Hate often stems from a fear of the “other.” It is easier to disdain for something or someone when it is different from you. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s science-fiction hit Blade Runner (1982), the “other” is the creature and the replicants. Their non-sexual reproductive origins have made them be branded as “unnatural.” This has forced them onto the fringes of society, to be harshly judged. As a 21st century reader, it calls into question who we push to the fringes of society, and if their behavior is because of their own cruel intentions, or a result of their environment. The creation and the replicants are perceived as monsters that are inherently threatening by their own societies; yet their savage tendencies
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After the creature tells his story, he begs Frankenstein to make him a female companion. He pleads, “At length I wandered towards these mountains… consumed by a burning passion which you alone can gratify… I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me” (Shelley, 155). “Wandered” paints a picture of confusion and loneliness. The powerful line “consumed by a burning passion” shows the desperation the creature feels for someone to accept him. It also shows that it’s something he deeply desires and needs. He goes on to say he’s alone and miserable, which are genuine emotions, not ones of a “monster”. As humans, we need relationships and connections to make us whole. The creature is completely desolate, and understands the disgust man has towards him. The rejection he feels has led him to even refer to himself as deformed and horrible. He is completely alone, unlike the replicants, who had each other to lean on. The one thing that can relieve him of this pain is a female creature that is similar to him. A desire for a mate is one of the most basic and quintessential human …show more content…
So why continue to read Frankenstein? Why watch Blade Runner? It encourages the reader and/or viewer to look past the judgement of the behaviors of those marginalized in our society, and to look a step deeper. Do we hold negative and often preconceived ideas of minorities in our country because they all choose to do “bad” things, or because we live in a society that oppresses them and puts them on a very narrow path? Much like the replicants and the creature, their existence and destiny wasn’t necessarily chosen for them. Generations of black communities in America have been disrupted throughout various eras, including Jim Crow laws, the targeting and imprisoning of Civil Rights activists, and mass incarceration through the devious “war on drugs”. Living in a society so focused on the false myth of meritocracy makes it difficult to see the larger reasons why people of color have to work twice as hard to earn half as much, or why greater competition is created between the few opportunities given to them. This impossible feat can often lead to settling for a life wrapped up in drugs and gang violence because it’s seen as the easy way out. Undoing centuries of oppression can’t be fixed in
After the creature tells his story, he begs Frankenstein to make him a female companion. He pleads, “At length I wandered towards these mountains… consumed by a burning passion which you alone can gratify… I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me” (Shelley, 155). “Wandered” paints a picture of confusion and loneliness. The powerful line “consumed by a burning passion” shows the desperation the creature feels for someone to accept him. It also shows that it’s something he deeply desires and needs. He goes on to say he’s alone and miserable, which are genuine emotions, not ones of a “monster”. As humans, we need relationships and connections to make us whole. The creature is completely desolate, and understands the disgust man has towards him. The rejection he feels has led him to even refer to himself as deformed and horrible. He is completely alone, unlike the replicants, who had each other to lean on. The one thing that can relieve him of this pain is a female creature that is similar to him. A desire for a mate is one of the most basic and quintessential human …show more content…
So why continue to read Frankenstein? Why watch Blade Runner? It encourages the reader and/or viewer to look past the judgement of the behaviors of those marginalized in our society, and to look a step deeper. Do we hold negative and often preconceived ideas of minorities in our country because they all choose to do “bad” things, or because we live in a society that oppresses them and puts them on a very narrow path? Much like the replicants and the creature, their existence and destiny wasn’t necessarily chosen for them. Generations of black communities in America have been disrupted throughout various eras, including Jim Crow laws, the targeting and imprisoning of Civil Rights activists, and mass incarceration through the devious “war on drugs”. Living in a society so focused on the false myth of meritocracy makes it difficult to see the larger reasons why people of color have to work twice as hard to earn half as much, or why greater competition is created between the few opportunities given to them. This impossible feat can often lead to settling for a life wrapped up in drugs and gang violence because it’s seen as the easy way out. Undoing centuries of oppression can’t be fixed in