus tragedies in this respect as the innocent are forced out of existence for the main reason of being different. As such, the argument of nature versus nurture has a place in both stories, while science and ethics are questioned in both stories. Perhaps in another two hundred years time another story will be created to portray more modern science and the inherent ethical implications. Bladerunner can essentially be viewed as the same story as Mary Shelleys Frankenstein in elements, though made more relevant for modern society while the same underlying themes of ethics, creation, and humanity are all questioned.
Works cited
Kerman, Judith. Retrofitting Bladerunner: Issues in Ridley Scotts Bladerunner. Popular Press, 1997.
Scott, Ridley et. al. Blade Runner. Warner Home Video, 1999.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. University of Chicago Press, 1982.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.