Comparing Frankenstein And Scott's Blade Runner

'Man is in truth a miracle'. Man is believed to be born pure, through societal influence an individual may be shaped and their characteristics moulded, this theme is explored in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Another important and recurring concept covered in both Shelley's Frankenstein and Scott's Blade Runner is the creation of life. This creation is physically superior and intellectually equal of its creator. Through either a desire 'to live' or to want more out of life, this creation rebels and rises against its creator. Due to their differing social, historical and personal contexts, the similar thematic concerns and issues, examined in both are representative of changes in the values and perspectives of society.
Frankenstein appears to take on the form of an instructive tale, warning against the forces of science. Shelley utilises the element of horror as part of the Gothic genre Frankenstein is written in, this is most evident when describing some of Victor Frankenstein's scientific procedures, through imagery, metaphor and personification. Ridley Scott's context of globalization has resulted in a different vision of the future. Technological advancements saw a gradual transition from the industrial age to the informative era. Environmental issues have formed a film in which the cost of commerce has been the death of nature. The opening aerial shot is of an industrialized, polluted city. Throughout the film towers, flames and dirty polluted streets are contrasted against the repeated metaphor of the unicorn, the only natural animal in the film accessible only in a dream. The world is dark, damp and dirty with rain falling continuously. It is a planet hostile to human beings, full of smoke and
Scott has been witness to many of the environmental and social disasters, contributing to a growing pessimistic view of the future, and the change in perspective of society, to viewing the environment as fragile. In Shelley's time, Nature was perceived as unalterable. It played a significant role in her novel, as part of both the Gothic setting, and as Romantic ideology for Victor. However, there is no role for the natural in Scott's dystopian 2019. The film's opening wide angle shots create a dark, polluted and decaying city, accompanied by non-diegetic music. This establishes a setting where the environment has been eliminated by science in the pursuit of technological advance. Each composer's respective background influencing their works through Shelley's idea of nature, romantic/gothic tradition, the sublime, against Scott's world where nature does not exist and the replicants are the end result of mans determination to create a better world through