Similarities Between Frankenstein And Bladerunner

“Although composed in different times and contexts, Frankenstein and Blade Runner are strikingly similar in content and values”

Juxtaposition between the creation and their environment 1. The Tyrell Corporation, business place of Eldon Tyrell, the divine scientific “genius” behind the creation of the replicants, occupies a space central to Blade Runner’s narrative. From the inception of the film, we see an extreme long shot overlooking the futuristic cityscape of Los Angeles which is defined by massive techno towers and near eternal twilight, interrupted only by constant violent lightning strikes and fiery explosions resulting in stunning plumes of flame. Within this picturesque scenery, the camera visually guides us towards the grandiose Mayan style pyramid structures that are the headquarters of the Tyrell Corporation. 2. Through this, Scoot displays that humanity is
intrinsically linked to nature. He cleverly uses the lack of youth, plants, new life and seasons to symbolise the isolation from nature. The isolation from nature is emphasised through the images on constant rain, no sunlight and minimal vegetation. Scott’s subtle; yet, reoccurring images remind the us of the consequences of neglecting nature and its effect on humanity. Like Shelley, Scott also highlights the scientific progress that has all but destroyed the natural and human environment. 3.
Noticeable differences, in relation to the natural surroundings and worldspace, can be seen between the two mountains, Mont Blanc and the Tyrell Corporation – the places where both creatures, the monster and Roy confront their creator. In Frankenstein, Victor reaches the village of Chamonix and later wonders the valley bellow Mont Blanc, stating that the “sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving”. He further elaborates by saying “…the unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle…the eagle soaring amidst the clouds – they all gathered around me, and bade me be at peace”. Any such peace, articulated through Romantic language which strongly evokes nature is impossible in Blade Runner. Unlike Mont Blanc, and that valley below it, the Tyrell Corporation does not exhibit the illusive, indefinable beauty of sublime nature, but rather embodies a technologically produced synthetic artificiality. It is structured both mathematically and mechanically, and like everything else in Blade Runner,
manmade. 4. Another scene in Blade Runner which directly compliments Frankenstein are Roy’s final moments before his death at the close of his violent confrontation with Deckard. Throughout the film, the poetic and philosophical language of the replicants elicits the audience’s sympathy for their cause to obtain longer life spans. Roy, when quoting William Blake’s America: A Prophecy “Fiery the angels fell. Deep thunder rolled around their shores, burning with the fires of Orc” is comparing himself and the other replicants to angels, fallen to such a ghastly, fiery world. However, the language contradicts the sympathy we feel for the replicants in terms of how the language relates to the worldspace. Romantic language, such as Blake’s, seems non-diegetic as it has great difficulty grounding itself in the mechanized environment. Unlike Frankenstein’s worldspace, which is full of rich metaphorical language articulating lived experience through the spatial surround of Nature, here we find an environment which effectively resists all possible notions of human emotion and spiritualty. 5. Noticeably distinct is Blade Runner’s visuals and articulation of experience associated with the replicants Roy, which show the audience a future given over to the scientific manipulation of everything, both living and non-living; so that it might be algorithmically understood, perfected and ultimately commodified. 6. Unlike the physical surround of Shelley’s novel, which is based in Romantic conceptions of nature, we cannot help but turn away in horror from Blade Runner’s dystopian worldspace of branded artificiality.

The world of Frankenstein is an eternal bliss, whilst the world of Blade Runner is an ecological disaster.

Scientific progress knowing too much