Blade Runner And Frankenstein: A Comparative Analysis

Even since the beginning of time man has pushed the limits of knowledge, and with every new discovery there are pros and cons, we have all heard the saying curiosity killed the cat and ignorance is bliss. Despite the great gulfs of time in-between the writing of both texts, they both portray the same themes central to the story as the context of both texts was of a time of great social and technological change.

An idea that is present in Scott’s Blade Runner and Shelley’s Frankenstein is they believe that in the future God and society’s ethos may be one day be replaced by science and technological advances, through the characters Victor and Tyrell.
Genesis 1:27 states that “God created humankind in his image.” A God is the creator of life
This prompted Shelly to write a story as a warning to society about the dire consequences of rivalling and defying god.
This warning is similar to Blade Runner, where Tyrell, a mere man, who is the only representation of a god, in the absence of any type of religion throughout the film. He is depicted as the pinnacle of scientific achievement, which lives by his lonesome atop his Ziggurat shaped building, watching over the world he is not a part of. The ziggurat is symbolic of a temple and is used to represent Tyrell as a God like figure.
Tyrell, much like victor, disregards any consequences for his actions and empathy for his creations. This is shown by Tyrell’s comment when he notices Roy has come to confront him, “what can we do for you,” this comment show how Tyrell feels he can patronise this replicant, talking him as if he were a child even when Roy is Tyrell’s physical and emotional superior, this also reflects Tyrell’s ego, believing he is a superior being. Roy replies “I want more life father,” Father is used to show how it is time for Tyrell to take responsibility for his god like actions. Tyrell replies with this platitude remark, ”the light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long,” this reveals Tyrell lack of remorse and compassion for his own creation and how he cannot
The ambition of Victor leads him to reject the rational and render him blind to the consequences, and as the creature comes to life, he is overcome with the sudden realisation of his actions.
This idea or theme has been influenced by the gothic genre and the industrial revolution, where many scientific achievements were being found. Shelley wrote this a warning to show the dire consequences if science was not handled carefully. Further towards the end of the book Captain Walton describes Victor as a “man on the brink of destruction,” this is the final warning, to show how the obsession for knowledge can destroy a life.
This same theme is present in blade runner, Tyrell a man who appears to be a scientific genius appears an avaricious fool for tampering with such a powerful science. Tyrell is shown to be similar to Frankenstein as he is indifferent to the feelings of his creation. He creates Rachel as he is experimenting with life and he is shown to have no compassion as he finds amusement with her situation, “Rachel is an experiment, nothing more.” The audience questions whether it is morally justified if a person is able to create life out of