Frankenstein And Bladerunner Analysis

While two centuries of scientific and industrial advancement span between Mary Shelly’s gothic novel Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s dystopic film Bladerunner (1992), both composers utilise a variety of different language techniques in order to reiterate the same timeless concerns of man’s transgression over nature and his innate desire to foster technology for his own gain. Shelley’s Frankenstein draws upon both the Enlightenment and Romantic movement of the 1800’s whereas Scott’s Bladerunner reflects the technological and medical advancements pertinent throughout the late twentieth century. An extensive comparison of the text’s language and ideas allows modern audiences to gain a heightened understanding of the influence of context …show more content…
Scott and Shelley both critique the arrogance of humanity where man’s desire to usurp God leads him to misuse technology, ultimately resulting in the transgression of social and moral boundaries. In Frankenstein, Shelley incorporates the attitudes present within the Enlightenment, such as Galvanism, to create a hubristic protagonist who misuses science in order to transcend mortal boundaries. Shelley viewed the Enlightenment as a vain pursuit of scientific knowledge that stems from human pride and hence, fashioned Victor Frankenstein to be “The Modern Prometheus” who undertakes in a pursuit of knowledge without a clear moral framework. Furthermore, Shelley’s allusions to Milton’s “Paradise Lost” associates Frankenstein as the “fallen angel” who explicitly conveys his desire to foster technology for his own gain, evident in “what glory would attend the discovery if I could...render man invulnerable to any 

but a violent death”. The ideas of genetic engineering, which would have transcended moral boundaries at the time, are portrayed through the …show more content…
Blade Runner depicts a Los Angeles of 2019 where movements such as Reganism and the emergence of the Arms Race have dominated the world. The use of birds eye view in the opening sequence allows the audience to throughly examine the city and examine how humanity has regressed into a primal chaotic state. The fire belching from factories is symbolic of hell and is an allusion to Dante’s inferno, which reiterates the same concerns illustrated in Shelley’s Frankenstein. This allows Scott to highlight that complacency and a disregard for the natural world will result in Shelley’s warnings coming true. Through the heavy use of lighting and non-diagetic sound, Scott represents a world heavily immersed in technological advancement as a dystopic wasteland. Expanding on Frankenstein, where Victor warns that “a race of devils will propagate the Earth”, the replicants have entered Earth and now threaten the very existence of mankind. Through the use of extreme closeup on eyes, Scott is able to question what humanity’s visions are and what consequences will occur is humanity continues to utilise technology in a selfish way. Ultimately, through the use of film, Scott echoes the same timeless concerns from Frankenstein of the repercussion of mans transgression over nature and his innate desire to foster technology for his own gain thus