As for Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner, he created Replicants in an attempt to demonstrate the technology and genius to mass produce a perfect replica of a human in respect of appearance, intellect and strength.
Both lacked foresight and empathy. They were uncaring of the needs and feelings of their creations.
Frankenstein illustrates this through his lack of love to his creation, rejecting it and it’s wants and ultimately trying to track it down to stop it after the murder of his brother, William. Frankenstein also hides that his monster killed William, allowing someone else be killed, resulting in the loss of innocent lives. He also seems to not even …show more content…
care for it’s feelings when he promises and then doesn’t create a wife for the monster.
Tyrell treats all his creations like a nerd to his action figure collection, seeing them only as his brilliant pieces of his own work. He only focuses on the fact that they are his achievements, not considering the feelings of his creations. This is evident when Rick Deckerd meets Tyrell to test Rachael. Tyrell seems highly accomplished at how life-like Rachael is, while at the same time disregarding any needs that Rachael has. Also, during his confrontation with Roy, who is seeking longevity, Tyrell explains that he made sure that extended life for Replicants would be impossible, resulting with the Replicant dying in the process.
Both these men represent the modern creator, such as Steve Jobs. They all appear to have a lack of morals and contempt for all those around them and their creations, just selfishly wanting to prove their theories.
The creations of both Tyrell and Frankenstein seem to seek freedom and to break the boundaries set by their creators. Frankenstein’s monster escapes the lab of his creator and runs amuck, which leads to the loss of innocent lives. The fact that Frankenstein created the being, and when finally animated, thought of it as hideous shows little fore-thought into the ethics of actually creating the monster.
This should’ve been foreseen in creating the being out of cadavers. The monster develops emotions and senses correlating with those of a human. Facing rejection and lack of love from Frankenstein and the people around it, as well as being deformed, it senses that it is not acceptable sorrow fills it’s life. He was created to serve humans, but with all that is wrong, it is perhaps understandable that it would go on a path for vengeance.
Replicants are made to serve humans too, doing the jobs that humans couldn’t perform on off-world colonies.
They were better planned than the Monster, having a lifespan of no more than 4 years. With any Replicant defiant enough to make their way back to Earth, being taken down by a Blade Runner. The creations of Tyrell were made to be perfect and powerful. Though they have this, they still seek empathy, especially Roy. Roy is the leader of a group of Replicants who returned to Earth. He confronts Tyrell on the matter of extended life. Upon hearing Tyrell opposing all ways for longevity, he crushes Tyrell’s skull, starting with the eyes. This highlights the fact that Tyrell has pushed the boundaries too far. Also, the Replicants are made so well they have to be tested through their eyes for emotional responses. This proves the motto ‘More human than human’ shows that it was inevitable that they would become dangerous and their production
unethical.
Both composers appear to hold similar ideas and values on the ethics when creating a living being. Both explore the idea of technology to prolong the life that is given naturally. Shelley observes the human want for power over life and death, and also the balances in morals of humans. She is said, along with her husband and friend Lord Byron, to favour ideals of individualism, liberalism and the power of the imagination. Her novel explores these and the dangers when not balanced with common sense, humility and empathy. When Shelley develops the Monster, she uses the belief that a being must choose it’s soul, whether to be good or bad. Shelley also felt that the advancement of technology would lead to dehumanisation and isolation as explored through Frankenstein.
In Blade Runner, the name ‘skin-jobs’ is given to the Replicants, showing the little value people have for their mechanised counterparts. The Replicants are also given false memories, along with photos to make them believe they are human. The Replicants share human emotions and fear death. In the film, it’s questionable whether Deckerd is a Replicant or not. Not only does he seem a coldblooded killer, he is questioned by Rachael if he’s ever had the test himself, and whether he’s shot a human by accident. This demonstrates what working with robots has done to his mind. Tyrell doesn’t realise the pain he’s causing the Replicants, giving memories not out of care, but to have more power over them. When Roy visits Tyrell he tells him about committing terrible deeds, but Tyrell just focuses on how marvellously he created Roy.
When looking at each of these themes, it is evident that the composers kept the idea of science and technology disregarding ethics in humanity. They both display strong aspects of this through the characters, and the values and ideas they expressed.
So to sum up, as long as humans can’t utilise empathy, humility and common sense, they will always fail to create a sensible, sustainable human adaption. BLADE RUNNER | FRANKENSTEIN | Blade Runner1 is a Ridley Scott adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?As a dystopia (dark future) it uses the glazed cinematic techniques of film noir that tends to distance us from the characters and actions. More @ Cinematic Techniques: | This is a Gothic Novel. Mary claims the inspiration for her story came from a vision she had during a dream. Her story was the only one completed and has become one of the most famous Gothic novels of all time. Mary Shelley uses the narrative device of a Ship’s Captain retelling a tale through epistemology (letters to his sister) he has heard from an obsessed distraught Scientist he has rescued from an ice floe in the remote Arctic Ocean. |
Context
BLADE RUNNER | FRANKENSTEIN | Blade Runner has a strong environmental focus. It was only after the publication of Rachel Carson’s (An American writer and scientist) Silent Spring, (1961) that people began to recognise the potential of human disaster through the vandalism perpetrated by improved technology. Rather than resilient, nature was fragile and vulnerable when fundamental natural rhythms were ceaselessly destroyed by ruthless exploitation by ever increasing mammoth technology. If Ecosystems are repeatedly defeated, human life will be diminished and likely extinguished.The bleak vision portrayed illustrates a chaotic nuclear holocaust, ecological fragility through soil depletion and acid rain.In BR. man has not only subdued the earth but conquered and utterly defeated it. As a Canadian Indian Chief queried; “When we kill the last fish, what will we eat – money?The sixties and seventies were times of great social, cultural and historical changes with changes in attitudes in s*xual relations, racial integration and political upheaval. | As Europe moved away from a world dominated by superstition and religious faith to one of empirical scientific research and logical deductive reasoning, the Romantics helped to retain some of the personal and emotional compassion that makes us fully human.The swing towards a more humanistic attitude towards fellow mankind and the reverence for the natural over the man made is clearly depicted in Frankenstein. Shelley questions the eighteenth-century scientific rationalists' optimism about, and trust in, knowledge as a pure good. While the Philosophers believed in the perfectibility of man through reason, the Romantics put their faith in the ‘immortal spirit’ of the individual’s emotions.The Romantics maintained suspicions about the dark inscrutable workmanship of the Scientific and empirical attempts to improve on nature. Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow. (101) | BLADE RUNNER | FRANKENSTEIN | Blade Runner depicts an industrialised society where Technology is supreme. The climate – appears a nuclear winter poisoned by fall-out- dark, dank, with constant acid rain. The City is full of human misery – crowded, homeless, so anyone with good health has moved off earth. Technology, from fire(over cold& dark) , the wheel(over gravity and distance), flight and genetic engineering all contribute to moving away from the natural rhythms of life and from what it means to be a human being. The Dehumanising effects of technology:Loss of power – fulfilmentIsolation from othersLoss of empathy - Increasing disconnection or alienation from societyLoss of people skills - * Loss of heroism – only celebrities | This is a cautionary tale warning about the threat to a diminished humanity posed by Science. Both Walton, the narrator and Frankenstein are challenging the frontiers of human knowledge and will suffer for it. Shelley parallels Walton's spatial explorations and Frankenstein's forays into unknown knowledge, as both men seek to “pioneer a new way,” to make progress beyond established limits. Science and too much rational learning can diminish our humanity. We should value our natural sensual humanity and reject the scientific notion that rational thought will lead us to a more humane society. If not, our humanity will become diminished.In both texts, humans lose control over their man made creations. |
Science and Humanity
What makes us Human BLADE RUNNER | FRANKENSTEIN | Humanity has been diminished as there is little evidence of community displayed by human characters in contrast to the replicants who appear to have genuine companionship, compassion, empathy, morality and courtesy.As Tyrell’s motto: “ more human than the humans” The lack of Civility is another major concern.Bryant has a confrontationalist manner of speaking. First he tries to be slimily ingratiating to Deckard but when this doesn’t work he resorts to abusive threats and bullying to get Deckard to come out of retirement.The human characters snap at each other indicating the lack of respect they have for each other due to the break down in human relationships, whereas the replicants speak much more politely and courteously to each other demonstrating the regard they have for each other and a caring empathy lacking in the humans. There isn't much dignity left today, a point beautifully made in an essay by David Brooks in The New York Times. The "dignity code", as Brooks calls it, has been "completely obliterated" by the pressures of modern life. | Frankenstein is a gothic horror novel that explores what makes us human. What are the attributes of a human being and how do we become integrated into society. Are we born with human nature or are we conditioned and constructed to value each other. The old nature/nurture argument. When his creation turns against him, who is at fault; the creature or the society that rejects him? We know from a study of social customs that many people who feel rejected by society often turn into mass killers. Repeated negative experiences of social outcasts can lead to anti-social behaviour and the best way to socialise people is to include and value them as fellow human beings. There are many examples of people who are Altruistic – caring - kind to each other throughout the novel including the Monster’s many initial acts of kindness; cutting wood for Felix’s family, saving a young girl from drowning - all not appreciated. Shelley is obviously contrasting mankind’s ability for civility and amity with its capacity for callous barbarity. |